Preparing for the Twenty-Fifth
Sunday after Pentecost
Year A

Daily Readings for Saturday
November 18, 2023

Prayer

God of the covenant, 

even when we fall into sin, 

your Spirit invites us to remember 

that you chose us to be your servant people. 

Awaken us to the power and gifts 

you pour into us for the good of creation, 

and grant that we may be trustworthy in all things, 

producing abundantly as we work to build your realm. Amen.

 

Psalm 123

Our eyes look to God

 

To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

As the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

until he has mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,

for we have had more than enough of contempt.

Our soul has had more than its fill

of the scorn of those who are at ease,

of the contempt of the proud.

 

Judges 5:1-12

Song of Deborah

 

Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying:

 

“When locks are long in Israel,

when the people offer themselves willingly—

bless the Lord!

 

“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

to the Lord I will sing,

I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

 

Lord, when you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

the earth trembled,

and the heavens poured,

the clouds indeed poured water.

The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,

before the Lord, the God of Israel.

 

“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,

in the days of Jael, caravans ceased

and travelers kept to the byways.

The peasantry prospered in Israel,

they grew fat on plunder,

because you arose, Deborah,

arose as a mother in Israel.

When new gods were chosen,

then war was in the gates.

Was shield or spear to be seen

among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel

who offered themselves willingly among the people.

Bless the Lord.

 

“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys,

you who sit on rich carpets

and you who walk by the way.

To the sound of musicians at the watering places,

there they repeat the triumphs of the Lord,

the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel.

 

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

 

“Awake, awake, Deborah!

Awake, awake, utter a song!

Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,

O son of Abinoam.”

 

Matthew 12:43-45

From bad to worse

 

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”

 

 

Prayer

You, O God, are our dwelling-place 

from generation to generation, 

our shield from anguish and distress. 

You arm us as children of light 

with the hope of salvation, 

and you protect us by your love. 

Give us grace to build up 

and encourage one another, 

as we seek wisdom and abundant life 

in the strength of your Word 

and the assurance of your Spirit. Amen.

 

Psalm 90:1-8 [9-11] 12

Number your days

 

 Lord, you have been our dwelling place

in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn us back to dust,

and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”

For a thousand years in your sight

are like yesterday when it is past,

or like a watch in the night.

You sweep them away; they are like a dream,

like grass that is renewed in the morning;

in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

For we are consumed by your anger;

by your wrath we are overwhelmed.

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

[For all our days pass away under your wrath;

our years come to an end like a sigh.

The days of our life are seventy years,

or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;

even then their span is only toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Who considers the power of your anger?

Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.]

So teach us to count our days

that we may gain a wise heart.

 

Ezekiel 7:10-27

You shall know that the Lord is God

 

See, the day! See, it comes!

Your doom has gone out.

The rod has blossomed, pride has budded.

Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.

None of them shall remain,

not their abundance, not their wealth;

no pre-eminence among them.

The time has come, the day draws near;

let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn,

for wrath is upon all their multitude.

 

For the sellers shall not return to what has been sold as long as they remain alive. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not be revoked. Because of their iniquity, they cannot maintain their lives.

 

They have blown the horn and made everything ready;

but no one goes to battle,

for my wrath is upon all their multitude.

The sword is outside, pestilence and famine are inside;

those in the field die by the sword;

those in the city—famine and pestilence devour them.

If any survivors escape,

they shall be found on the mountains

like doves of the valleys,

all of them moaning over their iniquity.

All hands shall grow feeble,

all knees turn to water.

They shall put on sackcloth,

horror shall cover them.

Shame shall be on all faces,

baldness on all their heads.

They shall fling their silver into the streets,

their gold shall be treated as unclean.

 

Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. They shall not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. From their beautiful ornament, in which they took pride, they made their abominable images, their detestable things; therefore I will make of it an unclean thing to them.

 

I will hand it over to strangers as booty,

to the wicked of the earth as plunder;

they shall profane it.

I will avert my face from them,

so that they may profane my treasured place;

the violent shall enter it,

they shall profane it.

Make a chain!

For the land is full of bloody crimes;

the city is full of violence.

I will bring the worst of the nations

to take possession of their houses.

I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong,

and their holy places shall be profaned.

When anguish comes, they will seek peace,

but there shall be none.

Disaster comes upon disaster,

rumor follows rumor;

they shall keep seeking a vision from the prophet;

instruction shall perish from the priest,

and counsel from the elders.

The king shall mourn,

the prince shall be wrapped in despair,

and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble.

According to their way I will deal with them;

according to their own judgments I will judge them.

 

And they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

Matthew 12:43-45

From bad to worse

 

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”

 

 

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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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