First Reading
from the Old Testament
from the Old Testament
On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on the one who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in all the earth. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: O my people, who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they beat you with a rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. The LORD of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck. He has gone up from Rimmon, (Isaiah 10:20-27, NRSV)
Second Reading
from the Epistles
from the Epistles
But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; for they said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts." It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies. Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Revelation (Jude 1:17-25, NRSV)
The Holy Gospel
according to St Luke, the 3rd Chapter
according to St Luke, the 3rd Chapter
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Luke 3:1-9, NRSV)
Morning Psalms
Psalm 55 Exaudi, Deus
1 Hear my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my petition.
2 Listen to me and answer me; I have no peace, because of my cares.
3 I am shaken by the noise of the enemy and by the pressure of the wicked;
4 For they have cast an evil spell upon me and are set against me in fury.
5 My heart quakes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
6 Fear and trembling have come over me, and horror overwhelms me.
7 And I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
8 I would flee to a far-off place and make my lodging in the wilderness.
9 I would hasten to escape from the stormy wind and tempest."
10 Swallow them up, O Lord; confound their speech; for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
11 Day and night the watchmen make their rounds upon her walls, but trouble and misery are in the midst of her.
12 There is corruption at her heart; her streets are never free of oppression and deceit.
13 For had it been an adversary who taunted me, then I could have borne it; or had it been an enemy who vaunted himself against me, then I could have hidden from him.
14 But it was you, a man after my own heart, my companion, my own familiar friend.
15 We took sweet counsel together, and walked with the throng in the house of God.
16 Let death come upon them suddenly; let them go down alive to the grave; for wickedness is in their dwellings, in their very midst.
17 But I will call upon God, and the LORD will deliver me.
18 In the evening, in the morning, and at noonday, I will complain and lament, and he will hear my voice.
19 He will bring me safely back from the battle waged against me; for there are many who fight me.
20 God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me and bring them down; they never change; they do not fear God.
21 My companion stretched forth his hand against his comrade; he has broken his covenant.
22 His speech is softer than butter, but war is in his heart.
23 His words are smoother than oil, but they are drawn swords.
24 Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous stumble.
25 For you will bring the bloodthirsty and deceitful down to the pit of destruction, O God.
26 They shall not live out half their days, but I will put my trust in you.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 138 Confitebor tibi
1 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your Name, because of your love and faithfulness;
3 For you have glorified your Name and your word above all things.
4 When I called, you answered me; you increased my strength within me.
5 All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD, when they have heard the words of your mouth.
6 They will sing of the ways of the LORD, that great is the glory of the LORD.
7 Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly; he perceives the haughty from afar.
8 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me.
9 The LORD will make good his purpose for me; O LORD, your love endures for ever; do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 139 Domine, probasti
1 LORD, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you, O LORD, know it altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and before and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6 Where can I go then from your Spirit? where can I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me and your right hand hold me fast.
10 If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night, "
11 Darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both alike.
12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
14 My body was not hidden from you, while I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth.
15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb; all of them were written in your book; they were fashioned day by day, when as yet there was none of them.
16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! how great is the sum of them!
17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
18 Oh, that you would slay the wicked, O God! You that thirst for blood, depart from me.
19 They speak despitefully against you; your enemies take your Name in vain.
20 Do I not hate those, O LORD, who hate you? and do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
21 I hate them with a perfect hatred; they have become my own enemies.
22 Search me out, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts.
23 Look well whether there be any wickedness in me and lead me in the way that is everlasting.
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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