Support our siblings affected by disaster, hunger and oppression through One Great Hour of Sharing.

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 Monday, October 21, 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 Micah 2:1-13

1Alas for those who devise wickedness
     and evil deeds on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
     because it is in their power.
2They covet fields, and seize them;
     houses, and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
     people and their inheritance.
3Therefore, thus says the Lord:
Now, I am devising against this family an evil
     from which you cannot remove your necks;
and you shall not walk haughtily,
     for it will be an evil time.
4On that day they shall take up a taunt-song against you,
     and wail with bitter lamentation,
and say, "We are utterly ruined;
     the Lord alters the inheritance of my people;
how he removes it from me!
     Among our captors he parcels out our fields."
5Therefore you will have no one to cast the line by lot
     in the assembly of the Lord.

6"Do not preach" — thus they preach —
     "one should not preach of such things;
     disgrace will not overtake us."
7Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
     Is the Lord’s patience exhausted?
     Are these his doings?
Do not my words do good
     to one who walks uprightly?
8But you rise up against my people as an enemy;
     you strip the robe from the peaceful,
from those who pass by trustingly
     with no thought of war.
9The women of my people you drive out
     from their pleasant houses;
from their young children you take away
     my glory for ever.
10Arise and go;
     for this is no place to rest,
because of uncleanness that destroys
     with a grievous destruction.
11If someone were to go about uttering empty falsehoods,
     saying, "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,"
     such a one would be the preacher for this people!

12I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob,
     I will gather the survivors of Israel;
I will set them together
     like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture;
     it will resound with people.
13The one who breaks out will go up before them;
     they will break through and pass the gate,
     going out by it.
Their king will pass on before them,
     the Lord at their head.

Second Reading Revelation 7:1-8

1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, 3saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."

4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:

5From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.

Gospel Reading Luke 9:51-62

51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then they went on to another village.

57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 59To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

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.