Proper 10
week of the Sunday closest to July 13

Collect
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Second Lesson: Colossians 1:1-14
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Psalm: 25

  1. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
    my God, I put my trust in you; *
    let me not be humiliated,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.
  2. Let none who look to you be put to shame; *
    let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.
  3. Show me your ways, O LORD, *
    and teach me your paths.
  4. Lead me in your truth and teach me, *
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    in you have I trusted all the day long.
  5. Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, *
    for they are from everlasting.
  6. Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *
    remember me according to your love
    and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.
  7. Gracious and upright is the LORD; *
    therefore he teaches sinners in his way.
  8. He guides the humble in doing right *
    and teaches his way to the lowly.
  9. All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness *
    to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
  10. For your Name's sake, O LORD, *
    forgive my sin, for it is great.
  11. Who are they who fear the LORD? *
    he will teach them the way that they should choose.
  12. They shall dwell in prosperity, *
    and their offspring shall inherit the land.
  13. The LORD is a friend to those who fear him *
    and will show them his covenant.
  14. My eyes are ever looking to the LORD, *
    for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
  15. Turn to me and have pity on me, *
    for I am left alone and in misery.
  16. The sorrows of my heart have increased; *
    bring me out of my troubles.
  17. Look upon my adversity and misery *
    and forgive me all my sin.
  18. Look upon my enemies, for they are many, *
    and they bear a violent hatred against me.
  19. Protect my life and deliver me; *
    let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.
  20. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, *
    for my hope has been in you.
  21. Deliver Israel, O God, *
    out of all his troubles.

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

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

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore