Tuesday After Epiphany – Bautha of the Virgins

Tuesday After Epiphany – Bautha of the Virgins

 

1Samuel 7:3-9

Samuel as Judge of Israel

3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lordonly.

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah. ⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard of it they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.

 

Isaiah 59:1-18

Injustice and Oppression to Be Punished

59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,

that it cannot save,

or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;

² but your iniquities have made a separation

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you

so that he does not hear.

³ For your hands are defiled with blood

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

your tongue mutters wickedness.

⁴ No one enters suit justly,

no one goes to law honestly;

they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,

they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs,

they weave the spider’s web;

he who eats their eggs dies,

and from one which is crushed a viper is hatched.

⁶ Their webs will not serve as clothing;

men will not cover themselves with what they make.

Their works are works of iniquity,

and deeds of violence are in their hands.

⁷ Their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed innocent blood;

their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,

desolation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸ The way of peace they know not,

and there is no justice in their paths;

they have made their roads crooked,

no one who goes in them knows peace.

⁹ Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not overtake us;

we look for light, and behold, darkness,

and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

¹⁰ We grope for the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who have no eyes;

we stumble at noon as in the twilight,

among those in full vigor we are like dead men.

¹¹ We all growl like bears,

we moan and moan like doves;

we look for justice, but there is none;

for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹² For our transgressions are multiplied before you,

and our sins testify against us;

for our transgressions are with us,

and we know our iniquities:

¹³ transgressing, and denying the Lord,

and turning away from following our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

¹⁴ Justice is turned back,

and righteousness stands afar off;

for truth has fallen in the public squares,

and uprightness cannot enter.

¹⁵ Truth is lacking,

and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him

that there was no justice.

¹⁶ He saw that there was no man,

and wondered that there was no one to intervene;

then his own arm brought him victory,

and his righteousness upheld him.

¹⁷ He put on righteousness as a breastplate,

and a helmet of salvation upon his head;

he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,

and wrapped himself in fury as a mantle.

¹⁸ According to their deeds, so will he repay,

wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;

to the islands he will render repayment.

 

Romans 12:1-21

The New Life in Christ

12 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

Luke 18:2-14

The Parable of the Widow and the Unrighteous Judge

² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; ³ and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, ⁵ yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ ” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The Parable of the Pharisees and the Tax Collector

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”