FIRST READING Amos 6:1a, 4–7 1a Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, 4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; 5 who sing idle songs … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Exodus 32:7–14 7 The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Deuteronomy 30:15–20 15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Proverbs 25:6–7 6 Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; 7 for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. PSALM Psalm 112 1 Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Isaiah 58:9b–14 9b If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 11 The … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Jeremiah 23:23–29 23 Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off? 24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12–14; 2:18–23 Chapter 1 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 12 I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13 applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Genesis 18:20–32 20 Then the LORD said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! 21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” 22 So the men … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Genesis 18:1–10a 1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and … [Read more…]
FIRST READING Deuteronomy 30:9–14 9 and the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your … [Read more…]