Wednesday, September 25 | St. Andrew's Anglican Church

Psalm 81

¹ Sing aloud to God our strength;
    shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
²Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
    the sweet lyre with the harp.
³Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
    at the full moon, on our feast day.
⁴For it is a statute for Israel,
    a rule of the God of Jacob.
⁵He made it a decree in Joseph
    when he went out over the land of Egypt.
    I hear a language I had not known:
⁶“I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
    your hands were freed from the basket.
⁷In distress you called, and I delivered you;
    I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
⁸Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
⁹There shall be no strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
¹⁰I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel would not submit to me.
¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own counsels.
¹³Oh, that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would walk in my ways!
¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes.
¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him,
    and their fate would last forever.
¹⁶But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
    and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 82

¹ God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
²“How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked?
³Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
    maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
⁴Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
⁵They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk about in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
⁶I said, “You are gods,
    sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷nevertheless, like men you shall die,
    and fall like any prince.”
⁸Arise, O God, judge the earth;
    for you shall inherit all the nations!

Psalm 119:97-120

⁹⁷Oh how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all the day.
⁹⁸Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.
⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers,
    for your testimonies are my meditation.
¹⁰⁰I understand more than the aged,
    for I keep your precepts.
¹⁰¹I hold back my feet from every evil way,
    in order to keep your word.
¹⁰²I do not turn aside from your rules,
    for you have taught me.
¹⁰³How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.
¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path.
¹⁰⁶I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
    to keep your righteous rules.
¹⁰⁷I am severely afflicted;
    give me life, O Lord, according to your word!
¹⁰⁸Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,
    and teach me your rules.
¹⁰⁹I hold my life in my hand continually,
    but I do not forget your law.
¹¹⁰The wicked have laid a snare for me,
    but I do not stray from your precepts.
¹¹¹Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
    for they are the joy of my heart.
¹¹²I incline my heart to perform your statutes
    forever, to the end.
¹¹³I hate the double-minded,
    but I love your law.
¹¹⁴You are my hiding place and my shield;
    I hope in your word.
¹¹⁵Depart from me, you evildoers,
    that I may keep the commandments of my God.
¹¹⁶Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
    and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
¹¹⁷Hold me up, that I may be safe
    and have regard for your statutes continually!
¹¹⁸You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
    for their cunning is in vain.
¹¹⁹All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
    therefore I love your testimonies.
¹²⁰My flesh trembles for fear of you,
    and I am afraid of your judgments.

Esther 6:1-14

¹ On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. ²And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. ³And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” ⁴And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. ⁵And the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” ⁶So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” ⁷And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, ⁸let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. ⁹And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” ¹⁰Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” ¹¹So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.” ¹²Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. ¹³And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” ¹⁴While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

Acts 19:1-10

¹ And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ²And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. ⁷There were about twelve men in all. ⁸And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. ⁹But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Luke 4:1-13

¹And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness ²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. ³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ⁴And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ⁵And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
    “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”
⁹And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,
    “‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’
¹¹and
    “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
¹²And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.