Sunday, November 1, 2020

Eighth Sunday after the Holy Cross

Isaiah 22:15-24
Ephesians 1:1-14
Luke 8:17-21

Isaiah 22:15-24

[15] Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him:
[16] What have you to do here and whom have you here, that you have hewn here a tomb for yourself, you who hew a tomb on the height, and carve a habitation for yourself in the rock?
[17] Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you,
[18] and whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there shall be your splendid chariots, you shame of your master’s house.
[19] I will thrust you from your office, and you will be cast down from your station.
[20] In that day I will call my servant Eli’akim the son of Hilki’ah,
[21] and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
[22] And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
[23] And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.
[24] And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons.

Ephesians 1:1-14

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus:
[2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
[4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
[5] He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
[6] to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
[7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
[8] which he lavished upon us.
[9] For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ
[10] as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
[11] In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will,
[12] we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.
[13] In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
[14] which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Luke 8:17-21

[17] For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.
[18] Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
[19] Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd.
[20] And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.”
[21] But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible is copyright © National Council of Churches of Christ in America