Preparing for the Eighth
Sunday after Pentecost
Year C

Daily Readings for Thursday
July 31, 2025

Prayer

Generous God, 

in abundance you give us things both spiritual and physical. 

Help us to hold lightly the fading things of this earth 

and grasp tightly the lasting things of your kingdom, 

so that what we are and do and say 

may be our gifts to you 

through Christ, who beckons all to seek the things above, 

where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

Give thanks to the Most High

 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

those he redeemed from trouble

and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,

finding no way to an inhabited town;

hungry and thirsty,

their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress;

he led them by a straight way,

until they reached an inhabited town.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wonderful works to humankind.

For he satisfies the thirsty,

and the hungry he fills with good things.

Let those who are wise give heed to these things,

and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

 

Hosea 8:1-14

Israel’s stubborn apostasy

 

Set the trumpet to your lips!

One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,

because they have broken my covenant,

and transgressed my law.

Israel cries to me,

“My God, we—Israel—know you!”

Israel has spurned the good;

the enemy shall pursue him.

They made kings, but not through me;

they set up princes, but without my knowledge.

With their silver and gold they made idols

for their own destruction.

Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.

My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of innocence?

For it is from Israel,

an artisan made it;

it is not God.

The calf of Samaria

shall be broken to pieces.

For they sow the wind,

and they shall reap the whirlwind.

The standing grain has no heads,

it shall yield no meal;

if it were to yield,

foreigners would devour it.

Israel is swallowed up;

now they are among the nations

as a useless vessel.

For they have gone up to Assyria,

a wild ass wandering alone;

Ephraim has bargained for lovers.

Though they bargain with the nations,

I will now gather them up.

They shall soon writhe

under the burden of kings and princes.

When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin,

they became to him altars for sinning.

Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions,

they are regarded as a strange thing.

Though they offer choice sacrifices,

though they eat flesh,

the Lord does not accept them.

Now he will remember their iniquity,

and punish their sins;

they shall return to Egypt.

Israel has forgotten his Maker,

and built palaces;

and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;

but I will send a fire upon his cities,

and it shall devour his strongholds.

 

Romans 11:33-36

God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge

 

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

 

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to him,

to receive a gift in return?”

 

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

 

 

Prayer

Generous Giver, 

you pour forth your extravagant bounty 

without measure upon your whole creation. 

Teach us such generosity, 

that the fruits of our spirits 

and the works of our hands may be used 

for the building of your commonwealth of blessing. Amen.

 

Psalm 49:1-12

The folly of trust in riches

 

Hear this, all you peoples;

give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

both low and high,

rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak wisdom;

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

Why should I fear in times of trouble,

when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

those who trust in their wealth

and boast of the abundance of their riches?

Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,

there is no price one can give to God for it.

For the ransom of life is costly,

and can never suffice,

that one should live on forever

and never see the grave.

When we look at the wise, they die;

fool and dolt perish together

and leave their wealth to others.

Their graves are their homes forever,

their dwelling places to all generations,

though they named lands their own.

Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;

they are like the animals that perish.

 

Proverbs 23:1-11

Resist the allure of becoming rich

 

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what is before you,

and put a knife to your throat

if you have a big appetite.

Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies,

for they are deceptive food.

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;

be wise enough to desist.

When your eyes light upon it, it is gone;

for suddenly it takes wings to itself,

flying like an eagle toward heaven.

Do not eat the bread of the stingy;

do not desire their delicacies;

for like a hair in the throat, so are they.

“Eat and drink!” they say to you;

but they do not mean it.

You will vomit up the little you have eaten,

and you will waste your pleasant words.

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

who will only despise the wisdom of your words.

Do not remove an ancient landmark

or encroach on the fields of orphans,

for their redeemer is strong;

he will plead their cause against you.

 

Romans 11:33-36

God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge

 

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

 

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to him,

to receive a gift in return?”

 

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

 

 

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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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