The Old Testament Lesson
The Old Testament Lesson for today is taken from Jeremiah 3:6-18
The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? And I thought, "After she has done all this she will return to me" but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says the LORD. Then the LORD said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, faithless Israel, says the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, says the LORD. Return, O faithless children, says the LORD, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the LORD, they shall no longer say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God!
The Epistle Lesson
The Epistle Lesson for today is taken from Romans 1:28-2:11
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die-- yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, "We know that God's judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth." Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one's deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God!
The Holy Gospel Lesson
The Holy Gospel is written in John 5:1-18
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids-- blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?" Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working." For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
Here ends the Gospel lesson for today
Glory be to Thee ,O Christ!
Morning Psalms
Psalm 72 Deus, judicium
1 Give the King your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the King's son;
2 That he may rule your people righteously and the poor with justice.
3 That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, and the little hills bring righteousness.
4 He shall defend the needy among the people; he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.
5 He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure, from one generation to another.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown field, like showers that water the earth.
7 In his time shall the righteous flourish; there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
8 He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 His foes shall bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts.
11 All kings shall bow down before him, and all the nations do him service.
12 For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper.
13 He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
14 He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15 Long may he live! and may there be given to him gold from Arabia; may prayer be made for him always, and may they bless him all the day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain on the earth, growing thick even on the hilltops; may its fruit flourish like Lebanon, and its grain like grass upon the earth.
17 May his Name remain for ever and be established as long as the sun endures; may all the nations bless themselves in him and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord GOD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous deeds!
19 And blessed be his glorious Name for ever! and may all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen. Amen.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 119: Yodh Manus tuæ fecerunt me
73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
74 Those who fear you will be glad when they see me, because I trust in your word.
75 I know, O LORD, that your judgments are right and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 Let your loving-kindness be my comfort, as you have promised to your servant.
77 Let your compassion come to me, that I may live, for your law is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame, for they wrong me with lies; but I will meditate on your commandments.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me, and also those who know your decrees.
80 Let my heart be sound in your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
Psalm 119: Kaph Defecit in salutare
81 My soul has longed for your salvation; I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes have failed from watching for your promise, and I say, "When will you comfort me?"
83 I have become like a leather flask in the smoke, but I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How much longer must I wait? when will you give judgment against those who persecute me?
85 The proud have dug pits for me; they do not keep your law.
86 All your commandments are true; help me, for they persecute me with lies.
87 They had almost made an end of me on earth, but I have not forsaken your commandments.
88 In your loving-kindness, revive me, that I may keep the decrees of your mouth.
Psalm 119: Lamedh In æternum, Domine
89 O LORD, your word is everlasting; it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness remains from one generation to another; you established the earth, and it abides.
91 By your decree these continue to this day, for all things are your servants.
92 If my delight had not been in your law, I should have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your commandments, because by them you give me life.
94 I am yours; oh, that you would save me! for I study your commandments.
95 Though the wicked lie in wait for me to destroy me, I will apply my mind to your decrees.
96 I see that all things come to an end, but your commandment has no bounds.
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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