Daily Readings

¹   To you I lift up my eyes,
          O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
²   As the eyes of servants
          look to the hand of their master,
     as the eyes of a maid
          to the hand of her mistress,
     so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
          until he has mercy upon us.

³   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
          for we have had more than enough of contempt.
⁴   Our soul has had more than its fill
          of the scorn of those who are at ease,
          of the contempt of the proud.

¹   Praise the LORD!
     Praise the LORD, O my soul!
²   I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
          I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

³   Do not put your trust in princes,
          in mortals, in whom there is no help.
⁴   When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
          on that very day their plans perish.

⁵   Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
          whose hope is in the LORD their God,
⁶   who made heaven and earth,
          the sea, and all that is in them;
     who keeps faith forever;
⁷        who executes justice for the oppressed;
          who gives food to the hungry.

     The LORD sets the prisoners free;
⁸        the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
     The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
          the LORD loves the righteous.
⁹   The LORD watches over the strangers;
          he upholds the orphan and the widow,
          but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰  The LORD will reign forever,
          your God, O Zion, for all generations.
     Praise the LORD!

¹Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father's; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father." ²And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before. ³Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you." ⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, ⁵and said to them, "I see that your father does not regard me as favorably as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I have served your father with all my strength; ⁷yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. ⁸If he said, 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, 'The striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore striped. ⁹Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father, and given them to me.

¹⁰During the mating of the flock I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats that leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. ¹¹Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!' ¹²And he said, 'Look up and see that all the goats that leap on the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.'" ¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? ¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. ¹⁶All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

¹⁷So Jacob arose, and set his children and his wives on camels; ¹⁸and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. ¹⁹Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods. ²⁰And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

²²On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³So he took his kinsfolk with him and pursued him for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, "Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad."

¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

³Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. ⁴Whoever says, "I have come to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; ⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: ⁶whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked.

⁷Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. ⁹Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. ¹⁰Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. ¹¹But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" ²⁰His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." ²⁵He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." ²⁶They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" ²⁷He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" ²⁸Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." ³⁰The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." ³⁴They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" ³⁶He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." ³⁷Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." ³⁸He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. ³⁹Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" ⁴¹Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains."

¹   I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up,
          and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
²   O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
          and you have healed me.
³   O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
          restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴   Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones,
          and give thanks to his holy name.
⁵   For his anger is but for a moment;
          his favor is for a lifetime.
     Weeping may linger for the night,
          but joy comes with the morning.

⁶   As for me, I said in my prosperity,
          “I shall never be moved.”
⁷   By your favor, O LORD,
          you had established me as a strong mountain;
     you hid your face;
          I was dismayed.
⁸   To you, O LORD, I cried,
          and to the LORD I made supplication:
⁹   “What profit is there in my death,
          if I go down to the Pit?
     Will the dust praise you?
          Will it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰  Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!
          O LORD, be my helper!”

¹¹  You have turned my mourning into dancing;
          you have taken off my sackcloth
          and clothed me with joy,
¹²  so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
          O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

¹   Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
          for I am poor and needy.
²   Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
          save your servant who trusts in you.
     You are my God; ³ be gracious to me, O Lord,
          for to you do I cry all day long.
⁴   Gladden the soul of your servant,
          for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
⁵   For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
          abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
⁶   Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
          listen to my cry of supplication.
⁷   In the day of my trouble I call on you,
          for you will answer me.

⁸   There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
          nor are there any works like yours.
⁹   All the nations you have made shall come
          and bow down before you, O Lord,
          and shall glorify your name.
¹⁰  For you are great and do wondrous things;
          you alone are God.
¹¹  Teach me your way, O LORD,
          that I may walk in your truth;
          give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
¹²  I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
          and I will glorify your name forever.
¹³  For great is your steadfast love toward me;
          you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴  O God, the insolent rise up against me;
          a band of ruffians seeks my life,
          and they do not set you before them.
¹⁵  But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
          slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
¹⁶  Turn to me and be gracious to me;
          give your strength to your servant;
          save the child of your serving girl.

¹⁷  Show me a sign of your favor,
          so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
          because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.