The Daily Readings for July 2, 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.

1 Samuel 13:19-14:15

Now there was no smith to be found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, "The Hebrews must not make swords or spears for themselves" so all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshare, mattocks, axes, or sickles; The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. So on the day of the battle neither sword nor spear was to be found in the possession of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan; but Saul and his son Jonathan had them. Now a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash. One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron; the troops that were with him were about six hundred men, along with Ahijah son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, carrying an ephod. Now the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will act for us; for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few." His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the LORD has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us." So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, "Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves." The men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, saying, "Come up to us, and we will show you something." Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Come up after me; for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel." Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer following after him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer, coming after him, killed them. In that first slaughter Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about twenty men within an area about half a furrow long in an acre of land. There was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked; and it became a very great panic.

Acts 9:1-9

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Luke 23:26-31

As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Morning Psalms

Psalm 140 Eripe me, Domine

¹   Deliver me, O LORD, from evildoers; *
protect me from the violent,
²   Who devise evil in their hearts *
and stir up strife all day long.
³   They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; *
adder's poison is under their lips.
⁴   Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; *
protect me from the violent, who are determined to trip me up.
⁵   The proud have hidden a snare for me and stretched out a net of cords; *
they have set traps for me along the path.
⁶   I have said to the LORD, "You are my God; *
listen, O LORD, to my supplication.
⁷   O Lord GOD, the strength of my salvation, *
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
⁸   Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O LORD, *
nor let their evil plans prosper.
⁹   Let not those who surround me lift up their heads; *
let the evil of their lips overwhelm them.
¹⁰   Let hot burning coals fall upon them; *
let them be cast into the mire, never to rise up again."
¹¹   A slanderer shall not be established on the earth, *
and evil shall hunt down the lawless.
¹²   I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the poor *
and render justice to the needy.
¹³   Surely, the righteous will give thanks to your Name, *
and the upright shall continue in your sight.

Psalm 142 Voce mea ad Dominum

¹   I cry to the LORD with my voice; *
to the LORD I make loud supplication.
²   I pour out my complaint before him *
and tell him all my trouble.
³   When my spirit languishes within me, you know my path; *
in the way wherein I walk they have hidden a trap for me.
⁴   I look to my right hand and find no one who knows me; *
I have no place to flee to, and no one cares for me.
⁵   I cry out to you, O LORD; *
I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."
⁶   Listen to my cry for help, for I have been brought very low; *
save me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.
⁷   Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your Name; *
when you have dealt bountifully with me, the righteous will gather around me.

Evening Psalms

Psalm 141 Domine, clamavi

¹   O LORD, I call to you; come to me quickly; *
hear my voice when I cry to you.
²   Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, *
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
³   Set a watch before my mouth, O LORD, and guard the door of my lips; *
let not my heart incline to any evil thing.
⁴   Let me not be occupied in wickedness with evildoers, *
nor eat of their choice foods.
⁵   Let the righteous smite me in friendly rebuke; let not the oil of the unrighteous anoint my head; *
for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
⁶   Let their rulers be overthrown in stony places, *
that they may know my words are true.
⁷   As when a plowman turns over the earth in furrows, *
let their bones be scattered at the mouth of the grave.
⁸   But my eyes are turned to you, Lord GOD; *
in you I take refuge; do not strip me of my life.
⁹   Protect me from the snare which they have laid for me *
and from the traps of the evildoers.
¹⁰   Let the wicked fall into their own nets, *
while I myself escape.

Psalm 143 Domine, exaudi

¹   LORD, hear my prayer, and in your faithfulness heed my supplications; *
answer me in your righteousness.
²   Enter not into judgment with your servant, *
for in your sight shall no one living be justified.
³   For my enemy has sought my life; he has crushed me to the ground; *
he has made me live in dark places like those who are long dead.
⁴   My spirit faints within me; *
my heart within me is desolate.
⁵   I remember the time past; I muse upon all your deeds; *
I consider the works of your hands.
⁶   I spread out my hands to you; *
my soul gasps to you like a thirsty land.
⁷   O LORD, make haste to answer me; my spirit fails me; *
do not hide your face from me or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
⁸   Let me hear of your loving-kindness in the morning, for I put my trust in you; *
show me the road that I must walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
⁹   Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD, *
for I flee to you for refuge.
¹⁰   Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God; *
let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
¹¹   Revive me, O LORD, for your Name's sake; *
for your righteousness' sake, bring me out of trouble.
¹²   Of your goodness, destroy my enemies and bring all my foes to naught, *
for truly I am your servant.

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.