The Word of the Lord

This Sunday's Scripture readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. Read, reflect, and prepare your heart for worship.

This Sunday’s Readings

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 22 · Track 2

October 4, 2026

Collect Collect of the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Collect of the Day for Proper 22, from The Book of Common Prayer (1979).

First Reading Isaiah 5:1-7

Translation: |
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!
Let me sing for my loved one a love song for his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2He dug it, cleared away its stones, planted it with excellent vines,
built a tower inside it, and dug out a wine vat in it.
He expected it to grow good grapes— but it grew rotten grapes.
3So now, you who live in Jerusalem, you people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:
4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I haven’t done for it?
When I expected it to grow good grapes, why did it grow rotten grapes?
5Now let me tell you what I’m doing to my vineyard.
I’m removing its hedge, so it will be destroyed.
I’m breaking down its walls, so it will be trampled.
6I’ll turn it into a ruin; it won’t be pruned or hoed, and thorns and thistles will grow up.
I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
7The vineyard of the Lord of heavenly forces is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are the plantings in which God delighted.
God expected justice, but there was bloodshed;
righteousness, but there was a cry of distress!

Psalm Psalm 80:7-14 · Qui regis Israel

7Restore us, O God of hosts; *show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
8You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *you cast out the nations and planted it.
9You prepared the ground for it; *it took root and filled the land.
10The mountains were covered by its shadow *and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.
11You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *and its branches to the River.
12Why have you broken down its wall, *so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?
13The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.
14Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven; behold and tend this vine; *preserve what your right hand has planted.

Psalm text from the Psalter of The Book of Common Prayer (1979). The asterisk marks the mid-verse pause. The Prayer Book Psalter numbers this portion 80:7-14 where the Revised Common Lectionary cites 80:7-15; the text is the same.

Second Reading Philippians 3:4b-14

Translation: |

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

7Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

If anyone else has reason to put their confidence in physical advantages, I have even more: 5I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews. With respect to observing the Law, I’m a Pharisee. 6With respect to devotion to the faith, I harassed the church. With respect to righteousness under the Law, I’m blameless.

7These things were my assets, but I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ. 8But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ 9and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith. 10The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death 11so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead.

12It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. 13Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. 14The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Matthew 21:33-46

Translation: |

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?

43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. 34When it was time for harvest, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. 35But the tenant farmers grabbed his servants. They beat some of them, and some of them they killed. Some of them they stoned to death. 36Again he sent other servants, more than the first group. They treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and we’ll have his inheritance.’ 39They grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?” 41They said, “He will totally destroy those wicked farmers and rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruit when it’s ready.”

42Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures,

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes?

43Therefore, I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit. 44Whoever falls on this stone will be crushed. And the stone will crush the person it falls on.”

45Now when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard the parable, they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46They were trying to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.