Year A – Proper 9
Full-text of the Appointed Lessons (RSV and NRSV), with instructions for lectors
July 5 – 6 Pentecost – RCL
ILLUMINATION for the First Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Abraham sends a servant to find a wife for his son from among Abraham’s kinsmen. Laban helps him and Rebekah agrees to become Isaac’s wife.
A reading (lesson) from the Book of Genesis:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: The servant said to Laban…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
The servant said to Laban, “I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, camels and asses. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; but you shall go to my father’s house and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son.’ I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou wilt prosper the way which I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, ‘Pray give me a little water from your jar to drink,’ and who will say to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,’ let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’ Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Pray let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.” And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, be the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them!” Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and rode upon the camels and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel, and said to the servant, “Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
New Revised Standard Version
The servant said to Laban, “I am Abraham’s servant. The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’ I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, ‘Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,’ and who will say to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw for your camels also’— let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’ Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.” And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.” Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
ILLUMINATION for the Alternate First Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Zechariah 9:9-12
Hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Zechariah looked forward in hope to the triumphant coming of a humble king, a messiah who will bring peace to the ends of the earth.
A reading (lesson) from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: Rejoice greatly, O daughter…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
New Revised Standard Version
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
ILLUMINATION for the Second Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Romans 7:15-25a
Paul is critical of our condition as sinners. We fall short on our own and can only accomplish the good that we intend with God’s help.
A reading (lesson) from the Letter of Paul to the Romans:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: I do not understand…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
New Revised Standard Version
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
ILLUMINATION for the Gospel Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Jesus praises God for revealing wisdom understood by children even as it confuses the wise. He promises refreshment for those who are anxious and troubled.
A reading (lesson) from the Gospel according to Matthew:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: Jesus said to the crowd…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc. If read by an ordained person as the eucharistic gospel, conclude with The gospel of the Lord.
Revised Standard Version
Jesus said to the crowd, “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
New Revised Standard Version
Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
July 5 – 6 Pentecost – BCP
ILLUMINATION for the First Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Zechariah 9:9-12
Hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, the prophet Zechariah looked forward in hope to the triumphant coming of a humble king, a messiah who will bring peace to the ends of the earth.
A reading (lesson) from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah:
(Lead in with) RSV and NRSV: Rejoice greatly, O daughter…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
New Revised Standard Version
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
ILLUMINATION for the Second Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Romans 7:21-8:6
Paul laments our condition as sinners, but offers the hope that those who are alive in Christ have no reason to fear condemnation.
A reading (lesson) from the Letter of Paul to the Romans:
(Lead in with) RSV: I find it to be a law…; NRSV: So I find it to be a law…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc.
Revised Standard Version
I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
New Revised Standard Version
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
ILLUMINATION for the Gospel Lesson
6 Pentecost (Proper 9), Year A, July 5, 2026
Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus praises God for revealing wisdom that children understand, even as it confuses the wise. He promises refreshment for those who are anxious and troubled.
A reading (lesson) from the Gospel according to Matthew:
(Lead in with) RSV: Jesus said, “I thank…”; NRSV: At that time Jesus said…
Conclude with The word of the Lord or Here endeth, etc. If read by an ordained person as the eucharistic gospel, conclude with The gospel of the Lord.
Revised Standard Version
Jesus said, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
New Revised Standard Version
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
The Living Word | Lectionary Preaching Aids
Exploring the Texts
“What do we need? We need the love of God in the perfect humanity of his Son. ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Matt. 11:28-30). We also need the love of our brothers and sisters. We need community and love.”
“There is a rest and a humility and an ease that only home can give. And who is Jesus but home? ‘I’m going home,’ said the prodigal son. A human past and a provident future are one. It is often said, ‘You can’t take it with you,’ but you can and you must.”
“It is far better for us to receive the word of God thus innocently and to grow into the practice of it than as a spiritual celebrity never to be touched in one’s innermost self with the saving knowledge of Christ.”
Preaching Today
Alston Johnson: Approach Avoidance
“Then we can learn the incredible freedom, rest, and peace that comes from no longer pouring our lives into our avoidance behaviors of choice; surrendering the weariness of self-preservation for the buoyancy that comes with dying and rising upon the bridge that Jesus is building between worlds.”
Emily Hylden: Jesus’ Burdens
“The burdens of Jesus may seem heavy to us. Can you imagine anything more onerous than being like Jesus in this sinful and broken world? But the yoke of God is only heavy if we are also still holding on to the sin that causes oppression for some, but supremacy for me, or the understanding of ‘normal’ that puts me in the center and others on the outside.”
Chuck Robertson: Never Enough
“‘Nothing I do is ever enough!’ Yes, that’s right! And the sooner I recognize that truth, the sooner I can embrace the deeper reality that God already knows me more fully than I would like to admit, and still calls me ‘beloved.’”
Classic Texts
Ulrich Zwingli: Return to the Same Answer
“Like St. Paul, we can only cry out, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ And we must return the same answer: the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. …
There is no law or word which will give greater delight to the inward man than the word of God.”
Julian of Norwich: Our Falling Does Not Stop His Loving Us
“Our courteous Lord does not want his servants to despair even if they fall frequently and grievously. Our falling does not stop his loving us. Peace and love are always at work in us, but we are not always in peace and love.”
Henry Hammond: A Transportation of Joy
“Could we but repel the fancy, or support the pangs of one short travail, in contemplation of the joy which the man-child will within a few minutes bring into the world with him, I am confident Christ would cause the carnal man to break out into the Virgin Mother’s Magnificat, a transportation of joy for the approach of the birth of so much blessedness.”
Articles on Rest
Boone Porter: Restless Minds
“Our restless minds constantly torment us, but they have also enabled us to domesticate cattle and cultivate wheat, to press oil from the olive and ferment the juice of the grape, and to build arches, wheels, ships, and flying machines. It is the glory of the human race that we can do all of this: it is our tragedy that we credit it to ourselves and not to our Creator.”
Garwood Anderson: The Way of Love — Rest
“For any of us to rest, we all have to rest. This is a command that can only be obeyed by those who believe that God can supply, that God is enough, that God works while we sleep, that God doesn’t need us. Thus understood, our rest-less-ness may be a sign of unbelief, even if we mean it as an offering of consecration.”
Abigail Woolley Cutter: The Sabbath — Fulfilled but Not Obsolete
“If Christians can see Jesus as the one to whom the Hebrew Scriptures pointed without concluding that Judaism is obsolete, then maybe Jesus can fulfill Sabbath, too, without rendering it obsolete. Then we can once again be formed by the fourth commandment.”
Articles on Wisdom
Armando Ghinaglia: Sacraments, Scripture, and Wisdom in the Pursuit of God
“… the pursuit of wisdom requires us to answer two related questions. How do we know the best ends and the best means to those ends? And what are the best ends and the best means to those ends?”
Edward Watson: Seeking Wisdom in the Spaces of Schism
“We must give glory to Wisdom by seeking Her where She wills to be found — in the spaces between factions of reason, which we must explore in love and humility so as to come to know each other anew in Christ.”
Rob Price: Proverbial Wisdom — Why Christians Can Think with Murray Bowen
“I call Bowen Theory ‘proverbial wisdom’ for Christians because my experience has led me to believe that it can function in much the same way for us in pastoral care and leadership as the wisdom literature functions in the canon of Scripture.”
