DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Sunday, March 5

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Jeremiah, 1 Corinthians and Mark.

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. 3 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!

 

Jeremiah 1:1-10

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. 4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,     and before you were born I consecrated you;     I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,     “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;     for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,     and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them,     for I am with you to deliver you,     declares the Lord.” 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,     “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,     to pluck up and to break down,     to destroy and to overthrow,     to build and to plant.”

 

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

 

Mark 3:31-4:9

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” 4:1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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