Old Testament Reading Amos 8:4–7

P The Old Testament Reading is from Amos, the eighth chapter.

⁴Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, ⁵saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, ⁶that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” ⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”

P This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Psalm Psalm 113

¹Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

²Blessèd be the name of the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore!

³From the rising of the sun to its setting,

the name of the Lord is to be praised!

⁴The Lord is high above all nations,

and his glory above the heavens!

⁵Who is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high,

⁶who looks far down

on the heavens and the earth?

⁷He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

⁸to make them sit with princes,

with the princes of his people.

⁹He gives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!

Epistle 1 Timothy 2:1–15

P The Epistle is from 1 Timothy, the second chapter.

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

P This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Holy Gospel Luke 16:1–15

P The Holy Gospel according to Luke, the sixteenth chapter.

C Glory to You, O Lord.

¹[Jesus] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

²And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” ¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. ¹⁵And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C Praise to You, O Christ.