DAILY OFFICE

1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have walked in my integrity,
    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
    test my heart and my mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with men of falsehood,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5 I hate the assembly of evildoers,
    and I will not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence
    and go around your altar, O Lord,
7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,
    and telling all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
    and the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
    nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are evil devices,
    and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
    redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
    in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.

1 To you, O Lord, I call;
    my rock, be not deaf to me,
    lest, if you be silent to me,
    I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
    when I cry to you for help,
    when I lift up my hands
    toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
    with the workers of evil,
    who speak peace with their neighbors
    while evil is in their hearts.
4 Give to them according to their work
    and according to the evil of their deeds;
    give to them according to the work of their hands;
    render them their due reward.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
    or the work of his hands,
    he will tear them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
    my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;
    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
    Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

1 Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in his heart;
    there is no fear of God
    before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes
    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 He plots trouble while on his bed;
    he sets himself in a way that is not good;
    he does not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
    your judgments are like the great deep;
    man and beast you save, O Lord.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light do we see light.
10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
    and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie fallen;
    they are thrust down, unable to rise. 

1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
    that I may not sin with my tongue;
    I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
    so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was mute and silent;
    I held my peace to no avail,
    and my distress grew worse.
3  My heart became hot within me.
    As I mused, the fire burned;
    then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
    and what is the measure of my days;
    let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
    Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6  Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
    Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
    man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
    for it is you who have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
    I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
    with rebukes for sin,
    you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
    surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    and give ear to my cry;
    hold not your peace at my tears!
    For I am a sojourner with you,
    a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
    before I depart and am no more!” 

1 How lonely sits the city
    that was full of people!
    How like a widow has she become,
    she who was great among the nations!
    She who was a princess among the provinces
    has become a slave.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
    with tears on her cheeks;
    among all her lovers
    she has none to comfort her;
    all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
    they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
    and hard servitude;
    she dwells now among the nations,
    but finds no resting place;
    her pursuers have all overtaken her
    in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
    for none come to the festival;
    all her gates are desolate;
    her priests groan;
    her virgins have been afflicted,
    and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 Her foes have become the head;
    her enemies prosper,
    because the Lord has afflicted her
    for the multitude of her transgressions;
    her children have gone away,
    captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
    all her majesty has departed.
    Her princes have become like deer
    that find no pasture;
    they fled without strength
    before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
    in the days of her affliction and wandering
    all the precious things
    that were hers from days of old.
    When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
    and there was none to help her,
    her foes gloated over her;
    they mocked at her downfall.
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously;
    therefore she became filthy;
    all who honored her despise her,
    for they have seen her nakedness;
    she herself groans
    and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
    she took no thought of her future;
    therefore her fall is terrible;
    she has no comforter.
    “O Lord, behold my affliction,
    for the enemy has triumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
    over all her precious things;
    for she has seen the nations
    enter her sanctuary,
    those whom you forbade
    to enter your congregation.
11 All her people groan
    as they search for bread;
    they trade their treasures for food
    to revive their strength.
    “Look, O Lord, and see,
    for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
    Look and see
    if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
    which was brought upon me,
    which the Lord inflicted
    on the day of his fierce anger. 

 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”