Proper 23

Amos 5:6-15

6   Seek the LORD and live,
    lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
7   O you who turn justice to wormwood
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8   He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness into the morning
    and darkens the day into night,
  who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
  the LORD is his name;
9   who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
    so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10   They hate him who reproves in the gate,
    and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11   Therefore because you trample on the poor
    and you exact taxes of grain from him,
  you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not dwell in them;
  you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
12   For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
  you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
    and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13   Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,
    for it is an evil time.
14   Seek good, and not evil,
    that you may live;
  and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
    as you have said.
15   Hate evil, and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate;
  it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Psalm 90:1-12, (13-17)

1 Lord, you have been our refuge*
  from one generation to another.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or the earth and the world were made,*
  you are God from everlasting, and world without end.

3 You turn man back to the dust;*
  you say, “Return, O children of men.”

4 For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday,*
  even as a day that is past.

5 You scatter them as a night-watch that comes quickly to an end;*
  they are even as a dream and fade away.

6 They are like the grass, which in the morning is green,*
  but in the evening is dried up and withered.

7 For we consume away in your displeasure*
  and are afraid at your wrathful indignation.

8 You have set our misdeeds before you,*
  and our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

9 For when you are angry, all our days are gone;*
  we bring our years to an end, as a tale that is told.

10 The days of our life are seventy years, and though some be so strong that they come to eighty years,*
  yet is their span but labor and sorrow; so soon it passes away, and we are gone.

11 But who regards the power of your wrath,*
  and who considers the fierceness of your anger?

12 So teach us to number our days,*
  that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

13 Turn again, O LORD, and tarry not;*
  be gracious unto your servants.

14 O satisfy us with your mercy in the morning;*
  so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

15 Comfort us again, according to the measure of the days that you have afflicted us,*
  and for the years in which we have suffered adversity.

16 Show your servants your work*
  and their children your glory.

17 And may the grace of the Lord our God be upon us;*
  prosper the work of our hands; O prosper our handiwork.

Hebrews 3:1-6

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Mark 10:17-31

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”