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Daily Readings For May 25

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, May 25, 2024


Morning Psalm 104

1   Bless the LORD, O my soul.
          O LORD my God, you are very great.
     You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2        wrapped in light as with a garment.
     You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3        you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
     you make the clouds your chariot,
          you ride on the wings of the wind,
4   you make the winds your messengers,
          fire and flame your ministers.


5   You set the earth on its foundations,
          so that it shall never be shaken.
6   You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
          the waters stood above the mountains.
7   At your rebuke they flee;
          at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8   They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
          to the place that you appointed for them.
9   You set a boundary that they may not pass,
          so that they might not again cover the earth.


10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
          they flow between the hills,
11  giving drink to every wild animal;
          the wild asses quench their thirst.
12  By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
          they sing among the branches.
13  From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
          the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.


14  You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
          and plants for people to use,
     to bring forth food from the earth,
15       and wine to gladden the human heart,
     oil to make the face shine,
          and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16  The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
          the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17  In them the birds build their nests;
          the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18  The high mountains are for the wild goats;
          the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19  You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
          the sun knows its time for setting.
20  You make darkness, and it is night,
          when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21  The young lions roar for their prey,
          seeking their food from God.
22  When the sun rises, they withdraw
          and lie down in their dens.
23  People go out to their work
          and to their labor until the evening.


24  O LORD, how manifold are your works!
          In wisdom you have made them all;
          the earth is full of your creatures.
25  Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
          creeping things innumerable are there,
          living things both small and great.
26There go the ships,
          and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.


27  These all look to you
          to give them their food in due season;
28  when you give to them, they gather it up;
          when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29  When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
          when you take away their breath, they die
          and return to their dust.
30  When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
          and you renew the face of the ground.


31  May the glory of the LORD endure for ever;
          may the LORD rejoice in his works —
32  who looks on the earth and it trembles,
          who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33  I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
          I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34  May my meditation be pleasing to him,
          for I rejoice in the LORD.
35  Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
          and let the wicked be no more.
     Bless the LORD, O my soul.
     Praise the Lord!

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 Proverbs 8:22-36

22The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,

the first of his acts of long ago.

23Ages ago I was set up,

at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

24When there were no depths I was brought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water.

25Before the mountains had been shaped,

before the hills, I was brought forth —

26when he had not yet made earth and fields,

or the world’s first bits of soil.

27When he established the heavens, I was there,

when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

28when he made firm the skies above,

when he established the fountains of the deep,

29when he assigned to the sea its limit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

30then I was beside him, like a master worker;

and I was daily his delight,

rejoicing before him always,

31rejoicing in his inhabited world

and delighting in the human race.


32"And now, my children, listen to me:

happy are those who keep my ways.

33Hear instruction and be wise,

and do not neglect it.

34Happy is the one who listens to me,

watching daily at my gates,

waiting beside my doors.

35For whoever finds me finds life

and obtains favor from the Lord;

36but those who miss me injure themselves;

all who hate me love death."

Second Reading 3 John 1-15

1The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

2Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 3I was overjoyed when some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, namely, how you walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you; 6they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God; 7for they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support from non-believers. 8Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become co-workers with the truth.

9I have written something to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the friends, and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

11Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12Everyone has testified favorably about Demetrius, and so has the truth itself. We also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true.

13I have much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink; 14instead I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.

15Peace to you. The friends send you their greetings. Greet the friends there, each by name.

Gospel Reading Matthew 12:15-21

15When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, 16and he ordered them not to make him known. 17This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,

my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19He will not wrangle or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

20He will not break a bruised reed

or quench a smouldering wick

until he brings justice to victory.

21And in his name the Gentiles will hope."

Evening Psalm 138

1   I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
          before the gods I sing your praise;
2   I bow down toward your holy temple
          and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
          for you have exalted your name and your word
          above everything.
3   On the day I called, you answered me,
          you increased my strength of soul.


4   All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
          for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5   They shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
          for great is the glory of the LORD.
6   For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly;
          but the haughty he perceives from far away.


7   Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
          you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
     you stretch out your hand,
          and your right hand delivers me.
8   The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
          your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
          Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Evening Psalm 98

1   O sing to the LORD a new song,
          for he has done marvelous things.
     His right hand and his holy arm
          have gained him victory.
2   The LORD has made known his victory;
          he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3   He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
          to the house of Israel.
     All the ends of the earth have seen
          the victory of our God.


4   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
          break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5   Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
          with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6   With trumpets and the sound of the horn
          make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.


7   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
          the world and those who live in it.
8   Let the floods clap their hands;
          let the hills sing together for joy
9   at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
          to judge the earth.
     He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with equity.