Christ Healing the Blind, by el Greco, 1570s, Oil on canvas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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 28 are from Lectionary Year B, Proper 25 Sunday closest to October 26: Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22) or Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 7:23-28 and Mark 10:46-52. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New Revised Standard Version.

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

¹ Then Job answered the Lord:

² "I know that you can do all things,
     and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

³ "Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
     things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

⁴ "Hear, and I will speak;
     I will question you, and you declare to me.'

⁵ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
     but now my eye sees you;

⁶ therefore I despise myself,
     and repent in dust and ashes."

¹⁰ And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. ¹² The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. ¹³ He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. ¹⁶ After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations. ¹⁷ And Job died, old and full of days.

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

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;
     his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
     let the humble hear and be glad.

³ O magnify the Lord with me,
     and let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
     and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ Look to him, and be radiant;
     so your faces shall never be ashamed.

⁶ This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
     and was saved from every trouble.

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
     and delivers them.

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good;
     happy are those who take refuge in him.

[¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
     but the Lord rescues them from them all.

²⁰ He keeps all their bones;
     not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil brings death to the wicked,
     and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

²² The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
     none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. ]

or Jeremiah 31:7-9

⁷ For thus says the Lord:

    Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
         and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
    proclaim, give praise, and say,

         "Save, O Lord, your people,
             the remnant of Israel."

⁸ See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
     and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame, those with child and
     those in labor, together;
     a great company, they shall return here.

⁹ With weeping they shall come,
     and with consolations I will lead them back,

I will let them walk by brooks of water,
     in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;

for I have become a father to Israel,
     and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Psalm 126

¹ When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
     we were like those who dream.

² Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
     and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,
    "The Lord has done great things for them."

³ The Lord has done great things for us,
     and we rejoiced.

⁴ Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
     like the watercourses in the Negeb.

⁵ May those who sow in tears
     reap with shouts of joy.

⁶ Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed
     for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy,
     carrying their sheaves.

Hebrews 7:23-28

²³ Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; ²⁴ but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. ²⁵ Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁸ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." ⁵⁰ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again." ⁵² Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.