Judges 13:15-24
Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Allow us to detain you, and prepare a kid for you." The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "If you detain me, I will not eat your food; but if you want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?" But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful." So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to him who works wonders. When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God." But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these." The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
Acts 6:1-15
Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word." What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us." And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
John 4:1-26
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John" -- although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized-- he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband' for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."
Morning Psalms
Psalm 101 Misericordiam et judicium
1 I will sing of mercy and justice; to you, O LORD, will I sing praises.
2 I will strive to follow a blameless course; oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.
3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the doers of evil deeds; they shall not remain with me.
4 A crooked heart shall be far from me; I will not know evil.
5 Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.
6 My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.
7 Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.
8 I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the LORD.
Psalm 109 Deus, laudem
1 Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; for the mouth of the wicked, the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.
2 They speak to me with a lying tongue; they encompass me with hateful words and fight against me without a cause.
3 Despite my love, they accuse me; but as for me, I pray for them.
4 They repay evil for good, and hatred for my love.
5 Set a wicked man against him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand.
6 When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his appeal be in vain.
7 Let his days be few, and let another take his office.
8 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife become a widow.
9 Let his children be waifs and beggars; let them be driven from the ruins of their homes.
10 Let the creditor seize everything he has; let strangers plunder his gains.
11 Let there be no one to show him kindness, and none to pity his fatherless children.
12 Let his descendants be destroyed, and his name be blotted out in the next generation.
13 Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and his mother's sin not be blotted out;
14 Let their sin be always before the LORD; but let him root out their names from the earth;
15 Because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy and sought to kill the brokenhearted.
16 He loved cursing, let it come upon him; he took no delight in blessing, let it depart from him.
17 He put on cursing like a garment, let it soak into his body like water and into his bones like oil;
18 Let it be to him like the cloak which he wraps around himself, and like the belt that he wears continually.
19 Let this be the recompense from the LORD to my accusers, and to those who speak evil against me.
20 But you, O Lord my God, oh, deal with me according to your Name; for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.
21 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
22 I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.
23 My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.
24 I have become a reproach to them; they see and shake their heads.
25 Help me, O LORD my God; save me for your mercy's sake.
26 Let them know that this is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
27 They may curse, but you will bless; let those who rise up against me be put to shame, and your servant will rejoice.
28 Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.
29 I will give great thanks to the LORD with my mouth; in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;
30 Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save his life from those who would condemn him.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 119: Ayin Feci judicium
121 I have done what is just and right; do not deliver me to my oppressors.
122 Be surety for your servant's good; let not the proud oppress me.
123 My eyes have failed from watching for your salvation and for your righteous promise.
124 Deal with your servant according to your loving-kindness and teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant; grant me understanding, that I may know your decrees.
126 It is time for you to act, O LORD, for they have broken your law.
127 Truly, I love your commandments more than gold and precious stones.
128 I hold all your commandments to be right for me; all paths of falsehood I abhor.
Psalm 119: Pe Mirabilia
129 Your decrees are wonderful; therefore I obey them with all my heart.
130 When your word goes forth it gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant; I long for your commandments.
132 Turn to me in mercy, as you always do to those who love your Name.
133 Steady my footsteps in your word; let no iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Rescue me from those who oppress me, and I will keep your commandments.
135 Let your countenance shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.
136 My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.
Psalm 119: Sadhe Justus es, Domine
137 You are righteous, O LORD, and upright are your judgments.
138 You have issued your decrees with justice and in perfect faithfulness.
139 My indignation has consumed me, because my enemies forget your words.
140 Your word has been tested to the uttermost, and your servant holds it dear.
141 I am small and of little account, yet I do not forget your commandments.
142 Your justice is an everlasting justice and your law is the truth.
143 Trouble and distress have come upon me, yet your commandments are my delight.
144 The righteousness of your decrees is everlasting; grant me understanding, that I may live.
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