DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Wednesday, January 4

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Exodus, Hebrews and John.

Psalm 85

1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;     you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;     you covered all their sin. Selah 3 You withdrew all your wrath;     you turned from your hot anger. 4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,     and put away your indignation toward us! 5 Will you be angry with us forever?     Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 6 Will you not revive us again,     that your people may rejoice in you? 7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,     and grant us your salvation. 8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,     for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;     but let them not turn back to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,     that glory may dwell in our land. 10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;     righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,     and righteousness looks down from the sky. 12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,     and our land will yield its increase. 13 Righteousness will go before him     and make his footsteps a way.

 

Psalm 87

1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded; 2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion     more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. 3 Glorious things of you are spoken,     O city of God. Selah 4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;     behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—     “This one was born there,” they say. 5 And of Zion it shall be said,     “This one and that one were born in her”;     for the Most High himself will establish her. 6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,     “This one was born there.” Selah 7 Singers and dancers alike say,     “All my springs are in you.”

 

Psalm 89:1-29

1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;     with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;     in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” 3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;     I have sworn to David my servant: 4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever,     and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah 5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,     your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?     Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,     and awesome above all who are around him? 8 Lord God of hosts,     who is mighty as you are, O Lord,     with your faithfulness all around you? 9 You rule the raging of the sea;     when its waves rise, you still them. 10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;     you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;     the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. 12 The north and the south, you have created them;     Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. 13 You have a mighty arm;     strong is your hand, high your right hand. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;     steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,     who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, 16 who exult in your name all the day     and in your righteousness are exalted. 17 For you are the glory of their strength;     by your favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,     our king to the Holy One of Israel. 19 Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:     “I have granted help to one who is mighty;     I have exalted one chosen from the people. 20 I have found David, my servant;     with my holy oil I have anointed him, 21 so that my hand shall be established with him;     my arm also shall strengthen him. 22 The enemy shall not outwit him;     the wicked shall not humble him. 23 I will crush his foes before him     and strike down those who hate him. 24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,     and in my name shall his horn be exalted. 25 I will set his hand on the sea     and his right hand on the rivers. 26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,     my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 27 And I will make him the firstborn,     the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,     and my covenant will stand firm for him. 29 I will establish his offspring forever     and his throne as the days of the heavens.

 

Exodus 3:1-12

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

 

Hebrews 11:23-31

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

 

John 14:6-14

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

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