The Season of Epiphany
Scripture Selections from the Evangelical Heritage Version® 
following the Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Revised May 14, 2018

The Epiphany of Our Lord
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord is dawning upon you.
2Look, darkness covers the earth,
and deep darkness covers the peoples,
but the Lord will dawn upon you,
and his glory will be seen over you.
3Nations will walk to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4Look up. Look all around and see!
All of them have been gathered. They are coming to you.
Your sons will come from far away,
and people will carry your daughters on their side.
5Then you will look and be radiant.
Your heart will race with excitement and burst with joy.
For great riches from the sea will be delivered to you.
The wealth of the nations will come to you.
6Caravans of camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All those from Sheba will come.
They will carry gold and incense,
and they will announce the good news of the praise of the Lord.

Epistle / Second Reading
Ephesians 3:1-12
For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 
2Surely you have heard of the administration of God’s grace given to me for you, 3namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation (as I have already written briefly). 4When you read this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. 5This mystery was not made known to people in past generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and people who also share in the promise through the gospel. 
7I became a servant of this gospel, in keeping with the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. 8To me—even though I am the very least of all the saints—was given this grace: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ 9and to enlighten everyone about the administration of this mystery. In past ages this mystery remained hidden in God, who created all things. 10He did this so that, through the church, the multifaceted wisdom of God in the heavenly places might now be made known to the rulers and authorities. 11This was done according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him we can freely approach God with confidence through faith in him. 

Holy Gospel 
Matthew 2:1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, when Herod was king, Wise Men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, 2“Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4He gathered together all the people’s chief priests and experts in the law. He asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because this was written through the prophet: 
6You, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not least among the rulers of Judah: because out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people, Israel.” 
7Then Herod secretly summoned the Wise Men and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report to me, so that I may also go and worship him.” 
9After listening to the king, they went on their way. Then the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them, until it stood still over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with overwhelming joy. 11After they went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12Since they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route. 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The First Sunday after the Epiphany—The Baptism of our Lord
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Isaiah 43:1-7
But now this is what the Lord says,
the Lord who created you, O Jacob,
the Lord who formed you, O Israel.
Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name. You are mine.
2When you cross through the waters, I will be with you.
When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away.
When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
and the flame will not set you on fire.
3Because I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior,
I gave Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4Because you are precious and honored in my eyes,
and I myself love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
and peoples in exchange for your life.
5Do not be afraid, because I am with you.
From the east I will bring your offspring,
and from the west I will gather you.
6I will say to the north, “Give them back!”
and to the south, “Do not hold them.”
Bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7everyone who is called by my name,
everyone I created for my glory,
everyone I formed,
yes, everyone I have made.

Epistle / Second Reading
Romans 6:1–11
What shall we say then? Shall we keep on sinning so that grace may increase? 2Absolutely not! We died to sin. How can we go on living in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life. 
5For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection. 
6We know that our old self was crucified with him, to make our sinful body powerless, so that we would not continue to serve sin. 7For the person who has died has been declared free from sin. 8And since we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he will never die again. Death no longer has control over him. 10For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11In the same way also consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 3:15–22 
15The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ. 16John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 
18Then with many other words, he appealed to them and was preaching good news to the people. 19But after John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things he had done—20Herod added this to them all: He locked John in prison. 
21When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. While he was praying, heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.” 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Isaiah 62:1-5
For the sake of Zion I will not be silent.
For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly,
and her salvation burns like a torch.
2Nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings will see your glory.
You will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will assign to you.
3Then you will be a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
4You will never again be called Abandoned,
and your land will never again be called Desolation,
for you will be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land will be called Married,
because the Lord delights in you,
and your land will be married.
5For just as a young man marries a virgin,
your sons will marry you,
and just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
your God will rejoice over you.

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:1–11   
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were deceived and somehow led away to mute idols. 3Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “A curse be upon Jesus,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 
4There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of ministries, and yet the same Lord. 6There are various kinds of activity, but the same God, who produces all of them in everyone. 
7Each person is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one person a message of wisdom is given by the Spirit; to another, a message of knowledge, as the same Spirit provides it; 9by the same Spirit, faith is given to someone else; and to another, the same Spirit gives healing gifts. 10Another is given powers to do miracles; another, the gift of prophecy; another, the evaluating of spirits; someone else, different kinds of tongues; and another, the interpretation of tongues. 11One and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them to each one individually as he desires. 

