First Reading
Isaiah 40:12-23Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust. Lebanon would not provide fuel enough, nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol?-- A workman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains. As a gift one chooses mulberry wood-- wood that will not rot-- then seeks out a skilled artisan to set up an image that will not topple. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Second Reading
Ephesians 1:1-14Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.
The Holy Gospel
Mark 1:1-13The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Morning Psalms
Psalm 1 Beatus vir qui non abiit1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the LORD, and they meditate on his law day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper.
4 It is not so with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.
Psalm 2 Quare fremuerunt gentes?
1 Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?
2 Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, against the LORD and against his Anointed?
3 Let us break their yoke, they say; let us cast off their bonds from us.
4 He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; the Lord has them in derision.
5 Then he speaks to them in his wrath, and his rage fills them with terror.
6 I myself have set my king . upon my holy hill of Zion
7 Let me announce the decree of the LORD: he said to me, "You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall crush them with an iron rod and shatter them like a piece of pottery."
10 And now, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Submit to the LORD with fear, and with trembling bow before him;
12 Lest he be angry and you perish; for his wrath is quickly kindled.
13 Happy are they all who take refuge in him!
Psalm 3 Domine, quid multiplicati
1 LORD, how many adversaries I have! how many there are who rise up against me!
2 How many there are who say of me, "There is no help for him in his God."
3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me; you are my glory, the one who lifts up my head.
4 I call aloud upon the LORD, and he answers me from his holy hill;
5 I lie down and go to sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I do not fear the multitudes of people who set themselves against me all around.
7 Rise up, O LORD; set me free, O my God; surely, you will strike all my enemies across the face, you will break the teeth of the wicked.
8 Deliverance belongs to the LORD. Your blessing be upon your people!
Evening Psalms
Psalm 4 Cum invocarem1 Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause; you set me free when I am hard-pressed; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; how long will you worship dumb idols and run after false gods?
3 Know that the LORD does wonders for the faithful; when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.
4 Tremble, then, and do not sin; speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
5 Offer the appointed sacrifices and put your trust in the LORD.
6 Many are saying, "Oh, that we might see better times!" Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O LORD.
7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
8 I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 7 Domine, Deus meus
1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me;
2 Lest like a lion they tear me in pieces and snatch me away with none to deliver me.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done these things: if there is any wickedness in my hands,
4 If I have repaid my friend with evil, or plundered him who without cause is my enemy;
5 Then let my enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life into the ground, and lay my honor in the dust.
6 Stand up, O LORD, in your wrath; rise up against the fury of my enemies.
7 Awake, O my God, decree justice; let the assembly of the peoples gather round you.
8 Be seated on your lofty throne, O Most High; O LORD, judge the nations.
9 Give judgment for me according to my righteousness, O LORD, and according to my innocence, O Most High.
10 Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for you test the mind and heart, O righteous God.
11 God is my shield and defense; he is the savior of the true in heart.
12 God is a righteous judge; God sits in judgment every day.
13 If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; he will bend his bow and make it ready.
14 He has prepared his weapons of death; he makes his arrows shafts of fire.
15 Look at those who are in labor with wickedness, who conceive evil, and give birth to a lie.
16 They dig a pit and make it deep and fall into the hole that they have made.
17 Their malice turns back upon their own head; their violence falls on their own scalp.
18 I will bear witness that the LORD is righteous; I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.
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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