DAILY OFFICE

Psalm 89

¹ I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
² For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
³ You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
⁴ ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’”
⁵ Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
⁶ For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
⁷ a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
⁸ O Lord God of hosts,
    who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
⁹ You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
¹⁰ You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
¹¹ The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
¹² The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
¹³ You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
¹⁵ Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
¹⁶ who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
¹⁷ For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁹ Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
    “I have granted help to one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.
²⁰ I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him,
²¹ so that my hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
²² The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.
²³ I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
²⁴ My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
²⁵ I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
²⁶ He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
²⁷ And I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.
²⁸ My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firm for him.
²⁹ I will establish his offspring forever
    and his throne as the days of the heavens.
³⁰ If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my rules,
³¹ if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
³² then I will punish their transgression with the rod
    and their iniquity with stripes,
³³ but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.
³⁴ I will not violate my covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
³⁵ Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.
³⁶ His offspring shall endure forever,
    his throne as long as the sun before me.
³⁷ Like the moon it shall be established forever,
    a faithful witness in the skies.”
³⁸ But now you have cast off and rejected;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.
³⁹ You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.
⁴⁰ You have breached all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
⁴¹ All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.
⁴³ You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not made him stand in battle.
⁴⁴ You have made his splendor to cease
    and cast his throne to the ground.
⁴⁵ You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame.
⁴⁶ How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?
⁴⁷ Remember how short my time is!
    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
⁴⁸ What man can live and never see death?
    Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?
⁴⁹ Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
⁵⁰ Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
    and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
⁵¹ with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
    with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
⁵² Blessed be the Lord forever!
    Amen and Amen.

Numbers 16:1-19

¹ Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. ² And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. ³ They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” ⁴ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, ⁵ and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. ⁶ Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company;⁷ put fire in them and put incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”⁸ And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹ is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, ¹⁰ and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?¹¹ Therefore it is against the Lord that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?” ¹² And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? ¹⁴ Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”¹⁵ And Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.” ¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the Lord, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. ¹⁷ And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the Lord his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” ¹⁸ So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

Romans 3:21-31

²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. ²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.³¹ Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Matthew 19:13-22

¹³ Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, ¹⁴ but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ¹⁵ And he laid his hands on them and went away. ¹⁶ And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²² When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

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