Holy Gospel 
John 2:1–11   
Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 
3When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 
4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not come yet.” 
5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 
6Six stone water jars, which the Jews used for ceremonial cleansing, were standing there, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” And they did. 
9When the master of the banquet tasted the water that had now become wine, he did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew). The master of the banquet called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have had plenty to drink, then the cheaper wine. You saved the good wine until now!” 
11This, the beginning of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
All the people gathered together at the public square that is in front of the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation, both men and women and all who were able to understand what they heard. 3From dawn until midday in front of the public square in front of the Water Gate, he read from the scroll, while facing the men, the women, and those who could understand. All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. 
5All the people could see Ezra as he opened the scroll, because he was elevated above all the people. As he opened the scroll, all the people stood. 6Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen! Amen!” while they lifted up their hands and then knelt and bowed down with their faces to the ground.
8So they read from the Book of the Law of God clearly and interpreted it, and the people understood what was read.
9Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites, who helped the people understand, said to all the people, “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or cry!” because all the people were crying as they heard the words of the Law. 10Nehemiah said to them, “Go, eat rich food and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, because today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:12–31a   
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit we all were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free people, and we were all caused to drink one Spirit. 14Furthermore, the body is not one member, but many. 15If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not on that account cease to be part of the body. 16If the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not on that account cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But now God has arranged the members in the body, each and every one of them, as he desired. 19If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20But as it is, there are many members, yet one body. 
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are much more necessary. 23As for the parts of the body we consider less honorable, these we provide with more honor. We treat our unpresentable parts with more modesty, 24whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God put the body together in a way that gave more honor to the parts that lack it. 25He did it so that there might not be any division in the body, but that the members might all have the same concern for one another. 26So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 
27You are the body of Christ, and individually you are members of it. 28And God appointed in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then miracles, healing gifts, helpful acts, leadership abilities, kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? 30Do all have healing gifts? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly seek the greater gifts. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 4:16–30   
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 
18The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 
because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives 
and recovery of sight to the blind, 
to set free those who are oppressed, 
19and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. 
20He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 
22They all spoke well of him and were impressed by the words of grace that came from his mouth. And they kept saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 
23He told them, “Certainly you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Do here in your hometown everything we heard you did in Capernaum.” 24And he said, “Amen I tell you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25But truly I tell you: There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months, while a great famine came over all the land. 26Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in Sidon. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.” 
28All those who were in the synagogue were filled with rage when they heard these things. 29They got up and drove him out of the town. They led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30But he passed through the middle of them and went on his way. 
 
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19)
4The word of the Lord came to me.
5Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
and before you were born, I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.
6But I said, “Ah, Lord God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child!”
7The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone to whom I send you and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, because I am with you, and I will rescue you, declares the Lord.”
9Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me:
There! I have now placed my words in your mouth.
10Look, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.

17Now you, get ready. Rise up and tell them everything I am commanding you. Do not be frightened by them, or I will frighten you in their presence.
18Look, today I have made you like a fortified city, like an iron pillar, and like bronze walls, to take a stand against the whole land. Stand against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
19They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, because I am with you to rescue you, declares the Lord.

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:31b–13:13   
And now, I am going to show you a more excellent way. 
13:1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and have all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away everything I own, and if I give up my body that I may be burned but do not have love, I gain nothing. 
4Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. It does not brag. It is not arrogant. 5It does not behave indecently. It is not selfish. It is not irritable. It does not keep a record of wrongs. 6It does not rejoice over unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 
8Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophetic gifts, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be done away with. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, 10but when that which is complete has come, that which is partial will be done away with. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. 12Now we see indirectly using a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I was fully known. 
13So now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 4:31–40   
31He went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32They were amazed by his teaching, because his message had authority. 33In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the unclean spirit of a demon. He cried out with a loud voice, 34“Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!” 
35Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” The demon threw him down in front of them and came out of him without harming him. 
36They were all filled with awe and began to say to one another, “What is this message? With authority and power he commands unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37News about him spread to every place in the surrounding area. 
38Jesus got up, left the synagogue, and went into Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. They asked him to help her. 39He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. 40As the sun was setting, they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases. He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two they covered their faces. With two they covered their feet. With two they flew. 3One called to another and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!
4The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of the one who called, and the temple was filled with smoke.
5Then I said, “I am doomed! I am ruined, because I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell among a people with unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies!”
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, carrying a glowing coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7He touched my mouth with the coal and said, “Look, this has touched your lips, so your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.”
8Then I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

9He said:
Go! You are to tell this people,
“Keep listening, but you will never understand.
Keep looking, but you will never get it.”
10Make the heart of this people calloused.
Make their ears deaf and blind their eyes,
so that they do not see with their eyes,
or hear with their ears,
or understand with their hearts,
and turn again and be healed.
11Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
He answered:
Until the cities are a wasteland without a single inhabitant,
until the houses are totally deserted,
and the farmland is completely devastated,
12until the Lord has removed the people far away,
and the abandoned places within the land are many.
13If there is only a tenth left in it, that too will be burned in its turn.
Like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains when it is cut down,
so the holy seed is its stump.

