DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Friday, March 24

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Jeremiah, Romans and John.

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.” 

 

Psalm 102

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. 

 

Psalm 107:1-32

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,     for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,     whom he has redeemed from trouble 3 and gathered in from the lands,     from the east and from the west,     from the north and from the south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastes,     finding no way to a city to dwell in; 5 hungry and thirsty,     their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,     and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way     till they reached a city to dwell in. 8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,     for his wondrous works to the children of man! 9 For he satisfies the longing soul,     and the hungry soul he fills with good things. 10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,     prisoners in affliction and in irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,     and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;     they fell down, with none to help. 13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,     and he delivered them from their distress. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,     and burst their bonds apart. 15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,     for his wondrous works to the children of man! 16 For he shatters the doors of bronze     and cuts in two the bars of iron. 17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,     and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; 18 they loathed any kind of food,     and they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,     and he delivered them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them,     and delivered them from their destruction. 21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,     for his wondrous works to the children of man! 22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,     and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! 23 Some went down to the sea in ships,     doing business on the great waters; 24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,     his wondrous works in the deep. 25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,     which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;     their courage melted away in their evil plight; 27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men     and were at their wits' end. 28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,     and he delivered them from their distress. 29 He made the storm be still,     and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,     and he brought them to their desired haven. 31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,     for his wondrous works to the children of man! 32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,     and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 

 

Jeremiah 23:1-8

1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” 

 

Romans 8:28-39

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For 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. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He 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? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who 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. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,     “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;     we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor 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. 

 

John 6:52-59

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesussaid these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

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