Daily Readings

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
²that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
³Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
⁵Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

⁶The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
⁷May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere him.

¹   Praise the Lord!
     Praise God in his sanctuary;
          praise him in his mighty firmament!
²   Praise him for his mighty deeds;
          praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

³   Praise him with trumpet sound;
          praise him with lute and harp!
⁴   Praise him with tambourine and dance;
          praise him with strings and pipe!
⁵   Praise him with clanging cymbals;
          praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
⁶   Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
     Praise the Lord!

²⁰Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. ²¹At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: ²²"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ²³Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you. ²⁴Because I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded, ²⁵and because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, ²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic strikes you, ²⁷when panic strikes you like a storm, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. ²⁹Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, ³⁰would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, ³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices. ³²For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; ³³but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster."

¹¹Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. ¹²We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. ¹³For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. ¹⁵And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

¹⁶From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

³⁵James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." ³⁶And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" ³⁷And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." ³⁸But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" ³⁹They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

⁴¹When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

¹   God is our refuge and strength,
          a very present help in trouble.
²   Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
          though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³   though its waters roar and foam,
          though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

⁴   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
          the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵   God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
          God will help it when the morning dawns.
⁶   The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
          he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷   The LORD of hosts is with us;
          the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸   Come, behold the works of the LORD;
          see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹   He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
          he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
          he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰  “Be still, and know that I am God!
          I am exalted among the nations,
          I am exalted in the earth.”
¹¹  The LORD of hosts is with us;
          the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

¹   The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty;
          the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength.
     He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
²        your throne is established from of old;
          you are from everlasting.

³   The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
          the floods have lifted up their voice;
          the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴   More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
          more majestic than the waves of the sea,
          majestic on high is the LORD!

⁵   Your decrees are very sure;
          holiness befits your house,
          O LORD, forevermore.