Category: Daily Readings

Ezra 6:7-8, 12, 14-20

6:7	and let this temple of God be released to the governor of the Jews and to their elders, so that they may build that house of God in its place.
6:8	Moreover, it has been instructed by me as to what ought to be done by those priests of the Jews, so that the house of God may be built, specifically, that from the king’s treasury, that is, from the tribute which is taken from the region beyond the river, the expenses shall be scrupulously given to those men, so that the work may not be impeded.
6:12	So then, may the God who has caused his name to live there destroy any kingdoms or people who would extend their hand to fight against or to destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have established the decree, which I wish to be fulfilled scrupulously.”
6:14	Then the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, in accord with the prophecy of Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. And they built and constructed by the order of the God of Israel, and by the order of Cyrus and Darius, as well as Artaxerxes, the kings of the Persians.
6:15	And they completed this house of God on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
6:16	Then the sons of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the remainder of the sons of the transmigration celebrated the dedication of the house of God with gladness.
6:17	And they offered, for the dedication of the house of God, one hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and, as a sin offering for all of Israel, twelve he-goats from among the goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
6:18	And they appointed the priests into their divisions, and the Levites into their turns, over the works of God in Jerusalem, just as it was written in the book of Moses.
6:19	Then the sons of Israel of the transmigration kept the Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month.
6:20	For the priests and Levites had been purified as one. All were cleansed in order to immolate the Passover for all the sons of the transmigration, and for their brothers, the priests, and for themselves.

Luke 8:19-21

8:19	Then his mother and brothers came to him; but they were not able to go to him because of the crowd.
8:20	And it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”
8:21	And in response, he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Amos 8: 4- 7

8:4	Hear this, you who crush the poor and who make those in need of land to do without.
8:5	You say, “When will the first day of the month be over, so we can sell our wares, and the sabbath, so we can open the grain: in order that we may decrease the measure, and increase the price, and substitute deceitful scales,
8:6	in order that we may possess the destitute with money, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell even the refuse of the grain?”
8:7	The Lord has sworn by the arrogance of Jacob: I will not forget, even to the end, all their works.

Timothy 2: 1- 8

2:1	And so I beg you, first of all, to make supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for all men,
2:2	for kings, and for all who are in high places, so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and chastity.
2:3	For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
2:4	who wants all men to be saved and to arrive at an acknowledgment of the truth.
2:5	For there is one God, and one mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus,
2:6	who gave himself as a redemption for all, as a testimony in its proper time.
2:7	Of this testimony, I have been appointed a preacher and an Apostle, (I speak the truth, I do not lie) as a teacher of the Gentiles, in faith and in truth.
2:8	Therefore, I want men to pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger or dissension.

Luke 16: 1- 13

16:1	And he also said to his disciples: “A certain man was wealthy, and he had a steward of his estate. And this man was accused to him of having dissipated his goods.
16:2	And he called him and said to him: ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship. For you can no longer be my steward.’
16:3	And the steward said within himself: ‘What shall I do? For my lord is taking the stewardship away from me. I am not strong enough to dig. I am too ashamed to beg.
16:4	I know what I will do so that, when I have been removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’
16:5	And so, calling together each one of his lord’s debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my lord?’
16:6	So he said, ‘One hundred jars of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your invoice, and quickly, sit down and write fifty.’
16:7	Next, he said to another, ‘In truth, how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your record books, and write eighty.’
16:8	And the lord praised the iniquitous steward, in that he had acted prudently. For the sons of this age are more prudent with their generation than are the sons of light.
16:9	And so I say to you, make friends for yourself using iniquitous mammon, so that, when you will have passed away, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.
16:10	Whoever is faithful in what is least, is also faithful in what is greater. And whoever is unjust in what is small, is also unjust in what is greater.
16:11	So then, if you have not been faithful with iniquitous mammon, who will trust you with what is true?
16:12	And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?
16:13	No servant is able to serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

First Timothy 6: 13- 16

6:13	I charge you, in the sight of God, who enlivens all things, and in the sight of Christ Jesus, who gave the testimony of a good profession under Pontius Pilate,
6:14	to observe the commandment, immaculately, irreproachably, unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6:15	For at the proper time, he shall reveal the blessed and only Power, the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
6:16	who alone holds immortality, and who inhabits the inaccessible light, whom no man has seen, nor even is able to see, to whom is honor and everlasting dominion. Amen.

Luke 8: 4- 15

8:4	Then, when a very numerous crowd was gathering together and hurrying from the cities to him, he spoke using a comparison:
8:5	“The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the way; and it was trampled and the birds of the air devoured it.
8:6	And some fell upon rock; and having sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
8:7	And some fell among thorns; and the thorns, rising up with it, suffocated it.
8:8	And some fell upon good soil; and having sprung up, it produced fruit one hundredfold.” As he said these things, he cried out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
8:9	Then his disciples questioned him as to what this parable might mean.
8:10	And he said to them: “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to the rest, it is in parables, so that: seeing, they may not perceive, and hearing, they may not understand.
8:11	Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
8:12	And those beside the way are those who hear it, but then the devil comes and takes the word from their heart, lest by believing it they may be saved.
8:13	Now those upon rock are those who, when they hear it, accept the word with joy, but these have no roots. So they believe for a time, but in a time of testing, they fall away.
8:14	And those which fell among thorns are those who have heard it, but as they go along, they are suffocated by the concerns and riches and pleasures of this life, and so they do not yield fruit.
8:15	But those which were on good soil are those who, upon hearing the word with a good and noble heart, retain it, and they bring forth fruit in patience.

