Daily Readings

¹   O sing to the LORD a new song,
          for he has done marvelous things.
     His right hand and his holy arm
          have gained him victory.
²   The LORD has made known his victory;
          he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
³   He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
          to the house of Israel.
     All the ends of the earth have seen
          the victory of our God.

⁴   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
          break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
⁵   Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
          with the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶   With trumpets and the sound of the horn
          make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

⁷   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
          the world and those who live in it.
⁸   Let the floods clap their hands;
          let the hills sing together for joy
⁹   at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
          to judge the earth.
     He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with equity.

¹   Praise the Lord!
     Praise the Lord from the heavens;
          praise him in the heights!
²   Praise him, all his angels;
          praise him, all his host!

³   Praise him, sun and moon;
          praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴   Praise him, you highest heavens,
          and you waters above the heavens!

⁵   Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for he commanded and they were created.
⁶   He established them forever and ever;
          he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

⁷   Praise the Lord from the earth,
          you sea monsters and all deeps,
⁸   fire and hail, snow and frost,
          stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹   Mountains and all hills,
          fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰  Wild animals and all cattle,
          creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹  Kings of the earth and all peoples,
          princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹²  Young men and women alike,
          old and young together!

¹³  Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for his name alone is exalted;
          his glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴  He has raised up a horn for his people,
          praise for all his faithful,
          for the people of Israel who are close to him.
     Praise the Lord!

⁵At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." ⁶And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. ⁷And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. ⁸And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. ⁹Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?"

¹⁰It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. ¹¹God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, ¹²I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. ¹³I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. ¹⁴If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life."

¹³Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." ¹⁴Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that." ¹⁶As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

⁷Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. ³In these lay many invalids — blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" ⁷The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." ⁸Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." ⁹At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." ¹¹But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" ¹²They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?" ¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. ¹⁴Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹   My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
          I address my verses to the king;
          my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

²   You are the most handsome of men;
          grace is poured upon your lips;
          therefore God has blessed you forever.

³   Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
          in your glory and majesty.

⁴   In your majesty ride on victoriously
          for the cause of truth and to defend the right;
          let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
⁵   Your arrows are sharp
          in the heart of the king’s enemies;
          the peoples fall under you.

⁶   Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
          Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
⁷        you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
     Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
          with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
⁸        your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
     From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
⁹        daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
          at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰  Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
          forget your people and your father’s house,
¹¹       and the king will desire your beauty.
     Since he is your lord, bow to him;
¹²       the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
          the richest of the people ¹³ with all kinds of wealth.

     The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;
¹⁴       in many-colored robes she is led to the king;
          behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.
¹⁵  With joy and gladness they are led along
          as they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶  In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons;
          you will make them princes in all the earth.
¹⁷  I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations;
          therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.

¹   O sing to the LORD a new song;
          sing to the LORD, all the earth.
²   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
          tell of his salvation from day to day.
³   Declare his glory among the nations,
          his marvelous works among all the peoples.
⁴   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
          he is to be revered above all gods.
⁵   For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
          but the LORD made the heavens.
⁶   Honor and majesty are before him;
          strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
          ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
⁸   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
          bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹   Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
          tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰  Say among the nations, “The LORD is king!
          The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
          He will judge the peoples with equity.”
¹¹  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
          let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²       let the field exult, and everything in it.
     Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³       before the LORD; for he is coming,
          for he is coming to judge the earth.
     He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with his truth.