DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Saturday, January 7

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Isaiah, Revelation and John.

Psalm 103

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,     and all that is within me,     bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,     and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity,     who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit,     who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good     so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The Lord works righteousness     and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses,     his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,     slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide,     nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,     nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,     so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west,     so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children,     so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame;     he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass;     he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,     and its place knows it no more. 17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,     and his righteousness to children's children, 18 to those who keep his covenant     and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,     and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,     you mighty ones who do his word,     obeying the voice of his word! 21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,     his ministers, who do his will! 22 Bless the Lord, all his works,     in all places of his dominion.     Bless the Lord, O my soul!

 

Psalm 104

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are very great!
    You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
    he makes the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
    his ministers a flaming fire.
He set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
    they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
    and plants for man to cultivate,
    that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart of man,
    oil to make his face shine
    and bread to strengthen man's heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons;
    the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
    and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
    which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
27 These all look to you,
    to give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
    when you take away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
    Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    Praise the Lord!
 

Psalm 114

1 When Israel went out from Egypt,     the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became his sanctuary,     Israel his dominion. 3 The sea looked and fled;     Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams,     the hills like lambs. 5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?     O Jordan, that you turn back? 6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?     O hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,     at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,     the flint into a spring of water.

 

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,     for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! 2 Why should the nations say,     “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in the heavens;     he does all that he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold,     the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak;     eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear;     noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel;     feet, but do not walk;     and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them;     so do all who trust in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!     He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!     He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!     He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;     he will bless the house of Israel;     he will bless the house of Aaron; 13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,     both the small and the great. 14 May the Lord give you increase,     you and your children! 15 May you be blessed by the Lord,     who made heaven and earth! 16 The heavens are the Lord's heavens,     but the earth he has given to the children of man. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord,     nor do any who go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord     from this time forth and forevermore.     Praise the Lord!

 

Isaiah 52:3-6

3 For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

 

Isaiah 61:1-9

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
    the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
    that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
    they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
    foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
    they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
    you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
    and in their glory you shall boast.
Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
    instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
    therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
    they shall have everlasting joy.
For I the Lord love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
    all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.
 

Galatians 3:23-29; 4:4-7

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. ... 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
 

Revelation 2:1-7

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lamp stands. 2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

 

John 2:1-11

1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

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