The Parable of the Rich Man by Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt, 1627, Oil on Oak, at the Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below are being kept up to date.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, August 4 are from Lectionary Year C, Proper 13: Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43 or Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11 and Luke 12:13-21. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

Hosea 11:1-11

¹ “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
     and out of Egypt I called my son.

² But the more they were called,
     the more they went away from me.

They sacrificed to the Baals
     and they burned incense to images.

³ It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
     taking them by the arms;
     but they did not realize it was I who healed them.

⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness,
     with ties of love.

To them I was like one
     who lifts a little child to the cheek,
     and I bent down to feed them.

⁵ “Will they not return to Egypt
     and will not Assyria rule over them
     because they refuse to repent?

⁶ A sword will flash in their cities;
     it will devour their false prophets
     and put an end to their plans.

⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
     Even though they call me God Most High,
     I will by no means exalt them.

⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
     How can I hand you over, Israel?

How can I treat you like Admah?
     How can I make you like Zeboyim?

My heart is changed within me;
     all my compassion is aroused.

⁹ I will not carry out my fierce anger,
     nor will I devastate Ephraim again.

For I am God, and not a man—
     the Holy One among you.
     I will not come against their cities.

¹⁰ They will follow the LORD;
     he will roar like a lion.

When he roars,
     his children will come trembling from the west.

¹¹ They will come from Egypt,
     trembling like sparrows, from Assyria, fluttering like doves.

I will settle them in their homes,”
     declares the LORD.

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
     his love endures forever.

² Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story—
     those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

³ those he gathered from the lands,
     from east and west,
     from north and south.

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands,
     finding no way to a city where they could settle.

⁵ They were hungry and thirsty,
     and their lives ebbed away.

⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
     and he delivered them from their distress.

⁷ He led them by a straight way
     to a city where they could settle.

⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
     and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

⁹ for he satisfies the thirsty
     and fills the hungry with good things.

⁴³ Let the one who is wise heed these things
     and ponder the loving deeds of the LORD.

or Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

² “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? ²³ All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

Psalm 49:1-11

¹ Hear this, all you peoples;
     listen, all who live in this world,
   ² both low and high, rich and poor alike:

³ My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
     the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

⁴ I will turn my ear to a proverb;
     with the harp I will expound my riddle:

⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come,
     when wicked deceivers surround me—

⁶ those who trust in their wealth
     and boast of their great riches?

⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
     or give to God a ransom for them—

⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
     no payment is ever enough—

⁹ so that they should live on forever
     and not see decay.

¹⁰ For all can see that the wise die,
     that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
     leaving their wealth to others.

¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
     their dwellings for endless generations,
     though they had named lands after themselves.

¹² People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
     they are like the beasts that perish.

Colossians 3:1-11

¹ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” ¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ ²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.