Ninth Sunday after Pentecost	July 26, 2026
Prayer of the Day
O God, your almighty power is most clearly shown in your mercy and pity. Multiply your grace that we may run to your promises and be made to share in your heavenly joy; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Deuteronomy 7:6-9 
6{Moses said to the Israelites,} “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations ….” 
Psalm 125 
1Those who trust in the Lord are | like Mount Zion,*
	which cannot be moved, but stands | fast forever.
2The hills stand a- | bout Jerusalem;*
	so does the Lord stand round about his people, from this time forth for- | evermore.
3The scepter of the wicked shall not hold sway over the land allotted | to the just,*
	so that the just shall not put their | hands to evil.
4Show your goodness, O Lord, to those | who are good*
	and to those who are | true of heart.
5As for those who turn aside to crooked ways, 
the Lord will lead them away with the | evildoers;*
	but peace be | upon Israel.
Psalm 125 (ESV)
1Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.
3For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.
4Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers! Peace be upon Israel!
Second Reading: Romans 8:28-39 
28We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52
44{Jesus said to the disciples,} “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Next Week’s Readings:
Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 136:1-9 [23-26]; Romans 9:1-5 [6-13]; Matthew 14:13-21