Reflecting on the Second
Sunday of Easter
Year B

Daily Readings for Tuesday
April 13, 2021

Prayer

Light of the world, 

shine upon us 

and disperse the clouds of our selfishness, 

that we may reflect the power of the resurrection 

in our life together. Amen.

 

Psalm 135

Praise to God

 

Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord;

give praise, O servants of the Lord,

you that stand in the house of the Lord,

in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;

sing to his name, for he is gracious.

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel as his own possession.

For I know that the Lord is great;

our Lord is above all gods.

Whatever the Lord pleases he does,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all deeps.

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;

he makes lightnings for the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

both human beings and animals;

he sent signs and wonders

into your midst, O Egypt,

against Pharaoh and all his servants.

He struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings—

Sihon, king of the Amorites,

and Og, king of Bashan,

and all the kingdoms of Canaan—

and gave their land as a heritage,

a heritage to his people Israel.

Your name, O Lord, endures forever,

your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.

For the Lord will vindicate his people,

and have compassion on his servants.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

they have eyes, but they do not see;

they have ears, but they do not hear,

and there is no breath in their mouths.

Those who make them

and all who trust them

shall become like them.

O house of Israel, bless the Lord!

O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!

O house of Levi, bless the Lord!

You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord!

Blessed be the Lord from Zion,

he who resides in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

 

Daniel 6:1-28

God saves Daniel from the lions

 

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, stationed throughout the whole kingdom, and over them three presidents, including Daniel; to these the satraps gave account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Soon Daniel distinguished himself above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. So the presidents and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him. The men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

 

So the presidents and satraps conspired and came to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions. Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict.

 

Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. The conspirators came and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions?” The king answered, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Then they responded to the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.”

 

When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

 

Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

 

Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

 

Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant prosperity! I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:

 

For he is the living God,

enduring forever.

His kingdom shall never be destroyed,

and his dominion has no end.

He delivers and rescues,

he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;

for he has saved Daniel

from the power of the lions.”

 

So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

 

1 John 2:12-17

The world is passing away

 

I am writing to you, little children,

because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.

I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young people,

because you have conquered the evil one.

I write to you, children,

because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young people,

because you are strong

and the word of God abides in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.

 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

 

 

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Prayer reprinted from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts. Reproduced by permission.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress. Reproduced by permission. No further reproduction allowed without the written permission of Augsburg Fortress.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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