First Reading
from the Old Testament
from the Old Testament
Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. See, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. Now if people say to you, "Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that chirp and mutter; should not a people consult their gods, the dead on behalf of the living, for teaching and for instruction?" Surely, those who speak like this will have no dawn! They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry; when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and their gods. They will turn their faces upward, or they will look to the earth, but will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness. But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. (Isaiah 8:16-9:1, NRSV)
Second Reading
from the Epistles
from the Epistles
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. (2 Peter 1:1-11, NRSV)
The Holy Gospel
according to St Luke, the 22nd Chapter
according to St Luke, the 22nd Chapter
He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not come into the time of trial." Then he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial." While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, "Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?" When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, "Lord, should we strike with the sword?" Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!" (Luke 22:39-53, NRSV)
Morning Psalms
Psalm 41 Beatus qui intelligit
1 Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! the LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble.
2 The LORD preserves them and keeps them alive, so that they may be happy in the land; he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies.
3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and ministers to them in their illness.
4 I said, "LORD, be merciful to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you."
5 My enemies are saying wicked things about me: "When will he die, and his name perish?"
6 Even if they come to see me, they speak empty words; their heart collects false rumors; they go outside and spread them.
7 All my enemies whisper together about me and devise evil against me.
8 A deadly thing, they say, has fastened on him; he has taken to his bed and will never get up again.
9 Even my best friend, whom I trusted, who broke bread with me, has lifted up his heel and turned against me.
10 But you, O LORD, be merciful to me and raise me up, and I shall repay them.
11 By this I know you are pleased with me, that my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 In my integrity you hold me fast, and shall set me before your face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, from age to age. Amen. Amen.
Psalm 52 Quid gloriaris?
1 You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness against the godly all day long?
2 You plot ruin; your tongue is like a sharpened razor, O worker of deception.
3 You love evil more than good and lying more than speaking the truth.
4 You love all words that hurt, O you deceitful tongue.
5 Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling, and root you out of the land of the living!
6 The righteous shall see and tremble, and they shall laugh at him, saying,
7 This is the one who did not take God for a refuge, but trusted in great wealth and relied upon wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will give you thanks for what you have done and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 44 Deus, auribus
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our forefathers have told us, the deeds you did in their days, in the days of old.
2 How with your hand you drove the peoples out and planted our forefathers in the land; how you destroyed nations and made your people flourish.
3 For they did not take the land by their sword, nor did their arm win the victory for them; but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you favored them.
4 You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we pushed back our adversaries; through your Name we trampled on those who rose up against us.
6 For I do not rely on my bow, and my sword does not give me the victory.
7 Surely, you gave us victory over our adversaries and put those who hate us to shame.
8 Every day we gloried in God, and we will praise your Name for ever.
9 Nevertheless, you have rejected and humbled us and do not go forth with our armies.
10 You have made us fall back before our adversary, and our enemies have plundered us.
11 You have made us like sheep to be eaten and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You are selling your people for a trifle and are making no profit on the sale of them.
13 You have made us the scorn of our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughing-stock among the peoples.
15 My humiliation is daily before me, and shame has covered my face;
16 Because of the taunts of the mockers and blasphemers, because of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this has come upon us; yet we have not forgotten you, nor have we betrayed your covenant.
18 Our heart never turned back, nor did our footsteps stray from your path;
19 Though you thrust us down into a place of misery, and covered us over with deep darkness.
20 If we have forgotten the Name of our God, or stretched out our hands to some strange god,
21 Will not God find it out? for he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Indeed, for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, O Lord! why are you sleeping? Arise! do not reject us for ever.
24 Why have you hidden your face and forgotten our affliction and oppression?
25 We sink down into the dust; our body cleaves to the ground.
26 Rise up, and help us, and save us, for the sake of your steadfast love.
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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