Daily Gospel

17: But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18: And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. 19: They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you."

A prayer for perseverance. 1 A psalm for David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the former captives. In thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put to confusion: 2 Deliver me in thy justice, and rescue me. Incline thy ear unto me, and save me. 3 Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength: that thou mayst make me safe. For thou art my firmament and my refuge. 4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of the transgressor of the law and of the unjust. 5 For thou art my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my youth. 6 By thee have I been confirmed from the womb: from my mother's womb thou art my protector. Of thee I shall continually sing: 15 My mouth shall shew forth thy justice; thy salvation all the day long. Because I have not known learning, 17 Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth: and till now I will declare thy wonderful works.

17: Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. 18: John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19: Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. 20: Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. 21: She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. 22: Herodias's own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you." 23: He even swore (many things) to her, "I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom." 24: She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the Baptist." 25: The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, "I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist." 26: The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. 27: So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. 28: He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. 29: When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

  1: Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sos'thenes, 2: To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4: I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5: that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge -- 6: even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you -- 7: so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8: who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9: God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2: Every day I will bless thee, and praise thy name for ever and ever. 3: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4: One generation shall laud thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. 5: On the glorious splendor of thy majesty, and on thy wondrous works, I will meditate. 6: Men shall proclaim the might of thy terrible acts, and I will declare thy greatness. 7: They shall pour forth the fame of thy abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

42: Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43: But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. 44: Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45: "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46: Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. 47: Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48: But if that wicked servant says to himself, `My master is delayed,' 49: and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, 50: the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, 51: and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.    

6: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7: For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8: we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. 9: It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate. 10: For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat.16: Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. 17: I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

1: Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! 2: You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. 4: Lo, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. 5: The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!

27: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28: So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30: saying, `If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31: Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32: Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

6: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7: For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8: we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. 9: It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate. 10: For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat. 16: Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. 17: I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

1: Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! 2: You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. 4: Lo, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. 5: The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!

23: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24: You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. 26: You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

1: Paul, Silva'nus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalo'nians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3: We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4: Therefore we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you are enduring. 5: This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 11: To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power, 12: so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1: O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! 2: Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3: Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4: For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all ods. 5: For all the gods of the peoples are idols; but the LORD made the heavens.

13: "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16: "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, `If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17: You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18: And you say, `If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19: You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20: So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21: and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; 22: and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

19: I will thrust you from your office, and you will be cast down from your station. 20: In that day I will call my servant Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, 21: and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22: And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23: And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house.

1: I give thee thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise; 2: I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word. 3: On the day I called, thou didst answer me, my strength of soul thou didst increase. 6: For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he knows from afar. 8: The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me; thy steadfast love, O LORD, endures for ever. Do not forsake the work of thy hands.

33: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" 35: "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" 36: For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.

13: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" 14: And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15: He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16: Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17: And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 20: Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

1: Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2: And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. 3: And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4: As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, 5: the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 6: While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple; 7: and he said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever.