DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Sunday, July 3

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Numbers, Acts and Mark.

Psalm 111

1 Praise the Lord!     I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,     in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 2 Great are the works of the Lord,     studied by all who delight in them. 3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,     and his righteousness endures forever. 4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;     the Lord is gracious and merciful. 5 He provides food for those who fear him;     he remembers his covenant forever. 6 He has shown his people the power of his works,     in giving them the inheritance of the nations. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;     all his precepts are trustworthy; 8 they are established forever and ever,     to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption to his people;     he has commanded his covenant forever.     Holy and awesome is his name! 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;     all those who practice it have a good understanding.     His praise endures forever!

 

Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord!     Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,     who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;     the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house,     and his righteousness endures forever. 4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;     he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;     who conducts his affairs with justice. 6 For the righteous will never be moved;     he will be remembered forever. 7 He is not afraid of bad news;     his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. 8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,     until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. 9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;     his righteousness endures forever;     his horn is exalted in honor. 10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;     he gnashes his teeth and melts away;     the desire of the wicked will perish!

 

Psalm 113

1 Praise the Lord!     Praise, O servants of the Lord,     praise the name of the Lord! 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord     from this time forth and forevermore! 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,     the name of the Lord is to be praised! 4 The Lord is high above all nations,     and his glory above the heavens! 5 Who is like the Lord our God,     who is seated on high, 6 who looks far down     on the heavens and the earth? 7 He raises the poor from the dust     and lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 to make them sit with princes,     with the princes of his people. 9 He gives the barren woman a home,     making her the joyous mother of children.     Praise the Lord!

 

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord!     Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;     I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes,     in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;     on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,     whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth,     the sea, and all that is in them,     who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed,     who gives food to the hungry.     The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.     The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;     the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;     he upholds the widow and the fatherless,     but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever,     your God, O Zion, to all generations.     Praise the Lord!

 

Psalm 147

1 Praise the Lord!     For it is good to sing praises to our God;     for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;     he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted     and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars;     he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;     his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The Lord lifts up the humble;     he casts the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;     make melody to our God on the lyre! 8 He covers the heavens with clouds;     he prepares rain for the earth;     he makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives to the beasts their food,     and to the young ravens that cry. 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,     nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, 11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,     in those who hope in his steadfast love. 12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!     Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;     he blesses your children within you. 14 He makes peace in your borders;     he fills you with the finest of the wheat. 15 He sends out his command to the earth;     his word runs swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool;     he scatters frost like ashes. 17 He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;     who can stand before his cold? 18 He sends out his word, and melts them;     he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. 19 He declares his word to Jacob,     his statutes and rules to Israel. 20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;     they do not know his rules.     Praise the Lord!

 

Numbers 27:12-23

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses.

 

Acts 19:11-20

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered allof them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

 

Mark 1:14-20

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

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