DAILY OFFICE

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    let my cry come to you!
2 Do not hide your face from me
    in the day of my distress!
    Incline your ear to me;
    answer me speedily in the day when I call!
3 For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cling to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl of the waste places;
7 I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8 All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9 For I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,
10 because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11 My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
    you are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the Lord builds up Zion;
    he appears in his glory;
17 he regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
19 that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,
21 that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
22 when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
23 He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
    you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”
25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
    You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
    their offspring shall be established before you.

1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
    with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
    I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit faints within me,
    you know my way!
    In the path where I walk
    they have hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see:
    there is none who takes notice of me;
    no refuge remains to me;
    no one cares for my soul.
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Attend to my cry,
    for I am brought very low!
    Deliver me from my persecutors,
    for they are too strong for me!
7 Bring me out of prison,
    that I may give thanks to your name!
    The righteous will surround me,
    for you will deal bountifully with me.

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    give ear to my pleas for mercy!
    In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
    for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
    he has crushed my life to the ground;
    he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old;
    I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord!
    My spirit fails!
    Hide not your face from me,
    lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I trust.
    Make me know the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
    I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God!
    Let your good Spirit lead me
    on level ground!
11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
    In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
    and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
    for I am your servant.

10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
    sit on the ground in silence;
    they have thrown dust on their heads
    and put on sackcloth;
    the young women of Jerusalem
    have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
    my stomach churns;
    my bile is poured out to the ground
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
    because infants and babies faint
    in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
    “Where is bread and wine?”
    as they faint like a wounded man
    in the streets of the city,
    as their life is poured out
    on their mothers' bosom.
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
    O daughter of Jerusalem?
    What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
    O virgin daughter of Zion?
    For your ruin is vast as the sea;
    who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you
    false and deceptive visions;
    they have not exposed your iniquity
    to restore your fortunes,
    but have seen for you oracles
    that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
    clap their hands at you;
    they hiss and wag their heads
    at the daughter of Jerusalem:
    “Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,
    the joy of all the earth?”
16 All your enemies
    rail against you;
    they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
    they cry: “We have swallowed her!
    Ah, this is the day we longed for;
    now we have it; we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
    he has carried out his word,
    which he commanded long ago;
    he has thrown down without pity;
    he has made the enemy rejoice over you
    and exalted the might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
    O wall of the daughter of Zion,
    let tears stream down like a torrent
    day and night!
    Give yourself no rest,
    your eyes no respite!

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ... 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 17 And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”