Christ and the Tribute Money by Titian, c 1516, oil on canvas at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

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, October 19, are from Lectionary Year A, Proper 24: Exodus 33:12-23 or Isaiah 45:1-7; Psalm 99 or Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13); 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 and Matthew 22:15-22. The text is from the New Revised Standard Version. *

Exodus 33:12-23

¹² Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, you have said to me, “Bring up this people”; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, “I know you by name, and you have also found favour in my sight.” ¹³Now if I have found favour in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favour in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’ ¹⁴He said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ ¹⁵And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. ¹⁶For how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.’

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.’ ¹⁸Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ ¹⁹And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord”; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰But’, he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.’ ²¹And the Lord continued, ‘See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; ²²and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; ²³then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.’

or Isaiah 45:1-7

¹Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:
² I will go before you
and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
³ I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴ For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I surname you, though you do not know me.
⁵ I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶ so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
⁷ I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.

Psalm 99

¹ The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
² The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
³ Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
⁴ Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵ Extol the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷ He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.

⁸ O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
⁹ Extol the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy.

or Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
² Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
³ Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous works among all the peoples.
⁴ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶ Honour and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹ Worship the Lord in holy splendour;
tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.’
¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹² let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³ before the Lord; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

² We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, ⁷so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Matthew 22:15-22

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ ²¹They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

* "New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
NRSV