Daily Readings for Friday, December 6, 2024

Morning Psalm 102

1   Hear my prayer, O LORD;
          let my cry come to you.
2   Do not hide your face from me
          in the day of my distress.
    Incline your ear to me;
          answer me speedily in the day when I call.

3   For my days pass away like smoke,
          and my bones burn like a furnace.
4   My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
          I am too wasted to eat my bread.
5   Because of my loud groaning
          my bones cling to my skin.
6   I am like an owl of the wilderness,
          like a little owl of the waste places.
7   I lie awake;
          I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
8   All day long my enemies taunt me;
          those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9   For I eat ashes like bread,
          and mingle tears with my drink,
10  because of your indignation and anger;
          for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
11  My days are like an evening shadow;
          I wither away like grass.

12  But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
          your name endures to all generations.
13  You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
          for it is time to favor it;
          the appointed time has come.
14  For your servants hold its stones dear,
          and have pity on its dust.
15  The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
          and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16  For the LORD will build up Zion;
          he will appear in his glory.
17  He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
          and will not despise their prayer.
18  Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
          so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
19  that he looked down from his holy height,
          from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
20  to hear the groans of the prisoners,
          to set free those who were doomed to die;
21  so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,
          and his praise in Jerusalem,
22  when peoples gather together,
          and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

23  He has broken my strength in midcourse;
          he has shortened my days.
24  “O my God,” I say, “do not take me away
          at the mid-point of my life,
    you whose years endure
          throughout all generations.”

25  Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
          and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26  They will perish, but you endure;
          they will all wear out like a garment.
    You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
27       but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28  The children of your servants shall live secure;
          their offspring shall be established in your presence.

Morning Psalm 148

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!

 3:1For now the Sovereign, the LORD of hosts,
          is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
    support and staff —
          all support of bread,
          and all support of water —
    2warrior and soldier,
          judge and prophet,
          diviner and elder,
    3captain of fifty
          and dignitary,
    counselor and skillful magician
          and expert enchanter.
    4And I will make boys their princes,
          and babes shall rule over them.
    5The people will be oppressed,
          everyone by another
          and everyone by a neighbor;
    the youth will be insolent to the elder,
          and the base to the honorable.

     6Someone will even seize a relative,
          a member of the clan, saying,
    "You have a cloak;
          you shall be our leader,
    and this heap of ruins
          shall be under your rule."
    7But the other will cry out on that day, saying,
    "I will not be a healer;
          in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
    you shall not make me
          leader of the people."
    8For Jerusalem has stumbled
          and Judah has fallen,
    because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
          defying his glorious presence.

     9The look on their faces bears witness against them;
          they proclaim their sin like Sodom,
          they do not hide it.
    Woe to them!
          For they have brought evil on themselves.
    10Tell the innocent how fortunate they are,
          for they shall eat the fruit of their labors.
    11Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are,
          for what their hands have done shall be done to them.
    12My people — children are their oppressors,
          and women rule over them.
    O my people, your leaders mislead you,
          and confuse the course of your paths.

     13The LORD rises to argue his case;
          he stands to judge the peoples.
    14The LORD enters into judgment
          with the elders and princes of his people:
    It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
          the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
    15What do you mean by crushing my people,
          by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord GOD of hosts.

     16The LORD said:
    Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
          and walk with outstretched necks,
          glancing wantonly with their eyes,
    mincing along as they go,
          tinkling with their feet;
    17the Lord will afflict with scabs
          the heads of the daughters of Zion,
          and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

18In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs 20the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21the signet rings and nose rings; 22the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

     24Instead of perfume there will be a stench;
          and instead of a sash, a rope;
    and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
          and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth;
          instead of beauty, shame.
    25Your men shall fall by the sword
          and your warriors in battle.
    26And her gates shall lament and mourn;
          ravaged, she shall sit upon the ground.
    4:1Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying,
    "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes;
    just let us be called by your name;
          take away our disgrace."

1Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; 4that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, 5not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. 8Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

9Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; 10and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, 11to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, 12so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.

41Then he said to them, "How can they say that the Messiah is David's son? 42For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, 43until I make your enemies your footstool."' 44David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?"

45In the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, 46"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. 47They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

1He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; 2he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on."

Evening Psalm 130

1   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2       Lord, hear my voice!
    Let your ears be attentive
          to the voice of my supplications!

3   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
          Lord, who could stand?
4   But there is forgiveness with you,
          so that you may be revered.

5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
          and in his word I hope;
6   my soul waits for the Lord
          more than those who watch for the morning,
          more than those who watch for the morning.

7   O Israel, hope in the LORD!
          For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
          and with him is great power to redeem.
8   It is he who will redeem Israel
          from all its iniquities.

Evening Psalm 16

1   Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2   I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
          I have no good apart from you.”

3   As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
          in whom is all my delight.

4   Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
          their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
          or take their names upon my lips.

5   The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
          you hold my lot.
6   The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
          I have a goodly heritage.

7   I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
          in the night also my heart instructs me.
8   I keep the LORD always before me;
          because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9   Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
          my body also rests secure.
10  For you do not give me up to Sheol,
          or let your faithful one see the Pit.

11  You show me the path of life.
          In your presence there is fullness of joy;
          in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.