Proper 7
Week of the Sunday closest to June 22

Collect
O Lord, we beseech thee, make us have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name, for thou never failest to help and govern those whom thou hast set upon the sure foundation of thy loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Job 38:1-11,16-18
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone--
while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

16Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this."

Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Psalm: 107:1-32

1. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, *
   and his mercy endures for ever.
2. Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim *
   that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
3. He gathered them out of the lands; *
   from the east and from the west,
   from the north and from the south.
4. Some wandered in desert wastes; *
   they found no way to a city where they might dwell.
5. They were hungry and thirsty; *
   their spirits languished within them.
6. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, *
   and he delivered them from their distress.
7. He put their feet on a straight path *
   to go to a city where they might dwell.
8. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy *
   and the wonders he does for his children.
9. For he satisfies the thirsty *
   and fills the hungry with good things.
10. Some sat in darkness and deep gloom, *
    bound fast in misery and iron;
11. Because they rebelled against the words of God *
    and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12. So he humbled their spirits with hard labor; *
    they stumbled, and there was none to help.
13. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, *
    and he delivered them from their distress.
14. He led them out of darkness and deep gloom *
    and broke their bonds asunder.
15. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy *
    and the wonders he does for his children.
16. For he shatters the doors of bronze *
    and breaks in two the iron bars.
17. Some were fools and took to rebellious ways; *
    they were afflicted because of their sins.
18. They abhorred all manner of food *
    and drew near to death's door.
19. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, *
    and he delivered them from their distress.
20. He sent forth his word and healed them *
    and saved them from the grave.
21. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy *
    and the wonders he does for his children.
22. Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving *
    and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.
23. Some went down to the sea in ships *
    and plied their trade in deep waters;
24. They beheld the works of the LORD *
    and his wonders in the deep.
25. Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose, *
    which tossed high the waves of the sea.
26. They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; *
    their hearts melted because of their peril.
27. They reeled and staggered like drunkards *
    and were at their wits' end.
28. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
29. He stilled the storm to a whisper *
    and quieted the waves of the sea.
30. Then were they glad because of the calm, *
    and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.
31. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy *
    and the wonders he does for his children.
32. Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people *
    and praise him in the council of the elders.

Gospel: Mark 4:35-41;(5:1-20)
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

51They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore