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Daily Readings For October 2

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 Monday, October 2, 2023


Morning Psalm 62

1   For God alone my soul waits in silence;
          from him comes my salvation.
2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,
          my fortress; I shall never be shaken.


3   How long will you assail a person,
          will you batter your victim, all of you,
          as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4   Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
          They take pleasure in falsehood;
     they bless with their mouths,
          but inwardly they curse. Selah


5   For God alone my soul waits in silence,
          for my hope is from him.
6   He alone is my rock and my salvation,
          my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7   On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
          my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.


8   Trust in him at all times, O people;
          pour out your heart before him;
          God is a refuge for us. Selah


9   Those of low estate are but a breath,
          those of high estate are a delusion;
     in the balances they go up;
          they are together lighter than a breath.
10  Put no confidence in extortion,
          and set no vain hopes on robbery;
          if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.


11  Once God has spoken;
          twice have I heard this:
     that power belongs to God,
12       and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
     For you repay to all
          according to their work.

Morning Psalm 145

1   I will extol you, my God and King,
          and bless your name forever and ever.
2   Every day I will bless you,
          and praise your name forever and ever.
3   Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
          his greatness is unsearchable.


4   One generation shall laud your works to another,
          and shall declare your mighty acts.
5   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
          and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6   The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
          and I will declare your greatness.
7   They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
          and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.


8   The Lord is gracious and merciful,
          slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9   The Lord is good to all,
          and his compassion is over all that he has made.


10  All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
          and all your faithful shall bless you.
11  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
          and tell of your power,
12  to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
          and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
          and your dominion endures throughout all generations.


     The Lord is faithful in all his words,
          and gracious in all his deeds.
14  The Lord upholds all who are falling,
          and raises up all who are bowed down.
15  The eyes of all look to you,
          and you give them their food in due season.
16  You open your hand,
          satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17  The Lord is just in all his ways,
          and kind in all his doings.
18  The Lord is near to all who call on him,
          to all who call on him in truth.
19  He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
          he also hears their cry, and saves them.
20  The Lord watches over all who love him,
          but all the wicked he will destroy.


21  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
          and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

First Reading 2 Kings 17:24-41

24The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria, and settled in its cities. 25When they first settled there, they did not worship the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him go and live there, and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how they should worship the LORD.

29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived; 30the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima; 31the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32They also worshiped the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33So they worshiped the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34To this day they continue to practice their former customs.

They do not worship the LORD and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35The LORD had made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36but you shall worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe. You shall not worship other gods; 38you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not worship other gods, 39but you shall worship the LORD your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40They would not listen, however, but they continued to practice their former custom.

41So these nations worshiped the LORD, but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children's children continue to do as their ancestors did.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 7:25-31

25Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that. 29I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Gospel Reading Matthew 6:25-34

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Evening Psalm 73

1   Truly God is good to the upright,
          to those who are pure in heart.
2   But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
          my steps had nearly slipped.
3   For I was envious of the arrogant;
          I saw the prosperity of the wicked.


4   For they have no pain;
          their bodies are sound and sleek.
5   They are not in trouble as others are;
          they are not plagued like other people.
6   Therefore pride is their necklace;
          violence covers them like a garment.
7   Their eyes swell out with fatness;
          their hearts overflow with follies.
8   They scoff and speak with malice;
          loftily they threaten oppression.
9   They set their mouths against heaven,
          and their tongues range over the earth.


10  Therefore the people turn and praise them,
          and find no fault in them.
11  And they say, “How can God know?
          Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12  Such are the wicked;
          always at ease, they increase in riches.
13  All in vain I have kept my heart clean
          and washed my hands in innocence.
14  For all day long I have been plagued,
          and am punished every morning.


15  If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
          I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16  But when I thought how to understand this,
          it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17  until I went into the sanctuary of God;
          then I perceived their end.
18  Truly you set them in slippery places;
          you make them fall to ruin.
19  How they are destroyed in a moment,
          swept away utterly by terrors!
20  They are like a dream when one awakes;
          on awaking you despise their phantoms.


21  When my soul was embittered,
          when I was pricked in heart,
22  I was stupid and ignorant;
          I was like a brute beast toward you.
23  Nevertheless I am continually with you;
          you hold my right hand.
24  You guide me with your counsel,
          and afterward you will receive me with honor.
25  Whom have I in heaven but you?
          And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26  My flesh and my heart may fail,
          but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.


27  Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
          you put an end to those who are false to you.
28  But for me it is good to be near God;
          I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
          to tell of all your works.

Evening Psalm 9

1   I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
          I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2   I will be glad and exult in you;
          I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.


3   When my enemies turned back,
          they stumbled and perished before you.
4   For you have maintained my just cause;
          you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.


5   You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
          you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6   The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
          their cities you have rooted out;
          the very memory of them has perished.


7   But the LORD sits enthroned forever,
          he has established his throne for judgment.
8   He judges the world with righteousness;
          he judges the peoples with equity.


9   The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
          a stronghold in times of trouble.
10  And those who know your name put their trust in you,
          for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.


11  Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion.
          Declare his deeds among the peoples.
12  For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
          he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.


13  Be gracious to me, O LORD.
          See what I suffer from those who hate me;
          you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,
14  so that I may recount all your praises,
          and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
          rejoice in your deliverance.


15  The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
          in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.
16  The LORD has made himself known, he has executed judgment;
          the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah


17  The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
          all the nations that forget God.


18  For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
          nor the hope of the poor perish forever.


19  Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail;
          let the nations be judged before you.
20  Put them in fear, O LORD;
          let the nations know that they are only human. Selah