Reflecting on the Twenty-First
Sunday after Pentecost
Year A

Daily Readings for Monday
October 23, 2023

Prayer

You know each of us by name, O God, 

and in your sight we have found favor, 

yet our minds cannot comprehend the vision of your glory 

or the vastness of your love. 

Grant that as we glimpse your greatness, 

reflected in your many gifts, 

we may always return to you 

the praise that is yours alone. 

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Psalm 63:1-8

I rejoice in the shadow of your wings

 

O God, you are my God, I seek you,

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,

and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

when I think of you on my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

 

Exodus 40:34-38

The cloud and the glory

 

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloudby night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.

 

Revelation 18:1-10, 19-20

The fall of Babylon

 

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. He called out with a mighty voice,

 

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

It has become a dwelling place of demons,

a haunt of every foul spirit,

a haunt of every foul bird,

a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.

For all the nations have drunk

of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,

and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,

and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.”

 

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

 

“Come out of her, my people,

so that you do not take part in her sins,

and so that you do not share in her plagues;

for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

and God has remembered her iniquities.

Render to her as she herself has rendered,

and repay her double for her deeds;

mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.

As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,

so give her a like measure of torment and grief.

Since in her heart she says,

‘I rule as a queen;

I am no widow,

and I will never see grief,’

therefore her plagues will come in a single day—

pestilence and mourning and famine—

and she will be burned with fire;

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

 

And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

 

“Alas, alas, the great city,

Babylon, the mighty city!

For in one hour your judgment has come.”

 

And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

 

“Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.”

 

Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her.

 

 

Prayer

Creator of all, 

you have called us and chosen us to be your people. 

By the power of your Holy Spirit 

may we bear witness with joy and conviction 

to the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Psalm 98

God reigns over the nations

 

O sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvelous things.

His right hand and his holy arm

have gotten him victory.

The Lord has made known his victory;

he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

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.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

with the lyre and the sound of melody.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who live in it.

Let the floods clap their hands;

let the hills sing together for joy

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.

 

Daniel 3:1-18

Three disobey Nebuchadnezzar

 

King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent for the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.” Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

 

Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, shall fall down and worship the golden statue, and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

 

Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

 

Revelation 18:1-10, 19-20

The fall of Babylon

 

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. He called out with a mighty voice,

 

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

It has become a dwelling place of demons,

a haunt of every foul spirit,

a haunt of every foul bird,

a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.

For all the nations have drunk

of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,

and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,

and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.”

 

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

 

“Come out of her, my people,

so that you do not take part in her sins,

and so that you do not share in her plagues;

for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

and God has remembered her iniquities.

Render to her as she herself has rendered,

and repay her double for her deeds;

mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.

As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,

so give her a like measure of torment and grief.

Since in her heart she says,

‘I rule as a queen;

I am no widow,

and I will never see grief,’

therefore her plagues will come in a single day—

pestilence and mourning and famine—

and she will be burned with fire;

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

 

And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

 

“Alas, alas, the great city,

Babylon, the mighty city!

For in one hour your judgment has come.”

 

And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,

 

“Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.”

 

Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has given judgment for you against her.

 

 

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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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