The Texts for October 19th, 2014

First Reading: Isaiah 45:1–7

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped

to subdue nations before him

and strip kings of their robes,

to open doors before him — 

and the gates shall not be closed:

  ²I will go before you

and level the mountains, 

I will break in pieces the doors of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron,

  ³I will give you the treasures of darkness

and riches hidden in secret places,

so that you may know that it is I, the LORD,

the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

  ⁴For the sake of my servant Jacob,

and Israel my chosen,

I call you by your name,

I surname you, though you do not know me.

  ⁵I am the LORD, and there is no other;

besides me there is no god.

I arm you, though you do not know me,

  ⁶so that they may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is no one besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

  ⁷I form light and create darkness,

I make weal and create woe;

I the LORD do all these things.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

²We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly  ³remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁴For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you,  ⁵because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.  ⁶And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,  ⁷so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.  ⁸For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it.  ⁹For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,  ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Gospel: Matthew 22:15–22

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.  ¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.  ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"  ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?  ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.  ²⁰Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?"  ²¹They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."  ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.