The Daily Readings for September 17, 2021

We've included both the Morning and Evening Psalms for the Daily Office; they are listed after the other readings. If you'd like to filter for a particular day's readings, you can do it at The Daily Readings Anytime.

2 Kings 1:2-17

Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay injured; so he sent messengers, telling them, "Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury." But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?' Now therefore thus says the LORD, 'You shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.'" So Elijah went. The messengers returned to the king, who said to them, "Why have you returned?" They answered him, "There came a man to meet us, who said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him: Thus says the LORD: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die.'" He said to them, "What sort of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?" They answered him, "A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite." Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "O man of God, the king says, 'Come down.'" But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up and said to him, "O man of God, this is the king's order: Come down quickly!" But Elijah answered them, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. So the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and entreated him, "O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Look, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight." Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he set out and went down with him to the king, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron,-- is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?-- therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die." So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. His brother, Jehoram succeeded him as king in the second year of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-- all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Matthew 5:11-16

"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 69 Salvum me fac

¹   Save me, O God, *
for the waters have risen up to my neck.
²   I am sinking in deep mire, *
and there is no firm ground for my feet.
³   I have come into deep waters, *
and the torrent washes over me.
⁴   I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; *
my eyes have failed from looking for my God.
⁵   Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. *
Must I then give back what I never stole?
⁶   O God, you know my foolishness, *
and my faults are not hidden from you.
⁷   Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord GOD of hosts; *
let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.
⁸   Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, *
and shame has covered my face.
⁹   I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *
an alien to my mother's children.
¹⁰   Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
¹¹   I humbled myself with fasting, *
but that was turned to my reproach.
¹²   I put on sack-cloth also, *
and became a byword among them.
¹³   Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *
and the drunkards make songs about me.
¹⁴   But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *
at the time you have set, O LORD:
¹⁵   In your great mercy, O God, *
answer me with your unfailing help.
¹⁶   Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; *
let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters.
¹⁷   Let not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swallow me up; *
do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
¹⁸   Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind; *
in your great compassion, turn to me."
¹⁹   Hide not your face from your servant; *
be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
²⁰   Draw near to me and redeem me; *
because of my enemies deliver me.
²¹   You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; *
my adversaries are all in your sight."
²²   Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; *
I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one.
²³   They gave me gall to eat, *
and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
²⁴   Let the table before them be a trap *
and their sacred feasts a snare.
²⁵   Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, *
and give them continual trembling in their loins.
²⁶   Pour out your indignation upon them, *
and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
²⁷   Let their camp be desolate, *
and let there be none to dwell in their tents.
²⁸   For they persecute him whom you have stricken *
and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.
²⁹   Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, *
and let them not receive your vindication.
³⁰   Let them be wiped out of the book of the living *
and not be written among the righteous.
³¹   As for me, I am afflicted and in pain; *
your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
³²   I will praise the Name of God in song; *
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
³³   This will please the LORD more than an offering of oxen, *
more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.
³⁴   The afflicted shall see and be glad; *
you who seek God, your heart shall live.
³⁵   For the LORD listens to the needy, *
and his prisoners he does not despise.
³⁶   Let the heavens and the earth praise him, *
the seas and all that moves in them;
³⁷   For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; *
they shall live there and have it in possession.
³⁸   The children of his servants will inherit it, *
and those who love his Name will dwell therein.

Evening Psalms

Psalm 73 Quam bonus Israel!

¹   Truly, God is good to Israel, *
to those who are pure in heart.
²   But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped; *
I had almost tripped and fallen;
³   Because I envied the proud *
and saw the prosperity of the wicked:
⁴   For they suffer no pain, *
and their bodies are sleek and sound;
⁵   In the misfortunes of others they have no share; *
they are not afflicted as others are;
⁶   Therefore they wear their pride like a necklace *
and wrap their violence about them like a cloak.
⁷   Their iniquity comes from gross minds, *
and their hearts overflow with wicked thoughts.
⁸   They scoff and speak maliciously; *
out of their haughtiness they plan oppression.
⁹   They set their mouths against the heavens, *
and their evil speech runs through the world.
¹⁰   And so the people turn to them *
and find in them no fault.
¹¹   They say, "How should God know? *
is there knowledge in the Most High?"
¹²   So then, these are the wicked; *
always at ease, they increase their wealth.
¹³   In vain have I kept my heart clean, *
and washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴   I have been afflicted all day long, *
and punished every morning.
¹⁵   Had I gone on speaking this way, *
I should have betrayed the generation of your children.
¹⁶   When I tried to understand these things, *
it was too hard for me;
¹⁷   Until I entered the sanctuary of God *
and discerned the end of the wicked.
¹⁸   Surely, you set them in slippery places; *
you cast them down in ruin.
¹⁹   Oh, how suddenly do they come to destruction, *
come to an end, and perish from terror!
²⁰   Like a dream when one awakens, O Lord, *
when you arise you will make their image vanish.
²¹   When my mind became embittered, *
I was sorely wounded in my heart.
²²   I was stupid and had no understanding; *
I was like a brute beast in your presence.
²³   Yet I am always with you; *
you hold me by my right hand.
²⁴   You will guide me by your counsel, *
and afterwards receive me with glory.
²⁵   Whom have I in heaven but you? *
and having you I desire nothing upon earth.
²⁶   Though my flesh and my heart should waste away, *
God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
²⁷   Truly, those who forsake you will perish; *
you destroy all who are unfaithful.
²⁸   But it is good for me to be near God; *
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge.
²⁹   I will speak of all your works *
in the gates of the city of Zion.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.