Transportation of the Ark of the Covenant Containing the Tablets of the Law, 1816, Luigi Ademollo, fresco at the Galleria Paltina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

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 follow the Revised Common Lectionary as adapted for use in Episcopal worship.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, November 5 --All Saints Sunday: Track 1: Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 Track 2: Micah 3:5-12; Psalm 43 for both: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 and Matthew 23:1-12. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New Revised Standard Version.

Track 1

Joshua 3:7-17

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. ⁸ You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, "When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.' " ⁹ Joshua then said to the Israelites, "Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God." ¹⁰ Joshua said, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: ¹¹ the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. ¹² So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³ When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap."

¹⁴ When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, ¹⁶ the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

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.

³³ He turns rivers into a desert,
     springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁴ a fruitful land into a salty waste,
     because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.

³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water,
     a parched land into springs of water.

³⁶ And there he lets the hungry live,
     and they establish a town to live in;

³⁷ they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
     and get a fruitful yield.

Track 2

Micah 3:5-12

⁵ Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets
     who lead my people astray,

who cry "Peace"
     when they have something to eat,

but declare war against those
     who put nothing into their mouths.

⁶ Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
     and darkness to you, without revelation.

The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
     and the day shall be black over them;

⁷ the seers shall be disgraced,
     and the diviners put to shame;

they shall all cover their lips,
     for there is no answer from God.

⁸ But as for me, I am filled with power,
     with the spirit of the Lord,
     and with justice and might,

to declare to Jacob his transgression
     and to Israel his sin.

⁹ Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
     and chiefs of the house of Israel,

who abhor justice
     and pervert all equity,

¹⁰ who build Zion with blood
     and Jerusalem with wrong!

¹¹ Its rulers give judgment for a bribe,
     its priests teach for a price,
     its prophets give oracles for money;

yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
     "Surely the Lord is with us!
     No harm shall come upon us."

¹² Therefore because of you
     Zion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
     and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Psalm 43

¹ Vindicate me, O God,
     and defend my cause against an ungodly people;
     from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!

² For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
     why have you cast me off?
     Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?

³ O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me;
     let them bring me to your holy hill
     and to your dwelling.

⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
     to God my exceeding joy;
     and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.

⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul,
     and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;
     for I shall again praise him,
     my help and my God.

for both

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

⁹ You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. ¹¹ As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, ¹² urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³ We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers.

Matthew 23:1-12

¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; ³ therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. ⁶ They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. ⁹ And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.