DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Friday, March 29

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Lamentations, 1 Peter and John.

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?     Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,     and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy,     enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted;     they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued;     in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man,     scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me;     they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;     let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;     you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth,     and from my mother's womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me,     for trouble is near,     and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me;     strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me,     like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water,     and all my bones are out of joint;     my heart is like wax;     it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,     and my tongue sticks to my jaws;     you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me;     a company of evildoers encircles me;     they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones—     they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them,     and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!     O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword,     my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!     You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;     in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!     All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,     and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred     the affliction of the afflicted,     and he has not hidden his face from him,     but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;     my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;     those who seek him shall praise the Lord!     May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember     and turn to the Lord,     and all the families of the nations     shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,     and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;     before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,     even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him;     it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,     that he has done it.

Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;     he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,     out of the miry bog,     and set my feet upon a rock,     making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth,     a song of praise to our God.     Many will see and fear,     and put their trust in the Lord. 4 Blessed is the man who makes     the Lord his trust,     who does not turn to the proud,     to those who go astray after a lie! 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,     your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;     none can compare with you!     I will proclaim and tell of them,     yet they are more than can be told. 6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,     but you have given me an open ear.     Burnt offering and sin offering     you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;     in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do your will, O my God;     your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance     in the great congregation;     behold, I have not restrained my lips,     as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;     I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;     I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness     from the great congregation. 11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain     your mercy from me;     your steadfast love and your faithfulness will     ever preserve me! 12 For evils have encompassed me     beyond number;     my iniquities have overtaken me,     and I cannot see;     they are more than the hairs of my head;     my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!     Lord, make haste to help me! 14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether     who seek to snatch away my life;     let those be turned back and brought to dishonor     who delight in my hurt! 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame     who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16 But may all who seek you     rejoice and be glad in you;     may those who love your salvation     say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy,     but the Lord takes thought for me.     You are my help and my deliverer;     do not delay, O my God!

Psalm 54

1 O God, save me by your name,     and vindicate me by your might. 2 O God, hear my prayer;     give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers have risen against me;     ruthless men seek my life;     they do not set God before themselves. Selah 4 Behold, God is my helper;     the Lord is the upholder of my life. 5 He will return the evil to my enemies;     in your faithfulness put an end to them. 6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;     I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. 7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,     and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

Psalm 95

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;     let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;     let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God,     and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;     the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it,     and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;     let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God,     and we are the people of his pasture,     and the sheep of his hand.     Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,     as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test     and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation     and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,     and they have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,     “They shall not enter my rest.”

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-33

1 I am the man who has seen affliction     under the rod of his wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me     into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me he turns his hand     again and again the whole day long. 4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;     he has broken my bones; 5 he has besieged and enveloped me     with bitterness and tribulation; 6 he has made me dwell in darkness     like the dead of long ago. 7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;     he has made my chains heavy; 8 though I call and cry for help,     he shuts out my prayer; 9 he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;     he has made my paths crooked. ... 19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,     the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it     and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind,     and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;     his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning;     great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,     “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,     to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly     for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he bear     the yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone in silence     when it is laid on him; 29 let him put his mouth in the dust—     there may yet be hope; 30 let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,     and let him be filled with insults. 31 For the Lord will not     cast off forever, 32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion     according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not afflict from his heart     or grieve the children of men.

1 Peter 1:10-20

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

John 13:36-38, 19:38-42

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. ... 19:38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.