DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Sunday, February 25

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

Psalm 8

1 Lord, our Lord,     how majestic is your name in all the earth!     You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,     you have established strength because of your foes,     to still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,     the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him,     and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings     and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;     you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen,     and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,     whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 Lord, our Lord,     how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 24

1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,     the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas     and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?     And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,     who does not lift up his soul to what is false     and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord     and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,     who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah 7 Lift up your heads, O gates!     And be lifted up, O ancient doors,     that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory?     The Lord, strong and mighty,     the Lord, mighty in battle! 9 Lift up your heads, O gates!     And lift them up, O ancient doors,     that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is this King of glory?     The Lord of hosts,     he is the King of glory! Selah

Psalm 29

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,     ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;     worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;     the God of glory thunders,     the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;     the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;     the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,     and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;     the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth     and strips the forests bare,     and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;     the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people!     May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Psalm 84

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,     Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints     for the courts of the Lord;     my heart and flesh sing for joy     to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow finds a home,     and the swallow a nest for herself,     where she may lay her young,     at your altars, O Lord of hosts,     my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,     ever singing your praise! Selah 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,     in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 As they go through the Valley of Baca     they make it a place of springs;     the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength;     each one appears before God in Zion. 8 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;     give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 9 Behold our shield, O God;     look on the face of your anointed! 10 For a day in your courts is better     than a thousand elsewhere.     I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God     than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;     the Lord bestows favor and honor.     No good thing does he withhold     from those who walk uprightly. 12 Lord of hosts,     blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Genesis 41:14-45

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” 17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. 18 Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19 Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. 22 I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. 23 Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. 28 It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. 32 And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. 33 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.” 37 This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. 43 And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

Romans 6:3-14

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

John 5:19-24

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

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