THE FIRST READING: Genesis 2:4b-7, 18-20
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, no shrub of the field being yet on the earth and no plant of the field yet sprouted—for the LORD God had not caused rain to fall upon the earth, and there was no one to till the soil, but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the soil—then the Lord God fashioned the human from the dust of the soil and breathed into its nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living creature.
And the LORD God said, “It is not good for the human to be alone; I shall make him a helper as his partner.” And the LORD God fashioned from the soil every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the human to see what he would call them, and whatever the human called every living creature, that was its name. The human gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field, but for the human there was not found a helper as his partner.
THE SECOND READING Numbers 22:21-33
So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.
God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand, so the donkey turned off the road and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck it again. Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!” But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” And he said, “No.”
Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed down, falling on his face. The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.”
THE GOSPEL: Luke 12:22-31
Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither spin nor weave, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith! And do not keep seeking what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek God’s kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.