The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, August 20, 2023
The Collect:
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Old Testament Lesson:
Genesis 45:1-15 KJV
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2Â And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3Â And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
4Â And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5Â Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6Â For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7Â And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8Â So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9Â Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
10Â And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
11Â And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
12Â And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
13Â And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
14Â And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
15Â Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
The Psalm:
Psalm 133 KJV
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is*
for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2Â It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard:*
that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3Â As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:*
for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
The Epistle:
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 KJV
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2Â God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
29Â For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
30Â For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31Â Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32Â For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
The Gospel:
Matthew 15:10-28 KJV
10Â And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11Â Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12Â Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13Â But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14Â Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15Â Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
16Â And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17Â Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18Â But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19Â For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20Â These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
21Â Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22Â And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23Â But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24Â But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25Â Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26Â But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27Â And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28Â Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.