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Daily Readings For October 31

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 Tuesday, October 31, 2023


Morning Psalm 12

1   Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;
          the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2   They utter lies to each other;
          with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.


3   May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
          the tongue that makes great boasts,
4   those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;
          our lips are our own — who is our master?”


5   “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
          I will now rise up,” says the LORD;
          “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6   The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure,
          silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
          purified seven times.


7   You, O LORD, will protect us;
          you will guard us from this generation forever.
8   On every side the wicked prowl,
          as vileness is exalted among humankind.

Morning Psalm 146

1   Praise the LORD!
     Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2   I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
          I will sing praises to my God all my life long.


3   Do not put your trust in princes,
          in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4   When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
          on that very day their plans perish.


5   Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
          whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6   who made heaven and earth,
          the sea, and all that is in them;
     who keeps faith forever;
7        who executes justice for the oppressed;
          who gives food to the hungry.


     The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8        the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
     The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
          the LORD loves the righteous.
9   The LORD watches over the strangers;
          he upholds the orphan and the widow,
          but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.


10  The LORD will reign forever,
          your God, O Zion, for all generations.
     Praise the LORD!

First Reading Ezra 5:1-17

1Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set out to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.

3At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” 4They also asked them this, “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” 5But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report reached Darius and then answer was returned by letter in reply to it.

6The copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates the envoys who were in the province Beyond the River sent to King Darius; 7they sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace! 8May it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built of hewn stone, and timber is laid in the walls; this work is being done diligently and prospers in their hands. 9Then we spoke to those elders and asked them, ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10We also asked them their names, for your information, so that we might write down the names of the men at their head. 11This was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12But because our ancestors had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13However, King Cyrus of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14Moreover, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem and had brought into the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. 15He said to him, “Take these vessels; go and put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from that time until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet finished.’ 17And now, if it seems good to the king, have a search made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

Or alternate First Reading Lamentations 1:1-5 (6-9) 10-12

1   How lonely sits the city
          that once was full of people!
     How like a widow she has become,
          she that was great among the nations!
     She that was a princess among the provinces
          has become a vassal.

2She weeps bitterly in the night,
          with tears on her cheeks;
     among all her lovers
          she has no one to comfort her;
     all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
          they have become her enemies.

3   Judah has gone into exile with suffering
          and hard servitude;
     she lives now among the nations,
          and finds no resting place;
     her pursuers have all overtaken her
          in the midst of her distress.

4   The roads to Zion mourn,
          for no one comes to the festivals;
     all her gates are desolate,
          her priests groan;
     her young girls grieve,
          and her lot is bitter.

5   Her foes have become the masters,
          her enemies prosper,
     because the LORD has made her suffer
          for the multitude of her transgressions;
     her children have gone away,
          captives before the foe.

6   From daughter Zion has departed
          all her majesty.
     Her princes have become like stags
          that find no pasture;
     they fled without strength
          before the pursuer.

7   Jerusalem remembers,
          in the days of her affliction and wandering,
     all the precious things
          that were hers in days of old.
     When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
          and there was no one to help her,
     the foe looked on mocking
          over her downfall.

8   Jerusalem sinned grievously,
          so she has become a mockery;
     all who honored her despise her,
          for they have seen her nakedness;
     she herself groans,
          and turns her face away.

9   Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
          she took no thought of her future;
     her downfall was appalling,
          with none to comfort her.
     “O LORD, look at my affliction,
          for the enemy has triumphed!”

10  Enemies have stretched out their hands
          over all her precious things;
     she has even seen the nations
          invade her sanctuary,
     those whom you forbade
          to enter your congregation.

11  All her people groan
          as they search for bread;
     they trade their treasures for food
          to revive their strength.
     Look, O LORD, and see
          how worthless I have become.

12  Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
          Look and see
     if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
          which was brought upon me,
     which the LORD inflicted
          on the day of his fierce anger.

Second Reading Revelation 4:1-11

1After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 4Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; 6and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
     “Holy, holy, holy,
     the Lord God the Almighty,
          who was and is and is to come.”
9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
11  “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
          to receive glory and honor and power,
     for you created all things,
          and by your will they existed and were created.”

Gospel Reading Matthew 13:1-9

1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!”

Evening Psalm 36

1   Transgression speaks to the wicked
          deep in their hearts;
     there is no fear of God
          before their eyes.
2   For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
          that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3   The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
          they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4   They plot mischief while on their beds;
          they are set on a way that is not good;
          they do not reject evil.


5   Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
          your faithfulness to the clouds.
6   Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
          your judgments are like the great deep;
          you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.


7   How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
          All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8   They feast on the abundance of your house,
          and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9   For with you is the fountain of life;
          in your light we see light.


10  O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
          and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11  Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
          or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12  There the evildoers lie prostrate;
          they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Evening Psalm 7

1   O LORD my God, in you I take refuge;
          save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2   or like a lion they will tear me apart;
          they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.


3   O LORD my God, if I have done this,
          if there is wrong in my hands,
4   if I have repaid my ally with harm
          or plundered my foe without cause,
5   then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
          trample my life to the ground,
          and lay my soul in the dust. Selah


6   Rise up, O LORD, in your anger;
          lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
          awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.
7   Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
          and over it take your seat on high.
8   The LORD judges the peoples;
          judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
          and according to the integrity that is in me.


9   O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
          but establish the righteous,
     you who test the minds and hearts,
          O righteous God.
10  God is my shield,
          who saves the upright in heart.
11  God is a righteous judge,
          and a God who has indignation every day.


12  If one does not repent, God will whet his sword;
          he has bent and strung his bow;
13  he has prepared his deadly weapons,
          making his arrows fiery shafts.
14  See how they conceive evil,
          and are pregnant with mischief,
          and bring forth lies.
15  They make a pit, digging it out,
          and fall into the hole that they have made.
16  Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
          and on their own heads their violence descends.


17   I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
          and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.