Readings

Daily OfficeHoly EucharistHoly Days

Thursday after the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

    MorningEvening

    The Collect of the Day

    Proper 25

    The Sunday closest to October 26

    Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    Psalms

    50

    Deus deorumBCP p. 654

    1The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken; *he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

    2Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *God reveals himself in glory.

    3Our God will come and will not keep silence; *before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm.

    4He calls the heavens and the earth from above *to witness the judgment of his people.

    5“Gather before me my loyal followers, *those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.”

    6Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; *for God himself is judge.

    7Hear, O my people, and I will speak: “O Israel, I will bear witness against you; *for I am God, your God.

    8I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; *your offerings are always before me.

    9I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, *nor he-goats out of your pens;

    10For all the beasts of the forest are mine, *the herds in their thousands upon the hills.

    11I know every bird in the sky, *and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.

    12If I were hungry, I would not tell you, *for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.

    13Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *or drink the blood of goats?

    14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving *and make good your vows to the Most High.

    15Call upon me in the day of trouble; *I will deliver you, and you shall honor me.”

    16But to the wicked God says: *“Why do you recite my statutes, and take my covenant upon your lips;

    17Since you refuse discipline, *and toss my words behind your back?

    18When you see a thief, you make him your friend, *and you cast in your lot with adulterers.

    19You have loosed your lips for evil, *and harnessed your tongue to a lie.

    20You are always speaking evil of your brother *and slandering your own mother’s son.

    21These things you have done, and I kept still, *and you thought that I am like you.”

    22“I have made my accusation; *I have put my case in order before your eyes.

    23Consider this well, you who forget God, *lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.

    24Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; *but to those who keep in my way will I show the salvation of God.”

    Daily Office Readings

    Ecclus. 31:12-18,25-32:2

    A Reading from the Wisdom of Ben Sira.

    12 Are you seated at the table of the great?    Do not be greedy at it,    and do not say, ‘How much food there is here!’ 13 Remember that a greedy eye is a bad thing.    What has been created more greedy than the eye?    Therefore it sheds tears for any reason. 14 Do not reach out your hand for everything you see,    and do not crowd your neighbour at the dish. 15 Judge your neighbour’s feelings by your own,    and in every matter be thoughtful. 16 Eat what is set before you like a well-bred person,    and do not chew greedily, or you will give offence. 17 Be the first to stop, as befits good manners,    and do not be insatiable, or you will give offence. 18 If you are seated among many others, do not help yourself before they do. 25 Do not try to prove your strength by wine-drinking,    for wine has destroyed many. 26 As the furnace tests the work of the smith,    so wine tests hearts when the insolent quarrel. 27 Wine is very life to human beings    if taken in moderation. What is life to one who is without wine?    It has been created to make people happy. 28 Wine drunk at the proper time and in moderation    is rejoicing of heart and gladness of soul. 29 Wine drunk to excess leads to bitterness of spirit,    to quarrels and stumbling. 30 Drunkenness increases the anger of a fool to his own hurt,    reducing his strength and adding wounds. 31 Do not reprove your neighbour at a banquet of wine, and do not despise him in his merrymaking; speak no word of reproach to him, and do not distress him by making demands of him. 1 If they make you master of the feast, do not exalt yourself;    be among them as one of their number. Take care of them first and then sit down; 2 when you have fulfilled all your duties, take your place, so that you may be merry along with them and receive a garland for your excellent leadership.

    Rev. 12:7-17

    A Reading from the Book of Revelation.

    7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. 12 Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” 13 So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.

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    Luke 11:53-12:12

    53 When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. 1 Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9 but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”