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Daily Readings For January 22

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, January 22, 2024


Morning Psalm 57

1   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
          for in you my soul takes refuge;
     in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
          until the destroying storms pass by.
2   I cry to God Most High,
          to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3   He will send from heaven and save me,
          he will put to shame those who trample on me. Selah
     God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.


4   I lie down among lions
          that greedily devour human prey;
     their teeth are spears and arrows,
          their tongues sharp swords.


5   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
          Let your glory be over all the earth.


6   They set a net for my steps;
          my soul was bowed down.
     They dug a pit in my path,
          but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7   My heart is steadfast, O God,
          my heart is steadfast.
     I will sing and make melody.
8        Awake, my soul!
     Awake, O harp and lyre!
          I will awake the dawn.
9   I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
          I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10   For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
          your faithfulness extends to the clouds.


11   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
     Let your glory be over all the earth.

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 Genesis (14:1-7) 8-24

1In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim, 2these kings made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3All these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). 4Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness; 7then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar. 8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9with King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way; 12they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram. 14When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.

17After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 18And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. 19He blessed him and said,

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

maker of heaven and earth;

20and blessed be God Most High,

who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"

And Abram gave him one tenth of everything. 21Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself." 22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD, God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, 23that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, 'I have made Abram rich.' 24I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me — Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share."

Second Reading Hebrews 8:1-13

1Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one; for Moses, when he was about to erect the tent, was warned, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." 6But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.

8God finds fault with them when he says:

"The days are surely coming, says the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah;

9not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors,

on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the

land of Egypt;

for they did not continue in my covenant,

and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord.

10This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

11And they shall not teach one another

or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,'

for they shall all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I will remember their sins no more."

13In speaking of "a new covenant," he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.

Gospel Reading John 4:43-54

43When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee 44(for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet's own country). 45When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.

46Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." 49The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my little boy dies." 50Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, "Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him." 53The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Evening Psalm 85

1   LORD, you were favorable to your land;
          you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2   You forgave the iniquity of your people;
          you pardoned all their sin. Selah
3   You withdrew all your wrath;
          you turned from your hot anger.


4   Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
          and put away your indignation toward us.
5   Will you be angry with us forever?
          Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6   Will you not revive us again,
          so that your people may rejoice in you?
7   Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
          and grant us your salvation.


8   Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
          for he will speak peace to his people,
          to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9   Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
          that his glory may dwell in our land.


10  Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
          righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11  Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
          and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12  The LORD will give what is good,
          and our land will yield its increase.
13  Righteousness will go before him,
          and will make a path for his steps.

Evening Psalm 47

1   Clap your hands, all you peoples;
          shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2   For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
          a great king over all the earth.
3   He subdued peoples under us,
          and nations under our feet.
4   He chose our heritage for us,
          the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah


5   God has gone up with a shout,
          the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6   Sing praises to God, sing praises;
          sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7   For God is the king of all the earth;
          sing praises with a psalm.


8   God is king over the nations;
          God sits on his holy throne.
9   The princes of the peoples gather
          as the people of the God of Abraham.
     For the shields of the earth belong to God;
          he is highly exalted.