Daily Readings For October 14

Please note that two distinct lectionaries are provided on this page: the two-year Daily Lectionary from the Book of Common Worship and the three-year Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) for Sundays and festivals; be sure you select the appropriate one.

Daily Readings Sunday/Festival Readings

Daily Readings for Saturday, October 14, 2023


Morning Psalm 104

1   Bless the LORD, O my soul.
          O LORD my God, you are very great.
     You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2        wrapped in light as with a garment.
     You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3        you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
     you make the clouds your chariot,
          you ride on the wings of the wind,
4   you make the winds your messengers,
          fire and flame your ministers.


5   You set the earth on its foundations,
          so that it shall never be shaken.
6   You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
          the waters stood above the mountains.
7   At your rebuke they flee;
          at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8   They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
          to the place that you appointed for them.
9   You set a boundary that they may not pass,
          so that they might not again cover the earth.


10  You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
          they flow between the hills,
11  giving drink to every wild animal;
          the wild asses quench their thirst.
12  By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
          they sing among the branches.
13  From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
          the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.


14  You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
          and plants for people to use,
     to bring forth food from the earth,
15       and wine to gladden the human heart,
     oil to make the face shine,
          and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16  The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
          the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17  In them the birds build their nests;
          the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18  The high mountains are for the wild goats;
          the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19  You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
          the sun knows its time for setting.
20  You make darkness, and it is night,
          when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21  The young lions roar for their prey,
          seeking their food from God.
22  When the sun rises, they withdraw
          and lie down in their dens.
23  People go out to their work
          and to their labor until the evening.


24  O LORD, how manifold are your works!
          In wisdom you have made them all;
          the earth is full of your creatures.
25  Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
          creeping things innumerable are there,
          living things both small and great.
26There go the ships,
          and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.


27  These all look to you
          to give them their food in due season;
28  when you give to them, they gather it up;
          when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29  When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
          when you take away their breath, they die
          and return to their dust.
30  When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
          and you renew the face of the ground.


31  May the glory of the LORD endure for ever;
          may the LORD rejoice in his works —
32  who looks on the earth and it trembles,
          who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33  I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
          I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34  May my meditation be pleasing to him,
          for I rejoice in the LORD.
35  Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
          and let the wicked be no more.
     Bless the LORD, O my soul.
     Praise the Lord!

Morning Psalm 149

1   Praise the Lord!
     Sing to the Lord a new song,
          his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2   Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
          let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3   Let them praise his name with dancing,
          making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
4   For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
          he adorns the humble with victory.
5   Let the faithful exult in glory;
          let them sing for joy on their couches.
6   Let the high praises of God be in their throats
          and two-edged swords in their hands,
7   to execute vengeance on the nations
          and punishment on the peoples,
8   to bind their kings with fetters
          and their nobles with chains of iron,
9   to execute on them the judgment decreed.
          This is glory for all his faithful ones.
     Praise the Lord!

First Reading Jeremiah 35:1-19

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: 2Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink. 3So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Have some wine.” 6But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children; 7nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.’ 8We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed; 10but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

12Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the LORD. 14The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me. 15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, “Turn now everyone of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not incline your ear or obey me. 16The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.

18But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, 19therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3

12:27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

3:1If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Gospel Reading Matthew 9:35-10:4

9:35Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

10:1Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

Evening Psalm 138

1   I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
          before the gods I sing your praise;
2   I bow down toward your holy temple
          and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
          for you have exalted your name and your word
          above everything.
3   On the day I called, you answered me,
          you increased my strength of soul.


4   All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
          for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5   They shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
          for great is the glory of the LORD.
6   For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly;
          but the haughty he perceives from far away.


7   Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
          you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
     you stretch out your hand,
          and your right hand delivers me.
8   The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
          your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
          Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Evening Psalm 98

1   O sing to the LORD a new song,
          for he has done marvelous things.
     His right hand and his holy arm
          have gained him victory.
2   The LORD has made known his victory;
          he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3   He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
          to the house of Israel.
     All the ends of the earth have seen
          the victory of our God.


4   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
          break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5   Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
          with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6   With trumpets and the sound of the horn
          make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.


7   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
          the world and those who live in it.
8   Let the floods clap their hands;
          let the hills sing together for joy
9   at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
          to judge the earth.
     He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with equity.