Hosea 10:1-15
Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars, and destroy their pillars. For now they will say: "We have no king, for we do not fear the LORD, and a king-- what could he do for us?" They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so litigation springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people shall mourn for it, and its idolatrous priests shall wail over it, over its glory that has departed from it. The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol. Samaria's king shall perish like a chip on the face of the waters. The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars. They shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us. Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued. Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah? I will come against the wayward people to punish them; and nations shall be gathered against them when they are punished for their double iniquity. Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will make Ephraim break the ground; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself. Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your power and in the multitude of your warriors, therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.
Acts 21:37-22:16
Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, "May I say something to you?" The tribune replied, "Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?" Paul replied, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; I beg you, let me speak to the people." When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you." When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. "While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' Then he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I asked, 'What am I to do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.' Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus. "A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing beside me, he said, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight!' In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.'
Luke 6:12-26
Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Morning Psalms
Psalm 102 Domine, exaudi
1 LORD, hear my prayer, and let my cry come before you; hide not your face from me in the day of my trouble.
2 Incline your ear to me; when I call, make haste to answer me,
3 For my days drift away like smoke, and my bones are hot as burning coals.
4 My heart is smitten like grass and withered, so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the voice of my groaning I am but skin and bones.
6 I have become like a vulture in the wilderness, like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake and groan; I am like a sparrow, lonely on a house-top.
8 My enemies revile me all day long, and those who scoff at me have taken an oath against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes for bread and mingled my drink with weeping.
10 Because of your indignation and wrath you have lifted me up and thrown me away.
11 My days pass away like a shadow, and I wither like the grass.
12 But you, O LORD, endure for ever, and your Name from age to age.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to have mercy upon her; indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants love her very rubble, and are moved to pity even for her dust.
15 The nations shall fear your Name, O LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 For the LORD will build up Zion, and his glory will appear.
17 He will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless; he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation, so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD.
19 For the LORD looked down from his holy place on high; from the heavens he beheld the earth;
20 That he might hear the groan of the captive and set free those condemned to die;
21 That they may declare in Zion the Name of the LORD, and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms also, to serve the LORD.
23 He has brought down my strength before my time; he has shortened the number of my days;
24 And I said, "O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; your years endure throughout all generations.
25 In the beginning, O LORD, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
26 They shall perish, but you will endure; they all shall wear out like a garment; as clothing you will change them, and they shall be changed;
27 But you are always the same, and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants shall continue, and their offspring shall stand fast in your sight."
Evening Psalms
Psalm 107:1-32 Part I Confitemini Domino
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, and his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
3 He gathered them out of the lands; from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes; they found no way to a city where they might dwell.
5 They were hungry and thirsty; their spirits languished within them.
6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He put their feet on a straight path to go to a city where they might dwell.
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children.
9 For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and deep gloom, bound fast in misery and iron;
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he humbled their spirits with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He led them out of darkness and deep gloom and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children.
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze and breaks in two the iron bars.
17 Some were fools and took to rebellious ways; they were afflicted because of their sins.
18 They abhorred all manner of food and drew near to death's door.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent forth his word and healed them and saved them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children.
22 Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.
23 Some went down to the sea in ships and plied their trade in deep waters;
24 They beheld the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep.
25 Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose, which tossed high the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; their hearts melted because of their peril.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper and quieted the waves of the sea.
30 Then were they glad because of the calm, and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children.
32 Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
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