The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) by Vincent van Gogh, May 1890, oil on canvas at Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo

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, July 14 are from Lectionary Year C, Sunday closest to July 13: Amos 7:7-17; Psalm 82 or Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-9; Colossians 1:1-14 and Luke 10:25-37. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

Amos 7:7-17

⁷ This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said,

     “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel;
      I will spare them no longer.
     ⁹ “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
      and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
      with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. ¹¹ For this is what Amos is saying:

     “ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
       and Israel will surely go into exile,
       away from their native land.’ ”

¹² Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ¹³ Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

¹⁴ Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵ But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

    ¹⁶ Now then, hear the word of the LORD.
       You say, “ ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
       and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
     ¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       “ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
       and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
       Your land will be measured and divided up,
     and you yourself will die in a pagan country.
       And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’ ”

Psalm 82

¹ God presides in the great assembly;
     he renders judgment among the “gods”:

² “How long will you defend the unjust
     and show partiality to the wicked?

³ Defend the weak and the fatherless;
     uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;
     deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵ “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
     They walk about in darkness;
     all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶ “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
     you are all sons of the Most High.’

⁷ But you will die like mere mortals;
     you will fall like every other ruler.”

⁸ Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
     for all the nations are your inheritance.

or Deuteronomy 30:9-14

⁹ Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, ¹⁰ if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Psalm 25:1-9

¹ In you, LORD my God, I put my trust.
     ² I trust in you;
      do not let me be put to shame,
      nor let my enemies triumph over me.

³ No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame,
     but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,
     teach me your paths.

⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
     for you are God my Savior,
     and my hope is in you all day long.

⁶ Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,
     for they are from of old.

⁷ Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
     according to your love remember me,
     for you, LORD, are good.

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD;
     therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

⁹ He guides the humble in what is right
     and teaches them his way.

¹⁰ All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
     toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Colossians 1:1-14

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— ⁵ the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷ You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 10:25-37

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” ²⁷ He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.