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Daily Readings For February 4

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, February 4, 2023


Morning Psalm 63

1   O God, you are my God, I seek you,
          my soul thirsts for you;
     my flesh faints for you,
          as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2   So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
          beholding your power and glory.
3   Because your steadfast love is better than life,
          my lips will praise you.
4   So I will bless you as long as I live;
          I will lift up my hands and call on your name.


5   My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
          and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6   when I think of you on my bed,
          and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7   for you have been my help,
          and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8   My soul clings to you;
          your right hand upholds me.


9   But those who seek to destroy my life
          shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10  they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
          they shall be prey for jackals.
11  But the king shall rejoice in God;
          all who swear by him shall exult,
          for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

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 Isaiah 56:1-8

1   Thus says the LORD:
          Maintain justice, and do what is right,
     for soon my salvation will come,
          and my deliverance be revealed.

2   Happy is the mortal who does this,
          the one who holds it fast,
     who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,
          and refrains from doing any evil

3   Do not let the foreigner joined to the LORD say,
          “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;
     and do not let the eunuch say,
          “I am just a dry tree.”
4   For thus says the LORD:
     To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
          who choose the things that please me
          and hold fast my covenant,
5   I will give, in my house and within my walls,
          a monument and a name
          better than sons and daughters;
     I will give them an everlasting name
          that shall not be cut off.

6   And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
          to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
          and to be his servants,
     all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
          and hold fast my covenant —
7   these I will bring to my holy mountain,
          and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
     their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
          will be accepted on my altar;
     for my house shall be called a house of prayer
          for all peoples.
8   Thus says the Lord GOD,
          who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
     I will gather others to them
          besides those already gathered.

Second Reading Galatians 5:25-6:10

5:25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

6:1My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. 4All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor's work, will become a cause for pride. 5For all must carry their own loads.

6Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.

7Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

Gospel Reading Mark 9:14-29

14When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. 16He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; 18and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” 19He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” 20And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” 23Jesus said to him, “If you are able! — All things can be done for the one who believes.” 24Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” 26After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. 28When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”

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 90

1   Lord, you have been our dwelling place
          in all generations.
2   Before the mountains were brought forth,
          or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
          from everlasting to everlasting you are God.


3   You turn us back to dust,
          and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
4   For a thousand years in your sight
          are like yesterday when it is past,
          or like a watch in the night.


5   You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
          like grass that is renewed in the morning;
6   in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
          in the evening it fades and withers.


7   For we are consumed by your anger;
          by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
8   You have set our iniquities before you,
          our secret sins in the light of your countenance.


9   For all our days pass away under your wrath;
          our years come to an end like a sigh.
10  The days of our life are seventy years,
          or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
     even then their span is only toil and trouble;
          they are soon gone, and we fly away.


11  Who considers the power of your anger?
          Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
12  So teach us to count our days
          that we may gain a wise heart.


13  Turn, O LORD! How long?
          Have compassion on your servants!
14  Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
          so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15  Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us,
          and as many years as we have seen evil.
16  Let your work be manifest to your servants,
          and your glorious power to their children.
17  Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
          and prosper for us the work of our hands —
          O prosper the work of our hands!