Preparing for the Twenty-Third
Sunday after Pentecost
Year B

Daily Readings for Thursday
October 24, 2024

Prayer

Almighty God, 

creator of heaven and earth 

in whom all things are possible, 

have mercy on us and heal us, 

that sustained by the power of your word 

and by the constant intercession of our Lord and Savior, 

we may draw near to you 

and follow in your way as faithful disciples. Amen.

 

Psalm 34:1-8 [19-22]

Taste and see

 

I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me,

and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him, and be radiant;

so your faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,

and was saved from every trouble.

The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

O taste and see that the Lord is good;

happy are those who take refuge in him.

[Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the Lord rescues them from them all.

He keeps all their bones;

not one of them will be broken.

Evil brings death to the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

The Lord redeems the life of his servants;

none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.]

 

2 Kings 20:12-19

God’s word comes to Hezekiah

 

At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah answered, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

 

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

 

Hebrews 7:1-10

The priestly order of Melchizedek

 

This “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him”; and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

 

See how great he is! Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

 

 

Prayer

O Jesus Christ, teacher and healer, 

you heard the cry of the blind beggar 

when others would have silenced him. 

Teach us to be persistent in prayer 

and give us courage to ask plainly 

what we need from you, 

that we might respond in your name 

by the power of the Spirit 

through the ministry entrusted to us 

for the sake of the gospel. Amen.

 

Psalm 126

Sowing with tears, reaping with joy

 

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,

    we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

    and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

    “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us,

    and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

    like the watercourses in the Negeb.

May those who sow in tears

    reap with shouts of joy.

Those who go out weeping,

    bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

    carrying their sheaves.

 

Jeremiah 23:9-15

False prophets of hope denounced

 

Concerning the prophets:

 

My heart is crushed within me,

all my bones shake;

I have become like a drunkard,

like one overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

and because of his holy words.

For the land is full of adulterers;

because of the curse the land mourns,

and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.

Their course has been evil,

and their might is not right.

Both prophet and priest are ungodly;

even in my house I have found their wickedness,

says the Lord.

Therefore their way shall be to them

like slippery paths in the darkness,

into which they shall be driven and fall;

for I will bring disaster upon them

in the year of their punishment

says the Lord.

In the prophets of Samaria

I saw a disgusting thing:

they prophesied by Baal

and led my people Israel astray.

But in the prophets of Jerusalem

I have seen a more shocking thing:

they commit adultery and walk in lies;

they strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that no one turns from wickedness;

all of them have become like Sodom to me,

and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:

“I am going to make them eat wormwood,

and give them poisoned water to drink;

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

 

Hebrews 7:1-10

The priestly order of Melchizedek

 

This “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him”; and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

 

See how great he is! Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

 

 

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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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