Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost	August 18, 2024
Prayer of the Day
Almighty, eternal God, increase in us your gifts of faith, hope and love; and in order that love may abide in us, help us to celebrate what your love has done for us. Grant this, we pray, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
1Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God. 2aAnd Joshua said to all the people,
14“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 16Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, 17for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
Psalm 34:12-22 (LBW)
12Who among | you loves life*
	and desires long life to en- | joy prosperity?
13Keep your tongue from | evil speaking*
	and your lips from | lying words.
14Turn from evil | and do good;*
	seek peace | and pursue it.
15The eyes of the Lord are up- | on the righteous,*
	and his ears are open | to their cry.
16The face of the Lord is against those | who do evil,*
	to root out the remembrance of them | from the earth.
17The righteous cry, and | the Lord hears them*
	and delivers them from | all their troubles.
18The Lord is near to the | brokenhearted*
	and will save those whose spir- | its are crushed.
19Many are the troubles | of the righteous,*
	but the Lord will deliver him out | of them all.
20He will keep safe | all his bones;*
	not one of them | shall be broken.
21Evil shall | slay the wicked,*
	and those who hate the righteous | will be punished.
22The Lord ransoms the life | of his servants,*
	and none will be punished who | trust in him.
Psalm 34:12-22 (ESV)
12What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
13Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
14Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
16The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
21Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be 
	condemned.
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:6-21
6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not become partners with them; 8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Gospel: John 6:51-69
51{Jesus said to the Jews grumbling about him,} “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. 60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Next Week’s Readings:
Isaiah 29:11-19; Psalm 14; Ephesians 5:22-33; Mark 7:1-13