The Daily Readings for December 3, 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.

Amos 5:1-17

Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel: Fallen, no more to rise, is maiden Israel; forsaken on her land, with no one to raise her up. For thus says the Lord GOD: The city that marched out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which marched out a hundred shall have ten left. For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: Seek me and live; but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name, who makes destruction flash out against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins-- you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the squares there shall be wailing; and in all the streets they shall say, "Alas! alas!" They shall call the farmers to mourning, and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing; in all the vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the LORD.

Jude 1:1-16

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, who are beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, that the Lord, who once for all saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great Day. Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam's error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah's rebellion. These are blemishes on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him." These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their own lusts; they are bombastic in speech, flattering people to their own advantage.

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, 'Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

Morning Psalms

Psalm 16 Conserva me, Domine

¹   Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; *
I have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, my good above all other."
²   All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, *
upon those who are noble among the people.
³   But those who run after other gods *
shall have their troubles multiplied.
⁴   Their libations of blood I will not offer, *
nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.
⁵   O LORD, you are my portion and my cup; *
it is you who uphold my lot.
⁶   My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.
⁷   I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; *
my heart teaches me, night after night.
⁸   I have set the LORD always before me; *
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
⁹   My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; *
my body also shall rest in hope.
¹⁰   For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
nor let your holy one see the Pit.
¹¹   You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 17 Exaudi, Domine

¹   Hear my plea of innocence, O LORD; give heed to my cry; *
listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips.
²   Let my vindication come forth from your presence; *
let your eyes be fixed on justice.
³   Weigh my heart, summon me by night, *
melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
⁴   I give no offense with my mouth as others do; *
I have heeded the words of your lips.
⁵   My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law; *
in your paths my feet shall not stumble.
⁶   I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; *
incline your ear to me and hear my words.
⁷   Show me your marvelous loving-kindness, *
O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise up against them.
⁸   Keep me as the apple of your eye; *
hide me under the shadow of your wings,
⁹   From the wicked who assault me, *
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
¹⁰   They have closed their heart to pity, *
and their mouth speaks proud things.
¹¹   They press me hard, now they surround me, *
watching how they may cast me to the ground,
¹²   Like a lion, greedy for its prey, *
and like a young lion lurking in secret places.
¹³   Arise, O LORD; confront them and bring them down; *
deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
¹⁴   Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand *
from those whose portion in life is this world;
¹⁵   Whose bellies you fill with your treasure, *
who are well supplied with children and leave their wealth to their little ones.
¹⁶   But at my vindication I shall see your face; *
when I awake, I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Evening Psalms

Psalm 22 Deus, Deus meu

¹   My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? *
and are so far from my cry and from the words of my distress?
²   O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; *
by night as well, but I find no rest.
³   Yet you are the Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
⁴   Our forefathers put their trust in you; *
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵   They cried out to you and were delivered; *
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
⁶   But as for me, I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by all and despised by the people.
⁷   All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,
⁸   He trusted in the LORD; let him deliver him; *
let him rescue him, if he delights in him.
⁹   Yet you are he who took me out of the womb, *
and kept me safe upon my mother's breast.
¹⁰   I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born; *
you were my God when I was still in my mother's womb.
¹¹   Be not far from me, for trouble is near, *
and there is none to help.
¹²   Many young bulls encircle me; *
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
¹³   They open wide their jaws at me, *
like a ravening and a roaring lion.
¹⁴   I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint; *
my heart within my breast is melting wax.
¹⁵   My mouth is dried out like a pot-sherd; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; *
and you have laid me in the dust of the grave.
¹⁶   Packs of dogs close me in, and gangs of evildoers circle around me; *
they pierce my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.
¹⁷   They stare and gloat over me; *
they divide my garments among them; they cast lots for my clothing.
¹⁸   Be not far away, O LORD; *
you are my strength; hasten to help me.
¹⁹   Save me from the sword, *
my life from the power of the dog.
²⁰   Save me from the lion's mouth, *
my wretched body from the horns of wild bulls.
²¹   I will declare your Name to my brethren; *
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
²²   Praise the LORD, you that fear him; *
stand in awe of him, O offspring of Israel; all you of Jacob's line, give glory.
²³   For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither does he hide his face from them; *
but when they cry to him he hears them.
²⁴   My praise is of him in the great assembly; *
I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him.
²⁵   The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the LORD shall praise him: *
"May your heart live for ever!"
²⁶   All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, *
and all the families of the nations bow before him.
²⁷   For kingship belongs to the LORD; *
he rules over the nations.
²⁸   To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship; *
all who go down to the dust fall before him.
²⁹   My soul shall live for him; my descendants shall serve him; *
they shall be known as the LORD'S for ever.
³⁰   They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn *
the saving deeds that he has done.

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.