Daily Lectionary:

Morning: Psalm 149:1-9
Numbers 24:12-25
Romans 8:18-25
Matthew 22:23-40
Evening: Psalm 63:1-11

 

Morning: Psalm 149:1-9

¹Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

²Let Israel be glad in its Maker;

let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

³Let them praise his name with dancing,

making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;

he adorns the humble with victory.

⁵Let the faithful exult in glory;

let them sing for joy on their couches.

⁶Let the high praises of God be in their throats

and two-edged swords in their hands,

⁷to execute vengeance on the nations

and punishment on the peoples,

⁸to bind their kings with fetters

and their nobles with chains of iron,

⁹to execute on them the judgment decreed.

This is glory for all his faithful ones.

Praise the Lord!

Numbers 24:12-25

¹²And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ¹³'If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the LORD says, that is what I will say'? ¹⁴So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what this people will do to your people in days to come."

¹⁵So he uttered his oracle, saying: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is clear, ¹⁶the oracle of one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered: ¹⁷I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near—a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites. ¹⁸Edom will become a possession, Seir a possession of its enemies, while Israel does valiantly. ¹⁹One out of Jacob shall rule, and destroy the survivors of Ir."

²⁰Then he looked on Amalek, and uttered his oracle, saying: "First among the nations was Amalek, but its end is to perish forever."

²¹Then he looked on the Kenite, and uttered his oracle, saying: "Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock; ²²yet Kain is destined for burning. How long shall Asshur take you away captive?"

²³Again he uttered his oracle, saying: "Alas, who shall live when God does this? ²⁴But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he also shall perish forever."

²⁵Then Balaam got up and went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.

Romans 8:18-25

¹⁸I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Matthew 22:23-40

²³The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, ²⁴"Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.' ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. ²⁶The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷Last of all, the woman herself died. ²⁸In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her."

²⁹Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ³²'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is God not of the dead, but of the living." ³³And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" ³⁷He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Evening: Psalm 63:1-11

¹O God, you are my God, I seek you,

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

²So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

³Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

⁴So I will bless you as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

⁵My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,

and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

⁶when I think of you on my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

⁷for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

⁸My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

⁹But those who seek to destroy my life

shall go down into the depths of the earth;

¹⁰they shall be given over to the power of the sword,

they shall be prey for jackals.

¹¹But the king shall rejoice in God;

all who swear by him shall exult,

for the mouths of liars will be stopped.