The Daily Readings for SATURDAY, October 14, 2017

The Twelve Apostles

Daily Readings for
SATURDAY, October 14, 2017

Jeremiah 35:1-19

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink. So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Have some wine." But they answered, "We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, 'You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children; nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.' We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed; but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, 'Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.' That is why we are living in Jerusalem." Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the LORD. The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor's command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me. I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, 'Turn now everyone of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.' But you did not incline your ear or obey me. The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered. But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Matthew 9:35-10:4

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 137 Super flumina

1   By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered you, O Zion.
2   As for our harps, we hung them up on the trees in the midst of that land.
3   For those who led us away captive asked us for a song, and our oppressors called for mirth: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
4   How shall we sing the LORD'S song upon an alien soil?
5   If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
6   Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.
7   Remember the day of Jerusalem, O LORD, against the people of Edom, who said, "Down with it! down with it! even to the ground!"
8   O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy the one who pays you back for what you have done to us!
9   Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, and dashes them against the rock!

Psalm 144 Benedictus Dominus

1   Blessed be the LORD my rock! who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;
2   My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield in whom I trust, who subdues the peoples under me.
3   O LORD, what are we that you should care for us? mere mortals that you should think of us?
4   We are like a puff of wind; our days are like a passing shadow.
5   Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6   Hurl the lightning and scatter them; shoot out your arrows and rout them.
7   Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the great waters, from the hand of foreign peoples,
8   Whose mouths speak deceitfully and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
9   O God, I will sing to you a new song; I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.
10   You give victory to kings and have rescued David your servant.
11   Rescue me from the hurtful sword and deliver me from the hand of foreign peoples,
12   Whose mouths speak deceitfully and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
13   May our sons be like plants well nurtured from their youth, and our daughters like sculptured corners of a palace.
14   May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner of crops; may the flocks in our pastures increase by thousands and tens of thousands; may our cattle be fat and sleek.
15   May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile, no wailing in the public squares.
16   Happy are the people of whom this is so! happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Evening Psalms

Psalm 104 Benedic, anima mea

1   Bless the LORD, O my soul; O LORD my God, how excellent is your greatness! you are clothed with majesty and splendor.
2   You wrap yourself with light as with a cloak and spread out the heavens like a curtain.
3   You lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above; you make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind.
4   You make the winds your messengers and flames of fire your servants.
5   You have set the earth upon its foundations, so that it never shall move at any time.
6   You covered it with the Deep as with a mantle; the waters stood higher than the mountains.
7   At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hastened away.
8   They went up into the hills and down to the valleys beneath, to the places you had appointed for them.
9   You set the limits that they should not pass; they shall not again cover the earth.
10   You send the springs into the valleys; they flow between the mountains.
11   All the beasts of the field drink their fill from them, and the wild asses quench their thirst.
12   Beside them the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches.
13   You water the mountains from your dwelling on high; the earth is fully satisfied by the fruit of your works.
14   You make grass grow for flocks and herds and plants to serve mankind;
15   That they may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden our hearts,
16   Oil to make a cheerful countenance, and bread to strengthen the heart.
17   The trees of the LORD are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,
18   In which the birds build their nests, and in whose tops the stork makes his dwelling.
19   The high hills are a refuge for the mountain goats, and the stony cliffs for the rock badgers.
20   You appointed the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows the time of its setting.
21   You make darkness that it may be night, in which all the beasts of the forest prowl.
22   The lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
23   The sun rises, and they slip away and lay themselves down in their dens.
24   Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until the evening.
25   O LORD, how manifold are your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
26   Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number, creatures both small and great.
27   There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it.
28   All of them look to you to give them their food in due season.
29   You give it to them; they gather it; you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
30   You hide your face, and they are terrified; you take away their breath, and they die and return to their dust.
31   You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth.
32   May the glory of the LORD endure for ever; may the LORD rejoice in all his works.
33   He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke.
34   I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have my being.
35   May these words of mine please him; I will rejoice in the LORD.
36   Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked be no more.
37   Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!

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.