Proper 13
Week of the Sunday closest to August 3

Collect
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Exodus 16:2-4,9-15
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions."

9Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'"

While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

The LORD said to Moses, "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'"

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat."

Second Lesson: Ephesians 4:17-25
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Psalm: 78:1-25

1. Hear my teaching, O my people; *
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2. I will open my mouth in a parable; *
   I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.
3. That which we have heard and known,
   and what our forefathers have told us, *
   we will not hide from their children.
4. We will recount to generations to come
   the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD, *
   and the wonderful works he has done.
5. He gave his decrees to Jacob
   and established a law for Israel, *
   which he commanded them to teach their children;
6. That the generations to come might know,
   and the children yet unborn; *
   that they in their turn might tell it to their children;
7. So that they might put their trust in God, *
   and not forget the deeds of God,
   but keep his commandments;
8. And not be like their forefathers,
   a stubborn and rebellious generation, *
   a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
   and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9. The people of Ephraim, armed with the bow, *
   turned back in the day of battle;
10. They did not keep the covenant of God, *
    and refused to walk in his law;
11. They forgot what he had done, *
    and the wonders he had shown them.
12. He worked marvels in the sight of their forefathers, *
    in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13. He split open the sea and let them pass through; *
    he made the waters stand up like walls.
14. He led them with a cloud by day, *
    and all the night through with a glow of fire.
15. He split the hard rocks in the wilderness *
    and gave them drink as from the great deep.
16. He brought streams out of the cliff, *
    and the waters gushed out like rivers.
17. But they went on sinning against him, *
    rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
18. They tested God in their hearts, *
    demanding food for their craving.
19. They railed against God and said, *
    "Can God set a table in the wilderness?
20. True, he struck the rock, the waters gushed out, and the
    gullies overflowed; *
    but is he able to give bread
    or to provide meat for his people?"
21. When the LORD heard this, he was full of wrath; *
    a fire was kindled against Jacob,
    and his anger mounted against Israel;
22. For they had no faith in God, *
    nor did they put their trust in his saving power.
23. So he commanded the clouds above *
    and opened the doors of heaven.
24. He rained down manna upon them to eat *
    and gave them grain from heaven.
25. So mortals ate the bread of angels; *
    he provided for them food enough.

Gospel: John 6:24-35
Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

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

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore