John Bunyan

God of peace, you called John Bunyan to be valiant for truth: Grant that as strangers and pilgrims we may at the last rejoice with all the faithful in your heavenly city; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;

    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,

    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

6 those who trust in their wealth

    and boast of the abundance of their riches?

7 Truly no man can ransom another,

    or give to God the price of his life,

8 for the ransom of their life is costly

    and can never suffice,

9 that he should live on forever

    and never see the pit.

15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

    for he will receive me.

Psalm 49 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 9:1-15, 32-35 - Acts 10:34-48 - John 7:37-52

O God, you inspire the hearts of the faithful with a single longing. Grant that your people may love what you command and desire what you promise, so that, amid the uncertain things of this world, our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen

1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

   my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

   my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

   and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me;

   the torrents of destruction assailed me;

5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;

   the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.

   From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalm 18 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 8:1-10, 20-22 - Acts 10:17-33 - John 7:14-36

The Beheading of John the Baptist

O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death, grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice, we, too, may fight hard

for the confession of what you teach. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

   let me never be put to shame!

2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

   incline your ear to me, and save me!

3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come;

   you have given the command to save me,

   for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

   from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,

   my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

   you are he who took me from my mother's womb.

   My praise is continually of you.

Psalm 71 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 6:1, 7:1-21 - Acts 10:1-16 - John 7:1-13

Augustine of Hippo

Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen

1   On the holy mount stands the city he founded;

2   the Lord loves the gates of Zion

    more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

3 Glorious things of you are spoken,

    O city of God.

4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;

    behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—

    “This one was born there,” they say.

5 And of Zion it shall be said,

    “This one and that one were born in her”;

    for the Most High himself will establish her.

6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,

    “This one was born there.”

7 Singers and dancers alike say,

    “All my springs are in you.”

Psalm 87 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 6:1-4, 8-15, 21 - Acts 9:32-43 - John 6:60-71

Confirm, O God, in unity and truth the Church you gather in Christ. Encourage the fervent,

enlighten the doubtful, and bring back the wayward. Bind us together in mutual love, that our prayer in Christ’s name may be pleasing to you. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen

1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

    You have given me relief when I was in distress.

    Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

2 O men,[a] how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

    How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah

3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

    the Lord hears when I call to him.

4  Be angry, and do not sin;

     ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah

5 Offer right sacrifices,

    and put your trust in the Lord.

6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?

     Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”

7 You have put more joy in my heart

    than they have when their grain and wine abound.

Psalm 4 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 4:1, 5:1-11, 17-21, 26-27 - Acts 9:19-31 - John 6:52-59

Bartholomew the Apostle

Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach your Word: Grant that your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.  Amen

1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;

    for the faithful have vanished

   from among the children of man.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

    the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

     I will now arise,” says the Lord;

    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

6  The words of the Lord are pure words,

    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

    purified seven times.

Psalm 12 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 2:1-13 - Acts 9:1-9 - John 6:27-40

God of holiness, increase within us your gifts of faith, hope, and love, and enable us to cherish whatever you command, that we may come to possess all that you promise. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen

1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

    to you, O Lord, I will make music.

2 I will ponder the way that is blameless.

    Oh when will you come to me?

   I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;

3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.

   I hate the work of those who fall away;

    it shall not cling to me.

4  A perverse heart shall be far from me;

    I will know nothing of evil.

5 Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy.

   Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

    I will not endure.

6 I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

    that they may dwell with me;

   he who walks in the way that is blameless

    shall minister to me.

Psalm 65 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Job 1:1-22 - Acts 8:26-40 - John 6:16-27

God of hosts, from whom every good gift proceeds, implant in our hearts the love of your name. Nurture within us whatever is good by binding us more closely to you, and in your watchful care tend the good fruit you have nurtured. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen.

5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

   O God of our salvation,

   the hope of all the ends of the earth

   and of the farthest seas;

9 You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it;

   the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain,

    for so you have prepared it.

10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges,

   softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.

11 You crown the year with your bounty;

    your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,

    the hills gird themselves with joy,

13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

    the valleys deck themselves with grain,

    they shout and sing together for joy.

Psalm 65 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Judges 18:16-31 - Acts 8:14-25 - John 6:1-15

Almighty God, from whom every good gift proceeds, grant that by your inspiration we may discern those things that are right and, by your merciful guidance, do them. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

1 To you, O Lord, I call;

   my rock, be not deaf to me,

   lest, if you be silent to me,

   I become like those who go down to the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

   when I cry to you for help,

  when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

3 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil,

  who speak peace with their neighbors

   while evil is in their hearts.

4 Give to them according to their work

   and according to the evil of their deeds;

   give to them according to the work of their hands;

  render them their due reward.

5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord

  or the work of his hands,

  he will tear them down and build them up no more.

6 Blessed be the Lord!

   For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

Psalm 28 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Judges 18:1-15 - Acts 8:1-13 - John 5:30-47

Bernard of Clairvaux

O God, by whose grace your servant Bernard of Clairvaux, kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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 afar.

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,

    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 You hem me in, behind and before,

    and lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

    it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Judges 17:1-13 - Acts 7:44-8:1 - John 5:19-29

God of pardon and deliverance, your forgiving love, revealed in Christ, has brought to birth a new creation. Raise us up from our sins to walk in your ways that we may witness to your power, which makes all things new. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,

     yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 The plowers plowed upon my back;

    they made long their furrows.”

4 The Lord is righteous;

    he has cut the cords of the wicked.

5 May all who hate Zion

    be put to shame and turned backward!

6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,

    which withers before it grows up,

7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand

    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,

8 nor do those who pass by say,

     “The blessing of the Lord be upon you!

    We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

Psalm 129 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Judges 14:20-15:20 - Acts 7:17-29 - John 4:43-54

Stephen of Hungary

Almighty Father, heavenly king, your servant. Stephen of Hungary, fostered the growth of your Church on earth: Grant that we, following his example, may by our prayer and labors support the growth of your church in our time and land; through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;

   I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in you;

   I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turn back,

   they stumble and perish before your presence.

4 For you have maintained my just cause;

   you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,

   a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,

Psalm 9 – English Standard Version

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Judges 14:1-19 - Acts 6:15-7:16 - John 4:27-42

Mary, Mother of Our Lord

O God, who have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

11 Come, my children, and listen to me,

    and I will teach you to fear the Lord.

12 Does anyone want to live a life

    that is long and prosperous?

13 Then keep your tongue from speaking evil

    and your lips from telling lies!

14 Turn away from evil and do good.

    Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

15 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right;

    his ears are open to their cries for help.

16 But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil;

    he will erase their memory from the earth.

17 The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.

    He rescues them from all their troubles.

18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;

    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Psalm 34 – New Living Translation

Readings for today from the Daily Lectionary

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Judges 13:15-24 - Acts 6:1-15 - John 4:1-26