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 14:12b–20   
Since you are eager for spiritual gifts, seek to use them abundantly in a way that will build up the church. 
13That is why a person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15So what is to be done? I will pray using my spirit, and I will pray also using my understanding. I will sing using my spirit, and I will sing also using my understanding. 16Otherwise, how will an uninformed person say the “Amen” after you give thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17To be sure, you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19But in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. 
20Brothers, do not be children in your thinking, but be like babies in regard to evil, and be mature in your thinking. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 5:1–11   
One time, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. 2He saw two boats there along the lakeshore. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3Jesus got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” 
5Simon answered him, “Master, we worked hard all through the night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were about to tear apart. 7They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.” 9For Peter and all those with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. 
Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.” 
11After they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Jeremiah 17:5-8
5This is what the Lord says.
Cursed is anyone who trusts in mankind,
who seeks his strength from human flesh,
and who turns his heart away from the Lord.
6He will be like a juniper bush in the wasteland.
He will not see good things when they come.
He lives in a dry place in the wilderness,
in a salty land where no one lives.
7But blessed is anyone who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8He will be like a tree planted by water.
It sends out its roots to the stream.
It does not fear the heat when it comes.
Its leaves will remain green.
It is not concerned about a time of drought.
It does not stop producing fruit.

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:(1–11) 12-20 
Brothers, I am going to call your attention to the gospel that I preached to you. You received it, and you took your stand on it. 2You are also being saved by that gospel that was expressed in the words I preached to you, if you keep your hold on it—unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: 
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 
4that he was buried, 
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 
5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 
6After that he appeared to over five hundred brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, he appeared also to me, the stillborn child, so to speak. 9For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God’s church. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not ineffective. On the contrary, I worked more than all of them (and yet it wasn’t my doing, but it was the grace of God, which was with me, that did it). 11So whether it is I or they, that is what we preach, and that is what you believed. 
12Now if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is pointless, and your faith is pointless too. 15Then we are even guilty of giving false testimony about God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it were true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then it also follows that those who fell asleep in Christ perished. 19If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all. 
20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 6:17–26   
17He went down with them and stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples, and a large number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, as well as from the coastal area of Tyre and Sidon. These people came to listen to him and to be healed of their diseases. 18Those who were troubled by unclean spirits were also cured. 19The whole crowd kept trying to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing them all. 
20He lifted up his eyes to his disciples and said: 
Blessed are you who are poor, 
because yours is the kingdom of God. 
21Blessed are you who hunger now, 
because you will be satisfied. 
Blessed are you who weep now, 
because you will laugh. 
22Blessed are you whenever people hate you, 
and whenever they exclude and insult you 
and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. 
23“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy because of this: Your reward is great in heaven! The fact is, their fathers constantly did the same things to the prophets. 
24But woe to you who are rich, 
because you are receiving your comfort now. 
25Woe to you who are well fed now, 
because you will be hungry. 
Woe to you who laugh now, 
because you will be mourning and weeping. 
26Woe to you when all people speak well of you, 
because that is how their fathers constantly treated the false prophets. 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Genesis 45:3–15   
3Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” 
His brothers could not answer him, because they were terrified by his presence. 4Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me, please.” 
They came closer. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5Now do not be upset or angry with yourselves for selling me to this place, since God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6For two years now the famine has been in the land, and there are still five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7God sent me ahead of you to preserve you as survivors on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great act of deliverance. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord over his entire household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. 9Hurry, go up to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not delay. 10You shall live in the land of Goshen, where you will be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11I will take care of you here, for there are still five years of famine. Otherwise you will come to ruin, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ 12Pay attention. Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13You shall tell my father all about my position of honor in Egypt and about everything that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 
14He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers talked with him. 

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:21–26, 30–42   
21For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man. 22For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power. 25For he must reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” 26Death is the last enemy to be done away with. 
30Why do we live in danger every hour? 31Day by day I face death, as surely as I boast about you, brothers, in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with human motives, what good did it do me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33Do not be deceived! “Keeping bad company corrupts good morals.” 34Use sober judgment, as is right, and do not sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 
35But someone will object, “How can it be that the dead are raised? With what kind of body are they going to come?” 
36You are being foolish. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37And what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. 38But God gives it a body of the kind he wanted it to have, and to each of the seeds he gives its own body. 
39Flesh is not all the same kind. Instead, people have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds another, and fish yet another. 40There are also celestial bodies and bodies on earth, but the glory of the celestial bodies differs from that of the bodies on earth. 41There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another in glory. 
42That is the way the resurrection of the dead will be. What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 6:27–38   
27“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other too. If someone takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes away your things, do not demand them back. 
31“Treat others just as you would want them to treat you. 32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? To be sure, even the sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same thing. 34If you lend to those from whom you expect to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even the sinners lend to sinners in order to be paid back in full. 35Instead, love your enemies, do good and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the unthankful and the evil. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 
37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.” 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Jeremiah 7:1-7 (8-15)
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
2Stand in the gate of the House of the Lord and proclaim this message there.
Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who are coming through this gate to worship the Lord. 3This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.
Reform your ways and your actions, and I will establish you in this place. 4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”
5Sincerely reform your ways and your actions. Carry out justice between a man and his neighbor. 6Do not oppress the alien who lives in your land, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place. Do not follow after other gods to your own harm. If you avoid these things, 7I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your fathers forever and ever.

