Daily Readings

¹   Have mercy on me, O God,
          according to your steadfast love;
     according to your abundant mercy
          blot out my transgressions.
²   Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
          and cleanse me from my sin.

³   For I know my transgressions,
          and my sin is ever before me.
⁴   Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
          and done what is evil in your sight,
     so that you are justified in your sentence
          and blameless when you pass judgment.

⁵   Indeed, I was born guilty,
          a sinner when my mother conceived me.

⁶   You desire truth in the inward being;
          therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
⁷   Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
          wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸   Let me hear joy and gladness;
          let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
⁹   Hide your face from my sins,
          and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
          and put a new and right spirit within me.
¹¹  Do not cast me away from your presence,
          and do not take your holy spirit from me.
¹²  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
          and sustain in me a willing spirit.

¹³  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
          and sinners will return to you.
¹⁴  Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
          O God of my salvation,
          and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

¹⁵  O Lord, open my lips,
          and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶  For you have no delight in sacrifice;
          if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
¹⁷  The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
          a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸  Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
          rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
¹⁹  then you will delight in right sacrifices,
          in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
          then bulls will be offered on your altar.

La creación alaba al Señor
148 ¡Aleluya!

¡Alaben al Señor desde el cielo!
¡Alaben al Señor desde lo alto!
2 ¡Alábenlo ustedes, todos sus ángeles!
¡Alábenlo ustedes, ejércitos del cielo!
3 ¡Alábenlo, sol y luna!
¡Alábenlo ustedes, brillantes luceros!
4 ¡Alábalo tú, altísimo cielo,
y tú, agua que estás encima del cielo!

5 Alaben el nombre del Señor,
pues él dio una orden y todo fue creado;
6 él lo estableció todo para siempre,
y dictó una ley que no puede ser violada.

7 ¡Alaben al Señor desde la tierra,
monstruos del mar, y mar profundo!
8 ¡El rayo y el granizo, la nieve y la neblina!
¡El viento tempestuoso que cumple sus mandatos!
9 ¡Los montes y las colinas!
¡Todos los cedros y los árboles frutales!
10 ¡Los animales domésticos y los salvajes!
¡Las aves y los reptiles!
11 ¡Los reyes del mundo y todos los pueblos!
¡Todos los jefes y gobernantes del mundo!
12 ¡Hombres y mujeres, jóvenes y viejos!

13 ¡Alaben todos el nombre del Señor,
pues sólo su nombre es altísimo!
¡Su honor está por encima del cielo y de la tierra!
14 ¡Él ha dado poder a su pueblo!

¡Alabanza de todos sus fieles,
de los israelitas, su pueblo cercano!

¡Aleluya!

⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?"

¹Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women. ²Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. ³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples. ⁴May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien — land that God gave to Abraham."

¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹²And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; ¹⁴and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." ¹⁶Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place — and I did not know it!" ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

¹⁸So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, ²²and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."

¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴for it is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is due them — taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; ¹³let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

³³They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"

³⁴Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father."

³⁹They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are indeed doing what your father does." They said to him, "We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself." ⁴²Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. ⁴⁴You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God."

¹   With my voice I cry to the LORD;
          with my voice I make supplication to the LORD.
²   I pour out my complaint before him;
          I tell my trouble before him.
³   When my spirit is faint,
          you know my way.

     In the path where I walk
          they have hidden a trap for me.
⁴   Look on my right hand and see —
          there is no one who takes notice of me;
     no refuge remains to me;
          no one cares for me.

⁵   I cry to you, O LORD;
          I say, “You are my refuge,
          my portion in the land of the living.”
⁶   Give heed to my cry,
          for I am brought very low.

     Save me from my persecutors,
          for they are too strong for me.
⁷   Bring me out of prison,
          so that I may give thanks to your name.
     The righteous will surround me,
          for you will deal bountifully with me.

1 Oh Dios de Sión,
¡tú eres digno de alabanza!,
¡tú mereces que te cumplan lo prometido,
2 pues escuchas la oración!

Todo el mundo viene a ti.
3 Nuestras maldades nos dominan,
pero tú perdonas nuestros pecados.
4 Feliz el hombre a quien escoges
y lo llevas a vivir cerca de ti,
en las habitaciones de tu templo.
¡Que seamos colmados con lo mejor de tu casa,
con la santidad de tu templo!

5 Dios y Salvador nuestro,
tú nos respondes
con maravillosos actos de justicia;
la tierra entera confía en ti,
y también el mar lejano;
6 tú mantienes firmes las montañas
con tu poder y tu fuerza.
7 Tú calmas el estruendo de las olas
y el alboroto de los pueblos;
8 aun los que habitan en lejanas tierras
tiemblan ante tus maravillas;
por ti hay gritos de alegría
del oriente al occidente.
9 Tú tienes cuidado de la tierra;
le envías lluvia y la haces producir;
tú, con arroyos caudalosos,
haces crecer los trigales.
¡Así preparas el campo!
10 Tú empapas los surcos de la tierra
y nivelas sus terrones;
ablandas la tierra con lluvias abundantes
y bendices sus productos.
11 Tú colmas el año de bendiciones,
tus nubes derraman abundancia;
12 los pastos del desierto están verdes
y los montes se visten de gala;
13 los llanos se cubren de rebaños,
los valles se revisten de trigales;
¡todos cantan y gritan de alegría!