DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Wednesday, March 22

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Jeremiah, Romans and John.

Psalm 101

1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice;     to you, O Lord, I will make music. 2 I will ponder the way that is blameless.     Oh when will you come to me?     I will walk with integrity of heart     within my house; 3 I will not set before my eyes     anything that is worthless.     I hate the work of those who fall away;     it shall not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart shall be far from me;     I will know nothing of evil. 5 Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly     I will destroy.     Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart     I will not endure. 6 I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,     that they may dwell with me;     he who walks in the way that is blameless     shall minister to me. 7 No one who practices deceit     shall dwell in my house;     no one who utters lies     shall continue before my eyes. 8 Morning by morning I will destroy     all the wicked in the land,     cutting off all the evildoers     from the city of the Lord

 

Psalm 109

1 Be not silent, O God of my praise! 2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,     speaking against me with lying tongues. 3 They encircle me with words of hate,     and attack me without cause. 4 In return for my love they accuse me,     but I give myself to prayer. 5 So they reward me evil for good,     and hatred for my love. 6 Appoint a wicked man against him;     let an accuser stand at his right hand. 7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;     let his prayer be counted as sin! 8 May his days be few;     may another take his office! 9 May his children be fatherless     and his wife a widow! 10 May his children wander about and beg,     seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit! 11 May the creditor seize all that he has;     may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil! 12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,     nor any to pity his fatherless children! 13 May his posterity be cut off;     may his name be blotted out in the second generation! 14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,     and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out! 15 Let them be before the Lord continually,     that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth! 16 For he did not remember to show kindness,     but pursued the poor and needy     and the brokenhearted, to put them to death. 17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!     He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him! 18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;     may it soak into his body like water,     like oil into his bones! 19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,     like a belt that he puts on every day! 20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,     of those who speak evil against my life! 21 But you, O God my Lord,     deal on my behalf for your name's sake;     because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! 22 For I am poor and needy,     and my heart is stricken within me. 23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;     I am shaken off like a locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting;     my body has become gaunt, with no fat. 25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;     when they see me, they wag their heads. 26 Help me, O Lord my God!     Save me according to your steadfast love! 27 Let them know that this is your hand;     you, O Lord, have done it! 28 Let them curse, but you will bless!     They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad! 29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;     may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak! 30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;     I will praise him in the midst of the throng. 31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,     to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. 

 

Psalm 119:121-144

121 I have done what is just and right;     do not leave me to my oppressors. 122 Give your servant a pledge of good;     let not the insolent oppress me. 123 My eyes long for your salvation     and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise. 124 Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,     and teach me your statutes. 125 I am your servant; give me understanding,     that I may know your testimonies! 126 It is time for the Lord to act,     for your law has been broken. 127 Therefore I love your commandments     above gold, above fine gold. 128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;     I hate every false way. 129 Your testimonies are wonderful;     therefore my soul keeps them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light;     it imparts understanding to the simple. 131 I open my mouth and pant,     because I long for your commandments. 132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,     as is your way with those who love your name. 133 Keep steady my steps according to your promise,     and let no iniquity get dominion over me. 134 Redeem me from man's oppression,     that I may keep your precepts. 135 Make your face shine upon your servant,     and teach me your statutes. 136 My eyes shed streams of tears,     because people do not keep your law. 137 Righteous are you, O Lord,     and right are your rules. 138 You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness     and in all faithfulness. 139 My zeal consumes me,     because my foes forget your words. 140 Your promise is well tried,     and your servant loves it. 141 I am small and despised,     yet I do not forget your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is righteous forever,     and your law is true. 143 Trouble and anguish have found me out,     but your commandments are my delight. 144 Your testimonies are righteous forever;     give me understanding that I may live. 

 

Jeremiah 18:1-11

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ 

 

Romans 8:1-11

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesusfrom the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 

 

John 6:27-40

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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