Reading

Timothy 6: 2- 12

6:2	But those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brothers, but rather serve them all the more because they are believing and beloved, participants of the same service. Teach and exhort these things.
6:3	If anyone teaches otherwise, and does not consent to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that doctrine which is in accord with piety,
6:4	then he is arrogant, knowing nothing, yet languishing amid the questions and quarrels of words. From these arise envy, contention, blasphemy, evil suspicions:
6:5	the conflicts of men who have been corrupted in mind and deprived of truth, who consider profit to be piety.
6:6	But piety with sufficiency is great gain.
6:7	For we brought nothing into this world, and there is no doubt that we can take nothing away.
6:8	But, having nourishment and some kind of covering, we should be content with these.
6:9	For those who want to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil and into many useless and harmful desires, which submerge men in destruction and in perdition.
6:10	For desire is the root of all evils. Some persons, hungering in this way, have strayed from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.
6:11	But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and truly pursue justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness.
6:12	Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called, and make a good profession of faith in the sight of many witnesses.

Gospel

Luke 8: 1- 3

8:1	And it happened afterwards that he was making a journey through the cities and towns, preaching and evangelizing the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,
8:2	along with certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, who is called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had departed,
8:3	and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many other women, who were ministering to him from their resources.

Reading

Timothy 3: 14- 16

3:14	I am writing these things to you, with the hope that I will come to you soon.
3:15	But, if I am delayed, you should know the manner in which it is necessary to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of truth.
3:16	And it is clearly great, this mystery of piety, which was manifested in the flesh, which was justified in the Spirit, which has appeared to Angels, which has been preached to the Gentiles, which is believed in the world, which has been taken up in glory.

Gospel

Luke 7: 31- 35

7:31	Then the Lord said: “Therefore, to what shall I compare the men of this generation? And to what are they similar?
7:32	They are like children sitting in the marketplace, talking with one another, and saying: ‘We sang to you, and you did not dance. We lamented, and you did not weep.’
7:33	For John the Baptist came, neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
7:34	The Son of man came, eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a voracious man and a drinker of wine, a friend of tax collectors and of sinners.’
7:35	But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

First Timothy 3: 1- 13

3:1	It is a faithful saying: if a man desires the episcopate, he desires a good work.
3:2	Therefore, it is necessary for a bishop to be beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, gracious, chaste, hospitable, a teacher,
3:3	not a drunkard, not combative but restrained, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
3:4	but a man who leads his own house well, having children who are subordinate with all chastity.
3:5	For if a man does not know how to lead his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God?
3:6	He must not be a new convert, lest, being elated by pride, he may fall under the sentence of the devil.
3:7	And it is necessary for him also to have good testimony from those who are outside, so that he may not fall into disrepute and the snare of the devil.
3:8	Similarly, deacons must be chaste, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not pursuing tainted profit,
3:9	holding to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
3:10	And these things should be proven first, and then they may minister, being without offense.
3:11	Similarly, the women must be chaste, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
3:12	Deacons should be the husband of one wife, men who lead their own children and their own houses well.
3:13	For those who have ministered well will acquire for themselves a good position, and much confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Luke 7: 11- 17

7:11	And it happened afterwards that he went to a city, which is called Nain. And his disciples, and an abundant crowd, went with him.
7:12	Then, when he had drawn near to the gate of the city, behold, a deceased person was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.
7:13	And when the Lord had seen her, being moved by mercy over her, he said to her, “Do not weep.”
7:14	And he drew near and touched the coffin. Then those who carried it stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”
7:15	And the dead youth sat up and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.
7:16	Then fear fell over all of them. And they magnified God, saying: “For a great prophet has risen up among us,” and, “For God has visited his people.”
7:17	And this word about him went out to all of Judea and to the entire surrounding region.

Reading

Hebrews 5: 7- 9

5:7	It is Christ who, in the days of his flesh, with a strong cry and tears, offered prayers and supplications to the One who was able to save him from death, and who was heard because of his reverence.
5:8	And although, certainly, he is the Son of God, he learned obedience by the things that he suffered.
5:9	And having reached his consummation, he was made, for all who are obedient to him, the cause of eternal salvation,

or

First Timothy 2: 1- 8

2:1	And so I beg you, first of all, to make supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings for all men,
2:2	for kings, and for all who are in high places, so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and chastity.
2:3	For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
2:4	who wants all men to be saved and to arrive at an acknowledgment of the truth.
2:5	For there is one God, and one mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus,
2:6	who gave himself as a redemption for all, as a testimony in its proper time.
2:7	Of this testimony, I have been appointed a preacher and an Apostle, (I speak the truth, I do not lie) as a teacher of the Gentiles, in faith and in truth.
2:8	Therefore, I want men to pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger or dissension.

Gospel

John 19: 25- 27

19:25	And standing beside the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, and Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
19:26	Therefore, when Jesus had seen his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.”
19:27	Next, he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” And from that hour, the disciple accepted her as his own.

Or

Luke 2: 33- 35

2:33	And his father and mother were wondering over these things, which were spoken about him.
2:34	And Simeon blessed them, and he said to his mother Mary: “Behold, this one has been set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and as a sign which will be contradicted.
2:35	And a sword will pass through your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”