Preparing for the Twenty-Second
Sunday after Pentecost
Year B

Daily Readings for Thursday
October 17, 2024

Prayer

Creator God, 

you are wrapped in light as a garment, 

clothed with honor and majesty. 

Enlighten us with true faith and humble obedience 

that seeks to serve others in your name. Amen.

 

Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35b

In wisdom you have made them all

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Lord my God, you are very great.

You are clothed with honor and majesty,

wrapped in light as with a garment.

You stretch out the heavens like a tent,

you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,

you make the clouds your chariot,

you ride on the wings of the wind,

you make the winds your messengers,

fire and flame your ministers.

You set the earth on its foundations,

so that it shall never be shaken.

You cover it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

At your rebuke they flee;

at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.

They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys

to the place that you appointed for them.

You set a boundary that they may not pass,

O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Praise the Lord!

 

Job 36:1-16

God watches everything we do

 

Elihu continued and said:

 

“Bear with me a little, and I will show you,

for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.

I will bring my knowledge from far away,

and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

For truly my words are not false;

one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

“Surely God is mighty and does not despise any;

he is mighty in strength of understanding.

He does not keep the wicked alive,

but gives the afflicted their right.

He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,

but with kings on the throne

he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

And if they are bound in fetters

and caught in the cords of affliction,

then he declares to them their work

and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.

He opens their ears to instruction,

and commands that they return from iniquity.

If they listen, and serve him,

they complete their days in prosperity,

and their years in pleasantness.

But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword,

and die without knowledge.

“The godless in heart cherish anger;

they do not cry for help when he binds them.

They die in their youth,

and their life ends in shame.

He delivers the afflicted by their affliction,

and opens their ear by adversity.

He also allured you out of distress

into a broad place where there was no constraint,

and what was set on your table was full of fatness.”

 

Romans 15:7-13

The Gentiles glorify God

 

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

 

“Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,

and sing praises to your name”;

 

and again he says,

 

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;

 

and again,

 

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples praise him”;

 

and again Isaiah says,

 

“The root of Jesse shall come,

the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;

in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Prayer

Most High, 

your Anointed One offered himself freely 

as witness against our violence, 

our acts of oppression, 

and our sin. 

As you delighted to call him your Son, 

give us the courage to bring you equal delight 

by our willingness to drink the cup of sacrifice 

on behalf of our sisters and brothers, 

and, with them, offer you praise unceasing 

and lives transformed 

as true heirs of your grace-filled realm. Amen.

 

Psalm 91:9-16

The Most High, your refuge

 

Because you have made the Lord your refuge,

the Most High your dwelling place,

no evil shall befall you,

no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the adder,

the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;

I will protect those who know my name.

When they call to me, I will answer them;

I will be with them in trouble,

I will rescue them and honor them.

With long life I will satisfy them,

and show them my salvation.

 

Genesis 14:17-24

Abram is blessed by Melchizedek

 

After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said,

 

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

maker of heaven and earth;

and blessed be God Most High,

who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

 

And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything. Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.”

 

Romans 15:7-13

The Gentiles glorify God

 

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

 

“Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,

and sing praises to your name”;

 

and again he says,

 

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;

 

and again,

 

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples praise him”;

 

and again Isaiah says,

 

“The root of Jesse shall come,

the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;

in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

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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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