Lectionary Readings
Book of Common Prayer - 1979
Sunday, January-26-2014
Third Sunday after Epiphany

The Collect

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Preface of the Epiphany, or of the Lord's Day

Old Testament Reading

Amos 3:1-8
¹Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: ²" You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." ³Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? ⁴Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? ⁵Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? ⁶If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it? ⁷Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. ⁸A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? -- NKJV

Psalm

Psalm 139:1-17

1LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *
     you know my sitting down and my rising up;
     you discern my thoughts from afar.
2You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
     and are acquainted with all my ways.
3Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
     but you, O LORD, know it altogether.
4You press upon me behind and before *
     and lay your hand upon me.
5Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
     it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
     where can I flee from your presence?
7If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
     if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8If I take the wings of the morning *
     and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9Even there your hand will lead me *
     and your right hand hold me fast.
10If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, *
     and the light around me turn to night,"
11Darkness is not dark to you;
     the night is as bright as the day; *
     darkness and light to you are both alike.
12For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
     you knit me together in my mother's womb.
13I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *
     your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
14My body was not hidden from you, *
     while I was being made in secret
     and woven in the depths of the earth.
15Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
     all of them were written in your book; *
     they were fashioned day by day,
     when as yet there was none of them.
16How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
     how great is the sum of them!
17If I were to count them, they would be more in number
     than the sand; *
     to count them all, my life span would need to
     be like yours.

- OR -
Psalm 139:1-11

1LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *
     you know my sitting down and my rising up;
     you discern my thoughts from afar.
2You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
     and are acquainted with all my ways.
3Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
     but you, O LORD, know it altogether.
4You press upon me behind and before *
     and lay your hand upon me.
5Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
     it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
     where can I flee from your presence?
7If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
     if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8If I take the wings of the morning *
     and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9Even there your hand will lead me *
     and your right hand hold me fast.
10If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, *
     and the light around me turn to night,"
11Darkness is not dark to you;
     the night is as bright as the day; *
     darkness and light to you are both alike.

New Testament Reading

1 Corinthians 1:10-17
¹⁰Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. ¹²Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." ¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. -- NKJV

Gospel Reading

Matthew 4:12-23
¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. ¹³And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ¹⁵" The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: ¹⁶The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned." ¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." ¹⁸And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰They immediately left their nets and followed Him. ²¹Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. ²³And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. -- NKJV