Readings

Friday after the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

The Collect of the Day

Proper 26

The Sunday closest to November 2

Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Leo of Rome

O Lord our God, grant that your church, following the teaching of your servant Leo of Rome, may hold fast the great mystery of our redemption and adore the one Christ, true God and true Man, neither divided from our human nature nor separate from your divine Being; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalms

69

Salvum me facBCP p. 679

1Save me, O God, *for the waters have risen up to my neck.

2I am sinking in deep mire, *and there is no firm ground for my feet.

3I have come into deep waters, *and the torrent washes over me.

4I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; *my eyes have failed from looking for my God.

5Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. *Must I then give back what I never stole?

6O God, you know my foolishness, *and my faults are not hidden from you.

7Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; *let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.

8Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, *and shame has covered my face.

9I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *an alien to my mother’s children.

10Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.

11I humbled myself with fasting, *but that was turned to my reproach.

12I put on sack-cloth also, *and became a byword among them.

13Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *and the drunkards make songs about me.

14But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *at the time you have set, O Lord:

15“In your great mercy, O God, *answer me with your unfailing help.

16Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; *let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters.

17Let not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swallow me up; *do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.

18Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; *in your great compassion, turn to me.”

19“Hide not your face from your servant; *be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.

20Draw near to me and redeem me; *because of my enemies deliver me.

21You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; *my adversaries are all in your sight.”

22Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; *I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one.

23They gave me gall to eat, *and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.

24Let the table before them be a trap *and their sacred feasts a snare.

25Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, *and give them continual trembling in their loins.

26Pour out your indignation upon them, *and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

27Let their camp be desolate, *and let there be none to dwell in their tents.

28For they persecute him whom you have stricken *and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.

29Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, *and let them not receive your vindication.

30Let them be wiped out of the book of the living *and not be written among the righteous.

31As for me, I am afflicted and in pain; *your help, O God, will lift me up on high.

32I will praise the Name of God in song; *I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.

33This will please the Lord more than an offering of oxen, *more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.

34The afflicted shall see and be glad; *you who seek God, your heart shall live.

35For the Lord listens to the needy, *and his prisoners he does not despise.

36Let the heavens and the earth praise him, *the seas and all that moves in them;

37For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; *they shall live there and have it in possession.

38The children of his servants will inherit it, *and those who love his Name will dwell therein.

Daily Office Readings

Loading...

Loading...

Loading...

Ezra 7:27-28, 8:21-36

27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, 28 and who extended to me steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me. 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might deny ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and cavalry to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king that the hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all who forsake him. 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. 24 Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kin with them. 25 And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his lords, and all Israel there present had offered; 26 I weighed out into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, and one hundred silver vessels worth...talents, and one hundred talents of gold, 27 twenty gold bowls worth a thousand darics, and two vessels of fine polished bronze as precious as gold. 28 And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of families in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” 30 So the priests and the Levites took over the silver, the gold, and the vessels as they were weighed out, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. 31 Then we left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes along the way. 32 We came to Jerusalem and remained there three days. 33 On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed into the hands of the priest Meremoth son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. 34 The total was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded. 35 At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats; all this was a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River; and they supported the people and the house of God.

Matt. 14:13-21

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Rev. 15:1-8

1 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. 2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! 4 Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.” 5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; 8 and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.