Divergence on the Lectionary – Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A
First Reading 1 Samuel 16:1–13 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” And Samuel […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Third Sunday in Lent, Year A
Before I begin, apologies for messing the Divergence up last week. On Saturday a friend and subscriber asked if I were okay, as they couldn’t find that week’s Divergence. When I investigated, it turned out that I hadn’t put the post into any category, and so when I published it, it went exactly nowhere. Or […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Second Sunday in Lent, Year A
First Reading Genesis 12:1–4a Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – First Sunday in Lent, Year A
First Reading Genesis 2:15–17, 3:1–7 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Ash Wednesday (all readings)
First Reading Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
First Reading Exodus 24:12–18 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
First Reading Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b–12) “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
First Reading Micah 6:1–8 Hear what the LORD says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. “O my […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
First Reading Isaiah 9:1–4 (5-7 added in italics for context) But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
First Reading Isaiah 49:1–7 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – The First Sunday after the Epiphany
The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, Year A First Reading Isaiah 42:1–9 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – Second Sunday after Christmas, All Years
First Reading Jeremiah 31:7–14 For thus says the LORD: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – First Sunday after Christmas, All Years
First Reading Isaiah 61:10-62:3 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – The Feast of the Nativity III
First Reading Isaiah 52:7–10 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – The Feast of the Nativity II
First Reading Isaiah 62:6–12 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. The LORD has […]
Divergence on the Lectionary – The Feast of the Nativity I
First Reading Isaiah 9:2–7 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they […]
