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Daily Readings For September 20

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 Friday, September 20, 2024


Morning Psalm 130

1   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2       Lord, hear my voice!
     Let your ears be attentive
          to the voice of my supplications!


3   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
          Lord, who could stand?
4   But there is forgiveness with you,
          so that you may be revered.


5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
          and in his word I hope;
6   my soul waits for the Lord
          more than those who watch for the morning,
          more than those who watch for the morning.


7   O Israel, hope in the LORD!
          For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
          and with him is great power to redeem.
8   It is he who will redeem Israel
          from all its iniquities.

Morning Psalm 148

1   Praise the Lord!
     Praise the Lord from the heavens;
          praise him in the heights!
2   Praise him, all his angels;
          praise him, all his host!


3   Praise him, sun and moon;
          praise him, all you shining stars!
4   Praise him, you highest heavens,
          and you waters above the heavens!


5   Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for he commanded and they were created.
6   He established them forever and ever;
          he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.


7   Praise the Lord from the earth,
          you sea monsters and all deeps,
8   fire and hail, snow and frost,
          stormy wind fulfilling his command!


9   Mountains and all hills,
          fruit trees and all cedars!
10  Wild animals and all cattle,
          creeping things and flying birds!


11  Kings of the earth and all peoples,
          princes and all rulers of the earth!
12  Young men and women alike,
          old and young together!


13  Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for his name alone is exalted;
          his glory is above earth and heaven.
14  He has raised up a horn for his people,
          praise for all his faithful,
          for the people of Israel who are close to him.
     Praise the Lord!

First Reading Esther 1:1-4, 10-19

1This happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. 2In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his officials and ministers. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were present, 4while he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and pomp of his majesty for many days, one hundred eighty days in all.

10On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended him, 11to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing the royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold. 12But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.

13Then the king consulted the sages who knew the laws (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and custom, 14and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media, who had access to the king, and sat first in the kingdom): 15"According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?" 16Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, "Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but also to all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17For this deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, since they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.' 18This very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will rebel against the king's officials, and there will be no end of contempt and wrath! 19If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be altered, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

Second Reading Acts 17:1-15

1After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you." 4Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason's house. 6When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, "These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus." 8The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

10That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. 13But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

Gospel Reading John 12:36b-43

36After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. 37Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 39And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said, 40"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and turn - and I would heal them." 41Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Evening Psalm 32

1   Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
          whose sin is covered.
2   Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
          and in whose spirit there is no deceit.


3   While I kept silence, my body wasted away
          through my groaning all day long.
4   For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
          my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah


5   Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
          and I did not hide my iniquity;
     I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
          and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah


6   Therefore let all who are faithful
          offer prayer to you;
     at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
          shall not reach them.

7   You are a hiding place for me;
          you preserve me from trouble;
          you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah


8   I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
          I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9   Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
          whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
          else it will not stay near you.


10   Many are the torments of the wicked,
          but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
11   Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
          and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Evening Psalm 139

1   O LORD, you have searched me and known me.

2   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
          you discern my thoughts from far away.
3   You search out my path and my lying down,
          and are acquainted with all my ways.
4   Even before a word is on my tongue,
          O LORD, you know it completely.
5   You hem me in, behind and before,
          and lay your hand upon me.
6   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
          it is so high that I cannot attain it.


7   Where can I go from your spirit?
          Or where can I flee from your presence?

8   If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
          if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9   If I take the wings of the morning
          and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10  even there your hand shall lead me,
          and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
          and the light around me become night,”
12  even the darkness is not dark to you;
          the night is as bright as the day,
          for darkness is as light to you.


13  For it was you who formed my inward parts;
          you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
          Wonderful are your works;
     that I know very well.
15       My frame was not hidden from you,
     when I was being made in secret,
          intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16  Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
     In your book were written
          all the days that were formed for me,
          when none of them as yet existed.
17  How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
          How vast is the sum of them!
18  I try to count them — they are more than the sand;
          I come to the end — I am still with you.


19  O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
          and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me —
20  those who speak of you maliciously,
          and lift themselves up against you for evil!
21  Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
          And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22  I hate them with perfect hatred;
          I count them my enemies.
23  Search me, O God, and know my heart;
          test me and know my thoughts.
24  See if there is any wicked way in me,
          and lead me in the way everlasting.