Sunday, July 21 | St. Andrew's Anglican Church

Psalm 63

¹ O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
    my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
³Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
⁴So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
⁶when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
⁸My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.
⁹But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth;
¹⁰they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
    they shall be a portion for jackals.
¹¹But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Psalm 98

¹ Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things!
    His right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
²The Lord has made known his salvation;
    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
³He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
    All the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.
⁴Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
⁵Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody!
⁶With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
⁷Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who dwell in it!
⁸Let the rivers clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
⁹before the Lord, for he comes
    to judge the earth.
    He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 103

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
³who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
⁴who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
⁶The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷He made known his ways to Moses,
    his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows our frame;
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass;
    he flourishes like a flower of the field;
¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
    and his kingdom rules over all.
²⁰Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
²¹Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
    his ministers, who do his will!
²²Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
    Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Joshua 6:15-27

¹⁵On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. ¹⁹But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. ²¹Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword. ²²But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” ²³So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. ²⁵But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. ²⁶Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.
    “At the cost of his firstborn shall he
    lay its foundation,
    and at the cost of his youngest son
    shall he set up its gates.”
²⁷So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

Acts 22:30-23:11

³⁰But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. ^23:1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ²And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” ⁴Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” ⁵And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” ⁶Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks. ¹¹The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

Mark 2:1-12

¹ And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”