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Morning Psalm
Evening Psalm
Old Testament Lesson
Epistle Lesson
Gospel Lesson
Morning Psalm
Psalm 102
Prayer to the Eternal King
for Help
A prayer of one
afflicted, when faint and pleading before the
Lord.
1Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you.
2Do not hide your face from me
on the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily on the day when I call.
3For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
4My heart is stricken and withered
like grass;
I am too wasted to eat my bread.
5Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my skin.
6I am like an owl of the
wilderness,
like a little owl of the waste places.
7I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
8All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9For I eat ashes like bread,
and mingle tears with my drink,
10because of your indignation and
anger;
for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
11My days are like an evening
shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12But you, O Lord,
are enthroned for ever;
your name endures to all generations.
13You will rise up and have
compassion on Zion,
for it is time to favour it;
the appointed time has come.
14For your servants hold its
stones dear,
and have pity on its dust.
15The nations will fear the name
of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16For the Lord
will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
17He will regard the prayer of the
destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.
18Let this be recorded for a
generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the
Lord:
19that he looked down from his
holy height,
from heaven the Lord looked
at the earth,
20to hear the groans of the
prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
21so that the name of the
Lord may be declared in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
22when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
23He has broken my strength in
mid-course;
he has shortened my days.
24‘O my God,’ I say, ‘do not take
me away
at the mid-point of my life,
you whose years endure
throughout all generations.’
25Long ago you laid the foundation
of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26They will perish, but you
endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
27 but you are the same, and
your years have no end.
28The children of your servants
shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your
presence.
Evening
Psalm
Psalm 107
Thanksgiving for
Deliverance from Many Troubles
1O give
thanks to the Lord,
for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures
for ever.
2Let the
redeemed of the
Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
3and gathered
in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the
south..
4Some wandered
in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited
town;
5hungry and
thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6Then they
cried to the Lord
in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their
distress;
7he led them
by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited
town.
8Let them
thank the Lord
for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to
humankind.
9For he
satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good
things.
10Some sat in
darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and in irons,
11for they had
rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the
Most High.
12Their hearts
were bowed down with hard labour;
they fell down, with no one
to help.
13Then they
cried to the Lord
in their trouble,
and he saved them from their
distress;
14he brought
them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
15Let them
thank the Lord
for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to
humankind.
16For he
shatters the doors of bronze,
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17Some were
sick.
through their sinful
ways,
and because of their iniquities
endured affliction;
18they loathed
any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates
of death.
19Then they
cried to the Lord
in their trouble,
and he saved them from their
distress;
20he sent out
his word and healed them,
and delivered them from
destruction.
21Let them
thank the Lord
for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to
humankind.
22And let them
offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
and tell of his deeds with songs
of joy.
23Some went
down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty
waters;
24they saw the
deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25For he
commanded and raised the stormy
wind,
which lifted up the waves of
the sea.
26They mounted
up to heaven, they went down to the
depths;
their courage melted away in
their calamity;
27they reeled
and staggered like drunkards,
and were at their wits’ end.
28Then they
cried to the Lord
in their trouble,
and he brought them out from
their distress;
29he made the
storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were
hushed.
30Then they
were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their
desired haven.
31Let them
thank the Lord
for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to
humankind.
32Let them
extol him in the congregation of the
people,
and praise him in the assembly of
the elders.
Old Testament Lesson
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Individual Retribution
27 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29In those days they shall no longer say:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
A New Covenant
31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,. says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Epistle Lesson
Ephesians 5:1-20
51Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and live in love, as Christ loved us. and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Renounce Pagan Ways
3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be associated with them. 8For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— 9for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’
15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Lesson
Matthew 9:9-17
The Calling of Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner. in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting. with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 12But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’
The Question about Fasting
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,. but your disciples do not fast?’ 15And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’
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