DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Sunday, October 30

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

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!

 

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

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