DAILY OFFICE

Daily scripture readings from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Friday, January 12

Today's readings include passages from Psalms, Genesis, Hebrews and John.

Psalm 16

1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;     I have no good apart from you.” 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,     in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;     their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out     or take their names on my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;     you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;     indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;     in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me;     because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;     my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,     or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life;     in your presence there is fullness of joy;     at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 17

1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!     Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! 2 From your presence let my vindication come!     Let your eyes behold the right! 3 You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,     you have tested me, and you will find nothing;     I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. 4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips     I have avoided the ways of the violent. 5 My steps have held fast to your paths;     my feet have not slipped. 6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;     incline your ear to me; hear my words. 7 Wondrously show your steadfast love,     O Savior of those who seek refuge     from their adversaries at your right hand. 8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;     hide me in the shadow of your wings, 9 from the wicked who do me violence,     my deadly enemies who surround me. 10 They close their hearts to pity;     with their mouths they speak arrogantly. 11 They have now surrounded our steps;     they set their eyes to cast us to the ground. 12 He is like a lion eager to tear,     as a young lion lurking in ambush. 13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!     Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, 14 from men by your hand, O Lord,     from men of the world whose portion is in this life.     You fill their womb with treasure;     they are satisfied with children,     and they leave their abundance to their infants. 15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;     when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?     Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,     and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy,     enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted;     they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued;     in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man,     scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me;     they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;     let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;     you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth,     and from my mother's womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me,     for trouble is near,     and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me;     strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me,     like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water,     and all my bones are out of joint;     my heart is like wax;     it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,     and my tongue sticks to my jaws;     you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me;     a company of evildoers encircles me;     they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones—     they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them,     and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!     O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword,     my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!     You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;     in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!     All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,     and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred     the affliction of the afflicted,     and he has not hidden his face from him,     but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;     my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;     those who seek him shall praise the Lord!     May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember     and turn to the Lord,     and all the families of the nations     shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,     and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;     before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,     even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him;     it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,     that he has done it.

Genesis 6:1-8

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Hebrews 3:12-19

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

John 2:1-12

1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.