First Reading
from the Old Testament
Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah. Ah, you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine, whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands! Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her. People are bowed down, everyone is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled. But the LORD of hosts is exalted by justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness. Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins. Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood, who drag sin along as with cart ropes, who say, "Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment, that we may know it!" Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight! Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights! (Isaiah 5:8-23, NRSV)
Second Reading
from the Epistles
from the Epistles
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, NRSV)
The Holy Gospel
according to St Luke, the 21st Chapter
according to St Luke, the 21st Chapter
"When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:20-28, NRSV)
Morning Psalms
Psalm 25 Ad te, Domine, levavi
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you; let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
2 Let none who look to you be put to shame; let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.
3 Show me your ways, O LORD, and teach me your paths.
4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.
5 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting.
6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.
7 Gracious and upright is the LORD; therefore he teaches sinners in his way.
8 He guides the humble in doing right and teaches his way to the lowly.
9 All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10 For your Name's sake, O LORD, forgive my sin, for it is great.
11 Who are they who fear the LORD? he will teach them the way that they should choose.
12 They shall dwell in prosperity, and their offspring shall inherit the land.
13 The LORD is a friend to those who fear him and will show them his covenant.
14 My eyes are ever looking to the LORD, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
15 Turn to me and have pity on me, for I am left alone and in misery.
16 The sorrows of my heart have increased; bring me out of my troubles.
17 Look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my sin.
18 Look upon my enemies, for they are many, and they bear a violent hatred against me.
19 Protect my life and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I have trusted in you.
20 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for my hope has been in you.
21 Deliver Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 9 Confitebor tibi
1 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing to your Name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies are driven back, they will stumble and perish at your presence.
4 For you have maintained my right and my cause; you sit upon your throne judging right.
5 You have rebuked the ungodly and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 As for the enemy, they are finished, in perpetual ruin, their cities plowed under, the memory of them perished;
7 But the LORD is enthroned for ever; he has set up this throne for judgment.
8 It is he who rules the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with equity.
9 The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble.
10 Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, for you never forsake those who seek you, O LORD.
11 Sing praise to the LORD who dwells in Zion; proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.
12 The Avenger of blood will remember them; he will not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Have pity on me, O LORD; see the misery I suffer from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gate of death;
14 So that I may tell of all your praises and rejoice in your salvation in the gates of the city of Zion.
15 The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.
16 The LORD is known by his acts of justice; the wicked are trapped in the works of their own hands.
17 The wicked shall be given over to the grave, and also all the people that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19 Rise up, O LORD, let not the ungodly have the upper hand; let them be judged before you.
20 Put fear upon them, O LORD; let the ungodly know they are but mortal.
Psalm 15 Domine, quis habitabit?
1 LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? who may abide upon your holy hill?
2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from his heart.
3 There is no guile upon his tongue; he does no evil to his friend; he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.
4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, but he honors those who fear the LORD.
5 He has sworn to do no wrong and does not take back his word.
6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
7 Whoever does these things shall never be overthrown.
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.