8Take warning. You are trusting in deceptive words that cannot help you.
9Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and swear falsely? Will you offer sacrifices to Baal and follow other gods you do not know? 10Will you come and stand before me in this temple that bears my Name, and say, “We are safe,” the whole time you do all these detestable things? 11This house bears my Name! Have you made it a den of robbers? Watch out! I myself have been watching, declares the Lord.
12Go to my place in Shiloh, where I first made a dwelling place for my Name. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.
13You have done all these things, declares the Lord. Even though I spoke to you again and again, you did not listen. I called you, but you did not answer. 14Because of this, what I did to Shiloh, I will now do to the house that bears my Name—the place in which you trust, the place I gave to you and to your fathers. 15I will drive you out of my sight just as I drove away all of your brothers, the people of Ephraim.

Epistle / Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:42–52 (53–58) 
42That is the way the resurrection of the dead will be. What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body. 
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living natural being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46However, that which is spiritual is not first; rather, first comes the natural, then the spiritual. 47The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 48As was the man made of dust, so are the people who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly man, so the heavenly people will be. 49And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly man. 
50Now I say this, brothers: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what is perishable is not going to inherit what is imperishable. 51Look, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 

53For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled: 
Death is swallowed up in victory. 
55Death, where is your sting? 
Grave, where is your victory? 
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 
58Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 6:39–49   
39He also told them a parable: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Won’t they both fall into a pit? 40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 42Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck in your eye,’ when you do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother’s eye. 
43“Certainly a good tree does not produce bad fruit, and a bad tree does not produce good fruit. 44In fact, each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorn bushes, and they do not gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45The good person brings what is good out of the good stored in his heart, and the evil person brings what is evil out of the evil within. To be sure, what his mouth speaks flows from the heart. 
46“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and does them—I will show you what he is like: 48He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid a foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river beat against that house but could not shake it, because it was founded on bedrock. 49But the one who listened to my words and did not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river broke against it, it fell immediately, and that house was completely destroyed.” 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. 

The Last Sunday after the Epiphany—The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Lutheran Service Book 3-Year Lectionary, Year C
Evangelical Heritage Version®

Old Testament / First Reading
Deuteronomy 34:1–12   
Moses went up from the Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far as Dan; 2all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, the whole land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3the Negev, and the Kikkar as far as Zoar (that is, the plain in the valley around Jericho, the City of Palms). 
4Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when I said I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over to it.” 
5So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab as the Lord had said. 6The Lord buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. 
7Moses was one hundred twenty years old at his death. His eyes had not grown dim, and his vigor had not declined. 8So the children of Israel wept for Moses in the Arabah of Moab for thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end. 
9Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him, so the people of Israel listened to him and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 
10Never again has a prophet risen in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face. 11Moses performed all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and against all his officials and his whole land. 12No other prophet ever displayed all of the mighty power and the great, awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. 

Epistle / Second Reading
Hebrews 3:1–6   
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, focus your attention on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2He was faithful to the one who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in God’s whole house. 3In fact, Jesus is worthy of greater glory than Moses, in the same way that the builder of a house has more honor than the house. 4For every house is built by someone, and God is the one who built everything. 
5Moses was faithful as a servant within God’s whole house by testifying to the things that would be spoken. 6But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. We are his house, if we hold on firmly to our confidence and the hope about which we boast until the end. 

Holy Gospel 
Luke 9:28–36   
28About eight days after he said these words, Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30Just then, two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him! 31They appeared in glory and were talking about his departure, which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. 
32Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep, but when they were completely awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 
33As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not realize what he was saying. 
34While he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them. They were afraid as they went into the cloud. 35Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 36After the voice had spoken, they found Jesus alone. They kept this secret and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen. 

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) copyright © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved.
www.wartburgproject.org

Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. 
Comments and suggestions may be submitted at: wartburgproject.org/contact/

Lectionary listings from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.