Vanity, 1633, Hendrick Gerritsz Pot, oil on panel at the Frans Halsmuseum, Haalem, the Netherlands

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 31 are from Lectionary Year C, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 13, Track 1: Hosea 11:1-11, Psalm 107:1-9, 43 or Track 2: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-11 and for both: Colossians 3:1-11 and Luke 12:13-21. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New Revised Standard Version.

Track 1

Hosea 11:1-11

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

² The more I called them,
     the more they went from me;

they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
     and offering incense to idols.

³ Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
     I took them up in my arms;
     but they did not know that I healed them.

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

I was to them like those
     who lift infants to their cheeks.
     I bent down to them and fed them.

⁵ They shall return to the land of Egypt,
     and Assyria shall be their king,
     because they have refused to return to me.

⁶ The sword rages in their cities,
     it consumes their oracle-priests,
     and devours because of their schemes.

⁷ My people are bent on turning away from me.
     To the Most High they call,
     but he does not raise them up at all.

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

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

My heart recoils within me;
     my compassion grows warm and tender.

⁹ I will not execute my fierce anger;
     I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and no mortal,
     the Holy One in your midst,
     and I will not come in wrath.

¹⁰ They shall go after the Lord,
     who roars like a lion;

when he roars,
     his children shall come trembling from the west.

¹¹ They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
     and like doves from the land of Assyria;
     and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
     for his steadfast love endures forever.

² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
     those he redeemed from trouble

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

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes,
     finding no way to an inhabited town;

⁵ hungry and thirsty,
     their soul fainted within them.

⁶ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
     and he delivered them from their distress;

⁷ he led them by a straight way,
     until they reached an inhabited town.

⁸ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
     for his wonderful works to humankind.

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

⁴³ Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
     and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Track 2

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

² Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

¹² I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, ¹³ applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. ¹⁴ I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

^2:18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me ¹⁹ —and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹ because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? ²³ For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Psalm 49:1-11

¹ Hear this, all you peoples;
     give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
    ² both low and high, rich and poor together.

³ My mouth shall speak wisdom;
     the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

⁴ I will incline my ear to a proverb;
     I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

⁵ Why should I fear in times of trouble,
     when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

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

⁷ Truly, no ransom avails for one's life,
     there is no price one can give to God for it.

⁸ For the ransom of life is costly,
     and can never suffice,

⁹ that one should live on forever
     and never see the grave.

¹⁰ When we look at the wise, they die;
     fool and dolt perish together
     and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹ Their graves are their homes forever,
     their dwelling places to all generations,
     though they named lands their own.

¹² Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
     they are like the animals that perish.

for both

Colossians 3:1-11

¹ So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³ for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. ⁷ These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. ⁸ But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹ In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." ¹⁴ But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" ¹⁵ And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." ¹⁶ Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷ And he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' ¹⁸ Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' ²⁰ But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' ²¹ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.