Preparing for the Twenty-First
Sunday after Pentecost
Year B

Daily Readings for Saturday
October 16, 2021

Prayer

Creator God, 

you are wrapped in light as a garment, 

clothed with honor and majesty. 

Enlighten us with true faith and humble obedience 

that seeks to serve others in your name. Amen.

 

Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35b

In wisdom you have made them all

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with honor and majesty,

wrapped in light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,

you make the clouds your chariot,

you ride on the wings of the wind,

you make the winds your messengers,

fire and flame your ministers.

You set the earth on its foundations,

so that it shall never be shaken.

You cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

At your rebuke they flee;

at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys

to the place that you appointed for them.

You set a boundary that they may not pass,

Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Praise the Lord!

 

Job 39:1-30

God confronts Job

 

“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe the calving of the deer?

Can you number the months that they fulfill,

and do you know the time when they give birth,

when they crouch to give birth to their offspring,

and are delivered of their young?

Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open;

they go forth, and do not return to them.

“Who has let the wild ass go free?

Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,

to which I have given the steppe for its home,

the salt land for its dwelling place?

It scorns the tumult of the city;

it does not hear the shouts of the driver.

It ranges the mountains as its pasture,

and it searches after every green thing.

“Is the wild ox willing to serve you?

Will it spend the night at your crib?

Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,

or will it harrow the valleys after you?

Will you depend on it because its strength is great,

and will you hand over your labor to it?

Do you have faith in it that it will return,

and bring your grain to your threshing floor?

“The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,

though its pinions lack plumage.

For it leaves its eggs to the earth,

and lets them be warmed on the ground,

forgetting that a foot may crush them,

and that a wild animal may trample them.

It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;

though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;

because God has made it forget wisdom,

and given it no share in understanding.

When it spreads its plumes aloft,

it laughs at the horse and its rider.

“Do you give the horse its might?

Do you clothe its neck with mane?

Do you make it leap like the locust?

Its majestic snorting is terrible.

It paws violently, exults mightily;

it goes out to meet the weapons.

It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed;

it does not turn back from the sword.

Upon it rattle the quiver,

the flashing spear, and the javelin.

With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground;

it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’

From a distance it smells the battle,

the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,

and spreads its wings toward the south?

Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

and makes its nest on high?

It lives on the rock and makes its home

in the fastness of the rocky crag.

From there it spies the prey;

its eyes see it from far away.

Its young ones suck up blood;

and where the slain are, there it is.”

 

Luke 22:24-30

The greatness of one who serves

 

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

 

“You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

 

 

Prayer

Most High, 

your Anointed One offered himself freely 

as witness against our violence, 

our acts of oppression, 

and our sin. 

As you delighted to call him your Son, 

give us the courage to bring you equal delight 

by our willingness to drink the cup of sacrifice 

on behalf of our sisters and brothers, 

and, with them, offer you praise unceasing 

and lives transformed 

as true heirs of your grace-filled realm. Amen.

 

Psalm 91:9-16

The Most High, your refuge

 

Because you have made the Lord your refuge,

the Most High your dwelling place,

no evil shall befall you,

no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the adder,

the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;

I will protect those who know my name.

When they call to me, I will answer them;

I will be with them in trouble,

I will rescue them and honor them.

With long life I will satisfy them,

and show them my salvation.

 

Isaiah 47:10-15

Futile trust in those who cannot save

 

You felt secure in your wickedness;

you said, “No one sees me.”

Your wisdom and your knowledge

led you astray,

and you said in your heart,

“I am, and there is no one besides me.”

But evil shall come upon you,

which you cannot charm away;

disaster shall fall upon you,

which you will not be able to ward off;

and ruin shall come on you suddenly,

of which you know nothing.

Stand fast in your enchantments

and your many sorceries,

with which you have labored from your youth;

perhaps you may be able to succeed,

perhaps you may inspire terror.

You are wearied with your many consultations;

let those who study the heavens

stand up and save you,

those who gaze at the stars,

and at each new moon predict

what shall befall you.

See, they are like stubble,

the fire consumes them;

they cannot deliver themselves

from the power of the flame.

No coal for warming oneself is this,

no fire to sit before!

Such to you are those with whom you have labored,

who have trafficked with you from your youth;

they all wander about in their own paths;

there is no one to save you.

 

Luke 22:24-30

The greatness of one who serves

 

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

 

“You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

 

 

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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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