Author: THERESA JACOBSON

Third Sunday in Lent	March 3, 2024
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, consider the worthy desires of your humble servants. Reach out to defend us from evil by the word and work of your majestic right hand. Grant this, we pray, through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17 
^1God spoke all these words, saying, ^2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.^3You shall have no other gods before me. ^4You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ^5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ^6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ^7You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ^8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ^10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ^11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. ^12Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ^13You shall not murder. ^14You shall not commit adultery. ^15You shall not steal. ^16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ^17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Psalm 19 (LBW)
^1The heavens declare the glo- | ry of God,*
	and the firmament | shows his handiwork.
^2One day tells its tale | to another,*
	and one night imparts knowledge | to another.
^3Although they have no | words or language,*
	and their voices | are not heard,
^4Their sound has gone out in- | to all lands,*
	and their message to the ends | of the world.
^5In the deep has he set a pavilion | for the sun;*
	it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
			it rejoices like a champion to | run its course.
^6It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens 
	and runs about to the end of | it again;*
			nothing is hidden from its | burning heat.
^7The law of the Lord is perfect and re- | vives the soul;*
	the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom | to the innocent.
^8The statutes of the Lord are just and re- | joice the heart;*
	the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light | to the eyes.
^9The fear of the Lord is clean and en- | dures forever;*
	the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous | altogether.
^10More to be desired are they than gold, more than | much fine gold,*
	sweeter far than honey, than honey | in the comb.
^11By them also is your ser- | vant enlightened,*
	and in keeping them there is | great reward.
^12Who can tell how often | he offends?*
	cleanse me from my | secret faults.
^13Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion | over me;*
	then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a | great offense.
^14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable | in your sight,*
	O Lord, my strength and | my redeemer. 
Psalm 19 (ESV)
^1The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
^2Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
^3There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
^4Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
^5which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
^6Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
^7The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
^8the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
^9the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
^10More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
^11Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
^12Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
^13Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
^14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 
^18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ^19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ^20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ^21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ^22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ^23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ^24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ^25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ^26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ^27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ^28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ^29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ^30And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ^31so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Gospel: John 2:13-22 [23-25]
^13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ^14In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ^15And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ^16And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” ^17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ^18So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ^19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ^20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” ^21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ^22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. [^23Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. ^24But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ^25and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.]
Next Week’s Readings:
Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-9; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21