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Daily Readings For October 21

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 Saturday, October 21, 2023


Morning Psalm 56

1   Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
          all day long foes oppress me;
2   my enemies trample on me all day long,
          for many fight against me.
     O Most High, 3 when I am afraid,
          I put my trust in you.
4   In God, whose word I praise,
          in God I trust; I am not afraid;
          what can flesh do to me?


5   All day long they seek to injure my cause;
          all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6   They stir up strife, they lurk,
          they watch my steps.
     As they hoped to have my life,
7        so repay them for their crime;
          in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!


8   You have kept count of my tossings;
          put my tears in your bottle.
          Are they not in your record?
9   Then my enemies will retreat
          in the day when I call.
          This I know, that God is for me.
10  In God, whose word I praise,
          in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11  in God I trust; I am not afraid.
          What can a mere mortal do to me?


12  My vows to you I must perform, O God;
          I will render thank offerings to you.
13  For you have delivered my soul from death,
          and my feet from falling,
     so that I may walk before God
          in the light of life

Morning Psalm 149

1   Praise the Lord!
     Sing to the Lord a new song,
          his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2   Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
          let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3   Let them praise his name with dancing,
          making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
4   For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
          he adorns the humble with victory.
5   Let the faithful exult in glory;
          let them sing for joy on their couches.
6   Let the high praises of God be in their throats
          and two-edged swords in their hands,
7   to execute vengeance on the nations
          and punishment on the peoples,
8   to bind their kings with fetters
          and their nobles with chains of iron,
9   to execute on them the judgment decreed.
          This is glory for all his faithful ones.
     Praise the Lord!

First Reading Jeremiah 52:1-34

1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the LORD that he expelled them from his presence.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and they laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around. 5So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7Then a breach was made in the city wall; and all the soldiers fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah. 8But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered, deserting him. 9Then they captured the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also killed all the officers of Judah at Riblah. 11He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.

12In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month — which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon — Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 14All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. 16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and tillers of the soil.

17The pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ladles, and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service. 19The captain of the guard took away the small bowls also, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ladles, and the bowls for libation, both those of gold and those of silver. 20As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weighing. 21As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, its circumference was twelve cubits; it was hollow and its thickness was four fingers. 22Upon it was a capital of bronze; the height of the one capital was five cubits; latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, encircled the top of the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates encircling the latticework numbered one hundred.

24The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three guardians of the threshold; 25and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, and seven men of the king’s council who were found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found inside the city. 26Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27And the king of Babylon struck them down, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile out of its land.

28This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadrezzar took into exile: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans; 29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he took into exile from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons; 30in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile of the Judeans seven hundred forty-five persons; all the persons were four thousand six hundred.

31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah and brought him out of prison; 32he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes, and every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table. 34For his allowance, a regular daily allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, as long as he lived, up to the day of his death.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15:12-29

12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ — whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.

29Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

Gospel Reading Matthew 11:7-15

7As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written,
     ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
          who will prepare your way before you.’
11Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; 14and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15Let anyone with ears listen!”

Evening Psalm 118

1   O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
          his steadfast love endures forever!


2   Let Israel say,
          “His steadfast love endures forever.”
3   Let the house of Aaron say,
          “His steadfast love endures forever.”
4   Let those who fear the LORD say,
          “His steadfast love endures forever.”


5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
          the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
6   With the LORD on my side I do not fear.
          What can mortals do to me?
7   The LORD is on my side to help me;
          I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
          than to put confidence in mortals.
9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
          than to put confidence in princes.


10  All nations surrounded me;
          in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
11  They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
          in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
12  They surrounded me like bees;
          they blazed like a fire of thorns;
          in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
13  I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
          but the LORD helped me.
14  The LORD is my strength and my might;
          he has become my salvation.


15  There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
     “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
16       the right hand of the LORD is exalted;
          the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.”
17  I shall not die, but I shall live,
          and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18  The LORD has punished me severely,
          but he did not give me over to death.


19  Open to me the gates of righteousness,
          that I may enter through them
          and give thanks to the LORD.


20  This is the gate of the LORD;
          the righteous shall enter through it.


21  I thank you that you have answered me
          and have become my salvation.
22  The stone that the builders rejected
          has become the chief cornerstone.
23  This is the LORD’s doing;
          it is marvelous in our eyes.
24  This is the day that the LORD has made;
          let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25  Save us, we beseech you, O LORD!
          O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!


26  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
          We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27  The LORD is God,
          and he has given us light.
     Bind the festal procession with branches,
          up to the horns of the altar.


28  You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
          you are my God, I will extol you.


29  O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
          for his steadfast love endures forever.

Evening Psalm 111

1   Praise the LORD!
     I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
          in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2   Great are the works of the LORD,
          studied by all who delight in them.
3   Full of honor and majesty is his work,
          and his righteousness endures forever.
4   He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
          the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5   He provides food for those who fear him;
          he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6   He has shown his people the power of his works,
          in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7   The works of his hands are faithful and just;
          all his precepts are trustworthy.
8   They are established forever and ever,
          to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9   He sent redemption to his people;
          he has commanded his covenant forever.
          Holy and awesome is his name.
10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
          all those who practice it have a good understanding.
          His praise endures forever.