The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany
Year B BCP

Hosea 2:14-23
2 Corinthians 3:(4-11)17-4:2
Mark 2:18-22
Psalm 103 or 103:1-6

Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hosea 2:14-23

The Lord said to Hosea:

Therefore, I will now allure her,

and bring her into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her.

From there I will give her her vineyards,

and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,

as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

On that day, says the LORD, you will call me, "My husband," and no longer will you call me, "My Baal." For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.

On that day I will answer, says the LORD,

I will answer the heavens

and they shall answer the earth;

and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they shall answer Jezreel;

and I will sow him for myself in the land.

And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah,

and I will say to Lo-ammi, "You are my people";

and he shall say, "You are my God."

Psalm 103 or 103:1-6 Page 733, BCP

Benedic, anima mea

1

Bless the LORD, O my soul, *
and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.

2

Bless the LORD, O my soul, *
and forget not all his benefits.

3

He forgives all your sins *
and heals all your infirmities;

4

He redeems your life from the grave *
and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;

5

He satisfies you with good things, *
and your youth is renewed like an eagle's.

6

The LORD executes righteousness *
and judgment for all who are oppressed.

7

He made his ways known to Moses *
and his works to the children of Israel.

8

The LORD is full of compassion and mercy, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.

9

He will not always accuse us, *
nor will he keep his anger for ever.

10

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, *
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

11

For as the heavens are high above the earth, *
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.

12

As far as the east is from the west, *
so far has he removed our sins from us.

13

As a father cares for his children, *
so does the LORD care for those who fear him.

14

For he himself knows whereof we are made; *
he remembers that we are but dust.

15

Our days are like the grass; *
we flourish like a flower of the field;

16

When the wind goes over it, it is gone, *
and its place shall know it no more.

17

But the merciful goodness of the LORD endures for ever on those who fear him, *
and his righteousness on children's children;

18

On those who keep his covenant *
and remember his commandments and do them.

19

The LORD has set his throne in heaven, *
and his kingship has dominion over all.

20

Bless the LORD, you angels of his,
you mighty ones who do his bidding, *
and hearken to the voice of his word.

21

Bless the LORD, all you his hosts, *
you ministers of his who do his will.

22

Bless the LORD, all you works of his,
in all places of his dominion; *
bless the LORD, O my soul.

2 Corinthians 3:(4-11)17-4:2

[Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory; for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory! ]

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Mark 2:18-22

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Collects, Psalms and Canticles are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.

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