From William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job 8 March 1825.

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 26, are from Lectionary Year B, Sunday closest to October 26. Track 1: Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22) or Track 2: Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126 and for both: Hebrews 7:23-28 and Mark 10:46-52. The text is from the New King James Version *

Track 1:

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

¹ Then Job answered the Lord and said: ² "I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. ³ You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ⁴ Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' ⁵ "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. ⁶ Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."

¹⁰ And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. ¹² Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. ¹³ He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. ¹⁶ After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. ¹⁷ So Job died, old and full of days.

Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

¹ A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. ² My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. ³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. ⁴ I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. ⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. ⁶ This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. ⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. ²⁰ He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. ²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. ²² The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

or Track 2:

Jeremiah 31:7-9

⁷ For thus says the Lord: "Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O Lord, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!' ⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child And the one who labors with child, together; A great throng shall return there. ⁹ They shall come with weeping, And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.

Psalm 126

¹ A Song of Ascents. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. ² Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." ³ The Lord has done great things for us, And we are glad. ⁴ Bring back our captivity, O Lord, As the streams in the South. ⁵ Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. ⁶ He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.

and for both:

Hebrews 7:23-28

²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶ Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁸ Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁹ So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you." ⁵⁰ And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." ⁵² Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

* The NKJV was commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. One-hundred-and-thirty respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay Christians worked for seven years with the goal of updating the vocabulary and grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style of the of the 1611 version.

The task of updating the English of the KJV involved many changes in word order, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. One of the most significant features of the NKJV was its removal of the second person pronouns "thou", "thee", "ye," "thy," and "thine." Verb forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example, "speaks" rather than "speaketh").

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.