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Daily Readings For January 25

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 25, 2023


Morning Psalm 65

1   Praise is due to you,
          O God, in Zion;
     and to you shall vows be performed,
2        O you who answer prayer!
     To you all flesh shall come.
3   When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
          you forgive our transgressions.
4   Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
          to live in your courts.
     We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
          your holy temple.


5   By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
          O God of our salvation;
     you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
          and of the farthest seas.
6   By your strength you established the mountains;
          you are girded with might.
7   You silence the roaring of the seas,
          the roaring of their waves,
          the tumult of the peoples.
8   Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
          you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.


9   You visit the earth and water it,
          you greatly enrich it;
     the river of God is full of water;
          you provide the people with grain,
          for so you have prepared it.
10  You water its furrows abundantly,
          settling its ridges,
     softening it with showers,
          and blessing its growth.
11  You crown the year with your bounty;
          your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
12  The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
          the hills gird themselves with joy,
13  the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
          the valleys deck themselves with grain,
          they shout and sing together for joy.

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 49:1-12

1   Listen to me, O coastlands,
          pay attention, you peoples from far away!
     The LORD called me before I was born,
          while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
2   He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
          in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
     he made me a polished arrow,
          in his quiver he hid me away.
3   And he said to me, “You are my servant,
          Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4   But I said, “I have labored in vain,
          I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
     yet surely my cause is with the LORD,
          and my reward with my God.”

5   And now the LORD says,
          who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
     to bring Jacob back to him,
          and that Israel might be gathered to him,
     for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
          and my God has become my strength —
6   he says,
     “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
          to raise up the tribes of Jacob
          and to restore the survivors of Israel;
     I will give you as a light to the nations,
          that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

7   Thus says the LORD,
          the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
     to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
          the slave of rulers,
     “Kings shall see and stand up,
          princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
     because of the LORD, who is faithful,
          the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

8   Thus says the LORD:
     In a time of favor I have answered you,
           on a day of salvation I have helped you;
     I have kept you and given you
          as a covenant to the people,
     to establish the land,
          to apportion the desolate heritages;
9   saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”
          to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
     They shall feed along the ways,
          on all the bare heights shall be their pasture;
10  they shall not hunger or thirst,
          neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down,
     for he who has pity on them will lead them,
          and by springs of water will guide them.
11  And I will turn all my mountains into a road,
          and my highways shall be raised up.
12  Lo, these shall come from far away,
          and lo, these from the north and from the west,
          and these from the land of Syene.

Second Reading Galatians 2:11-21

11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 13And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Gospel Reading Mark 6:13-29

13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

17For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Evening Psalm 125

1   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
          which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
          so the LORD surrounds his people,
          from this time on and forevermore.
3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
          on the land allotted to the righteous,
     so that the righteous might not stretch out
          their hands to do wrong.
4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
          and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5   But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
          the LORD will lead away with evildoers.
          Peace be upon Israel!

Evening Psalm 91

1   You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
          who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2   will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress;
          my God, in whom I trust.”
3   For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
          and from the deadly pestilence;
4   he will cover you with his pinions,
          and under his wings you will find refuge;
          his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5   You will not fear the terror of the night,
          or the arrow that flies by day,
6   or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
          or the destruction that wastes at noonday.


7   A thousand may fall at your side,
          ten thousand at your right hand,
          but it will not come near you.
8   You will only look with your eyes
          and see the punishment of the wicked.


9   Because you have made the LORD your refuge,
          the Most High your dwelling place,
10  no evil shall befall you,
          no scourge come near your tent.


11  For he will command his angels concerning you
          to guard you in all your ways.
12  On their hands they will bear you up,
          so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13  You will tread on the lion and the adder,
          the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.


14  Those who love me, I will deliver;
          I will protect those who know my name.
15  When they call to me, I will answer them;
          I will be with them in trouble,
          I will rescue them and honor them.


16  With long life I will satisfy them,
          and show them my salvation.