Daily Readings: December 17, 2023

The Third Sunday of Advent

Morning	Evening
Psalm 63:1-8(9-11) Psalm 98	Psalm 103
Amos 9:11-15 2 Thess. 2:1-3,13-17 John 5:30-47

The Collect of the Day

Third Sunday of Advent

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

First Sunday of Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalms

63

Deus, Deus meusBCP p. 670

¹O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; *my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.

²Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, *that I might behold your power and your glory.

³For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *my lips shall give you praise.

⁴So will I bless you as long as I live *and lift up my hands in your Name.

⁵My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, *and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,

⁶When I remember you upon my bed, *and meditate on you in the night watches.

⁷For you have been my helper, *and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.

⁸My soul clings to you; *your right hand holds me fast.

⁹May those who seek my life to destroy it *go down into the depths of the earth;

¹⁰Let them fall upon the edge of the sword, *and let them be food for jackals.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God; all those who swear by him will be glad; *for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

98

Cantate DominoBCP p. 727

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, *for he has done marvelous things.

²With his right hand and his holy arm *has he won for himself the victory.

³The Lord has made known his victory; *his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.

⁴He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

⁵Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

⁶Sing to the Lord with the harp, *with the harp and the voice of song.

⁷With trumpets and the sound of the horn *shout with joy before the King, the Lord.

⁸Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, *the lands and those who dwell therein.

⁹Let the rivers clap their hands, *and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord, when he comes to judge the earth.

¹⁰In righteousness shall he judge the world *and the peoples with equity.

Daily Office Readings

³⁰“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³¹“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³²There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. ³³You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. ³⁴Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. ³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, ³⁸and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. ³⁹“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. ⁴⁰Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. ⁴¹I do not accept glory from human beings. ⁴²But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”