DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Sunday, May 5

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Leviticus, James and Luke.

Psalm 34

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;     his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;     let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,     and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me     and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant,     and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him     and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps     around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!     Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,     for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;     but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 11 Come, O children, listen to me;     I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 What man is there who desires life     and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil     and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good;     seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous     and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,     to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears     and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted     and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,     but the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones;     not one of them is broken. 21 Affliction will slay the wicked,     and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;     none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Psalm 93

1 The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;     the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.     Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old;     you are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord,     the floods have lifted up their voice;     the floods lift up their roaring. 4 Mightier than the thunders of many waters,     mightier than the waves of the sea,     the Lord on high is mighty! 5 Your decrees are very trustworthy;     holiness befits your house,     Lord, forevermore.

Psalm 96

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;     sing to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;     tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations,     his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;     he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,     but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him;     strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,     ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;     bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;     tremble before him, all the earth! 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!     Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;     he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;     let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12 let the field exult, and everything in it!     Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13 before the Lord, for he comes,     for he comes to judge the earth.     He will judge the world in righteousness,     and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Leviticus 25:1-17

1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food. 8 “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field. 13 “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15 You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

James 1:2-8, 16-18

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ... 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

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