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Daily Readings For January 18

Please note that two distinct lectionaries are provided on this page: the two-year Daily Lectionary from the Book of Common Worship and the three-year Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) for Sundays and festivals; be sure you select the appropriate one.

Daily Readings Sunday/Festival Readings

Daily Readings for Wednesday, January 18, 2023


Morning Psalm 15

1   O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
          Who may dwell on your holy hill?


2   Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
          and speak the truth from their heart;
3   who do not slander with their tongue,
          and do no evil to their friends,
          nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
4   in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
          but who honor those who fear the LORD;
     who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
5   who do not lend money at interest,
          and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
     Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Morning Psalm 147:1-11

1   Praise the Lord!
          How good it is to sing praises to our God;
          for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2   The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
          he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3   He heals the brokenhearted,
          and binds up their wounds.
4   He determines the number of the stars;
          he gives to all of them their names.
5   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
          his understanding is beyond measure.
6   The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
          he casts the wicked to the ground.


7   Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
          make melody to our God on the lyre.
8   He covers the heavens with clouds,
          prepares rain for the earth,
          makes grass grow on the hills.
9   He gives to the animals their food,
          and to the young ravens when they cry.
10  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
          nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11  but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
          in those who hope in his steadfast love.

First Reading Isaiah 44:24-45:7

44:24  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
          who formed you in the womb:
     I am the LORD, who made all things,
          who alone stretched out the heavens,
          who by myself spread out the earth;
25  who frustrates the omens of liars,
          and makes fools of diviners;
     who turns back the wise,
          and makes their knowledge foolish;
26  who confirms the word of his servant,
          and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
     who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
          and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
          and I will raise up their ruins”;
27  who says to the deep, “Be dry —
          I will dry up your rivers”;
28  who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
          and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
     and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
          and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”

45:1  Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
          whose right hand I have grasped
     to subdue nations before him
          and strip kings of their robes,
     to open doors before him —
          and the gates shall not be closed:
2   I will go before you
          and level the mountains,
     I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
          and cut through the bars of iron,
3   I will give you the treasures of darkness
          and riches hidden in secret places,
     so that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
          the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,
          and Israel my chosen,
     I call you by your name,
          I surname you, though you do not know me.
5   I am the LORD, and there is no other;
          besides me there is no god.
          I arm you, though you do not know me,
6   so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
          and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
          I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7   I form light and create darkness,
          I make weal and create woe;
          I the LORD do all these things.

Second Reading Ephesians 5:1-14

1Therefore 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.

3But 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.

6Let 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.”

Gospel Reading Mark 4:1-20

1Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

10When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12in order that
     ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,
          and may indeed listen, but not understand;
     so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”

13And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

Evening Psalm 48

1   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
          in the city of our God.
     His holy mountain, 2beautiful in elevation,
          is the joy of all the earth,
     Mount Zion, in the far north,
          the city of the great King.
3   Within its citadels God
          has shown himself a sure defense.


4   Then the kings assembled,
          they came on together.
5   As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
          they were in panic, they took to flight;
6   trembling took hold of them there,
          pains as of a woman in labor,
7   as when an east wind shatters
          the ships of Tarshish.
8   As we have heard, so have we seen
          in the city of the LORD of hosts,
     in the city of our God,
          which God establishes forever. Selah


9   We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
          in the midst of your temple.
10  Your name, O God, like your praise,
          reaches to the ends of the earth.
     Your right hand is filled with victory.
11       Let Mount Zion be glad,
     let the towns of Judah rejoice
          because of your judgments.


12  Walk about Zion, go all around it,
          count its towers,
13  consider well its ramparts;
          go through its citadels,
     that you may tell the next generation
14       that this is God,
     our God forever and ever.
          He will be our guide forever.

Evening Psalm 4

1   Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
          You gave me room when I was in distress.
          Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.


2   How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame?
          How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah
3   But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself;
          the LORD hears when I call to him.


4   When you are disturbed, do not sin;
          ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5   Offer right sacrifices,
          and put your trust in the LORD.


6   There are many who say, “O that we might see some good!
          Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!”
7   You have put gladness in my heart
          more than when their grain and wine abound.


8   I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
          for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.