Preparing for the Twelfth
Sunday after Pentecost
Year B

Daily Readings for Friday
August 13, 2021

Prayer

Living God, 

you are the giver of wisdom and true discernment, 

guiding those who seek your ways to choose the good. 

Mercifully grant that your people, 

feasting on the true bread of heaven, 

may have eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Psalm 111

The beginning of wisdom

 

Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them.

Full of honor and majesty is his work,

and his righteousness endures forever.

He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;

the Lord is gracious and merciful.

He provides food for those who fear him;

he is ever mindful of his covenant.

He has shown his people the power of his works,

in giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;

all his precepts are trustworthy.

They are established forever and ever,

to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

He sent redemption to his people;

he has commanded his covenant forever.

Holy and awesome is his name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever.

 

1 Kings 1:28-48

Solomon becomes king

 

King David answered, “Summon Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. The king swore, saying, “As the Lord lives, who has saved my life from every adversity, as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so will I do this day.” Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and did obeisance to the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

 

King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. There let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so ordain. As the Lord has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

 

So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and led him to Gihon. There the priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth quaked at their noise.

 

Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?” While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news.” Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king; the king has sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they had him ride on the king’s mule; the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you heard. Solomon now sits on the royal throne. Moreover the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’”

 

Romans 16:17-20

Being wise in what is good

 

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

 

 

Prayer

Holy Wisdom, God of abundant life, 

you call us to the banquet of your love. 

We find you in the gifts you give; 

we know you in the ones with whom we share this holy food, 

and in the bread of this table, your Son, Jesus Christ. 

Grant that we may be bread for others, 

as he is bread for us. Amen.

 

Psalm 34:9-14

Seeking God

 

O fear the Lord, you his holy ones,

for those who fear him have no want.

The young lions suffer want and hunger,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Come, O children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Which of you desires life,

and covets many days to enjoy good?

Keep your tongue from evil,

and your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil, and do good;

seek peace, and pursue it.

 

Job 12:1-25

Job sees wisdom and strength in God

 

Then Job answered:

 

“No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know such things as these?

I am a laughingstock to my friends;

I, who called upon God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock.

Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,

but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.

The tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure,

who bring their god in their hands.

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you;

the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

Who among all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this?

In his hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of every human being.

Does not the ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

Is wisdom with the aged,

and understanding in length of days?

“With God are wisdom and strength;

he has counsel and understanding.

If he tears down, no one can rebuild;

if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.

If he withholds the waters, they dry up;

if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

With him are strength and wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

He leads counselors away stripped,

and makes fools of judges.

He looses the sash of kings,

and binds a waistcloth on their loins.

He leads priests away stripped,

and overthrows the mighty.

He deprives of speech those who are trusted,

and takes away the discernment of the elders.

He pours contempt on princes,

and looses the belt of the strong.

He uncovers the deeps out of darkness,

and brings deep darkness to light.

He makes nations great, then destroys them;

he enlarges nations, then leads them away.

He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth,

and makes them wander in a pathless waste.

They grope in the dark without light;

he makes them stagger like a drunkard.”

 

Romans 16:17-20

Being wise in what is good

 

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

 

 

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Prayer reprinted from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts. Reproduced by permission.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress. Reproduced by permission. No further reproduction allowed without the written permission of Augsburg Fortress.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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