Today's Readings: August 4

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.

[1] Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
[2] Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
[3] Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.


[4] For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule of the God of Jacob.
[5] He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a language I had not known:
[6] “I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
[7] In distress you called, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
[8] Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
[9] There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
[10] I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.


[11] “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
[12] So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
[13] Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
[14] I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
[15] Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
[16] But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”


A Psalm of Asaph.

[1] God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
[2] “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
[3] Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
[4] Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”


[5] They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.


[6] I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
[7] nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”


[8] Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!

[1] In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: [2] “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. [3] And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Set on the pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
[4] put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
[5] Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.


[6] “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. [7] For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. [8] To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. [9] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. [10] Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up. [11] Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. [12] She has wearied herself with toil; its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! [13] On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. [14] I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD.”

[15] The word of the LORD came to me: [16] “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. [17] Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” [18] So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

[19] And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” [20] Then I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: [21] ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. [22] And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. [23] Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. [24] Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’

[25] “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, [26] on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. [27] On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

[1] A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
[2] The rich and the poor meet together;
the LORD is the Maker of them all.
[3] The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
[4] The reward for humility and fear of the LORD
is riches and honor and life.
[5] Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
[6] Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
[7] The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
[8] Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail.
[9] Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
[10] Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
[11] He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
[12] The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the traitor.
[13] The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”
[14] The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;
he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it.
[15] Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
[16] Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.


[17] Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
[18] for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
[19] That your trust may be in the LORD,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
[20] Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
[21] to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?


[22] Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
[23] for the LORD will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
[24] Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
[25] lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
[26] Be not one of those who give pledges,
who put up security for debts.
[27] If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
[28] Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
[29] Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.

[1] Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? [2] If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

[3] This is my defense to those who would examine me. [4] Do we not have the right to eat and drink? [5] Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? [6] Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? [7] Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

[8] Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? [9] For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? [10] Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. [11] If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? [12] If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

[13] Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? [14] In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

[15] But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. [16] For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! [17] For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. [18] What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

[19] For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. [20] To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. [21] To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. [22] To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. [23] I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

[24] Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.