The Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday, January 18, 2023

 

The Daily Bible Readings
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Psalm 40:6-17; Isaiah 48:12-21; Matthew 9:14-17
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions

Psalm 40:6-17
Not sacrifice but divine mercy
Expectans, expectavi

Oh, that I could make them known and tell them!
but they are more than I can count.

In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure
(you have given me ears to hear you);

Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required,
and so I said, “Behold, I come.

In the roll of the book it is written concerning me:
‘I love to do your will, O my God; your law is deep in my heart.’”

I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;
behold, I did not restrain my lips; and that, O LORD, you know.

Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance;
I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.

You are the LORD; do not withhold your compassion from me;
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,

For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see;
they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste to help me.

Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed who seek after my life to destroy it;
let them draw back and be disgraced who take pleasure in my misfortune.

Let those who say “Aha!” and gloat over me be confounded,
because they are ashamed.

Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad;
let those who love your salvation continually say, “Great is the LORD!”

O God, You require of me what I can give, and everyday I choose to give You my heart, my mind, my soul, my life, my future. Heavenly Father, I love Your Word, and I rejoice in the opportunity to study the Holy Scriptures with Your people. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so I can faithfully proclaim Your love and grace to all who will listen, even as we pray in Jesus’ name:

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

Isaiah 48:12-21
God saves the people through water

12 “Listen to me, Jacob,
      Israel, whom I have called:
   I am he;
      I am the first and I am the last.
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
      and my right hand spread out the heavens;
   when I summon them,
      they all stand up together.

14 “Come together, all of you, and listen:
      Which of the idols has foretold these things?
   The Lord’s chosen ally
      will carry out his purpose against Babylon;
      his arm will be against the Babylonians.
15 I, even I, have spoken;
      yes, I have called him.
   I will bring him,
      and he will succeed in his mission.

16 “Come near me and listen to this:

   “From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;
      at the time it happens, I am there.”

   And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me,
      endowed with his Spirit.

17 This is what the Lord says—
      your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
   “I am the Lord your God,
      who teaches you what is best for you,
      who directs you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention to my commands,
      your peace would have been like a river,
      your well-being like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would have been like the sand,
      your children like its numberless grains;
   their name would never be blotted out
      nor destroyed from before me.”

20 Leave Babylon,
      flee from the Babylonians!
   Announce this with shouts of joy
      and proclaim it.
   Send it out to the ends of the earth;
      say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
      he made water flow for them from the rock;
   he split the rock
      and water gushed out.

Matthew 9:14-17
Christ the bridegroom the new wine

9:14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Psalm 40:6-17; Isaiah 48:12-21; Matthew 9:14-17