Habakkuk 3:1-18
A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth. O LORD, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O LORD, of your work. In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy. God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. The brightness was like the sun; rays came forth from his hand, where his power lay hidden. Before him went pestilence, and plague followed close behind. He stopped and shook the earth; he looked and made the nations tremble. The eternal mountains were shattered; along his ancient pathways the everlasting hills sank low. I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction; the tent-curtains of the land of Midian trembled. Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? Or your anger against the rivers, or your rage against the sea, when you drove your horses, your chariots to victory? You brandished your naked bow, sated were the arrows at your command. Selah You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you, and writhed; a torrent of water swept by; the deep gave forth its voice. The sun raised high its hands; the moon stood still in its exalted place, at the light of your arrows speeding by, at the gleam of your flashing spear. In fury you trod the earth, in anger you trampled nations. You came forth to save your people, to save your anointed. You crushed the head of the wicked house, laying it bare from foundation to roof. Selah You pierced with their own arrows the head of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter us, gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the mighty waters. I hear, and I tremble within; my lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, and my steps tremble beneath me. I wait quietly for the day of calamity to come upon the people who attack us. Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will exult in the God of my salvation.
James 3:1-12
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue-- a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive." The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"
Morning Psalms
Psalm 97 Dominus regnavit
1 The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
3 A fire goes before him and burns up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees it and is afraid.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7 Confounded be all who worship carved images and delight in false gods! Bow down before him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O LORD.
9 For you are the LORD, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of his saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light has sprung up for the righteous, and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy Name.
Psalm 99 Dominus regnavit
1 The LORD is King; let the people tremble; he is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake.
2 The LORD is great in Zion; he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; he is the Holy One.
4 O mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God and fall down before his footstool; he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; you were a God who forgave them, yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God and worship him upon his holy hill; for the LORD our God is the Holy One.
Psalm 100 Jubilate Deo
1 Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness and come before his presence with a song.
2 Know this: The LORD himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
4 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 94 Deus ultionum
1 O LORD God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, show yourself.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the world; give the arrogant their just deserts.
3 How long shall the wicked, O LORD, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They bluster in their insolence; all evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your chosen nation.
6 They murder the widow and the stranger and put the orphans to death.
7 Yet they say, "The LORD does not see, the God of Jacob takes no notice."
8 Consider well, you dullards among the people; when will you fools understand?
9 He that planted the ear, does he not hear? he that formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish? he who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge?
11 The LORD knows our human thoughts; how like a puff of wind they are.
12 Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord! whom you teach out of your law;
13 To give them rest in evil days, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not abandon his people, nor will he forsake his own.
15 For judgment will again be just, and all the true of heart will follow it.
16 Who rose up for me against the wicked? who took my part against the evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not come to my help, I should soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 As often as I said, "My foot has slipped, " your love, O LORD, upheld me.
19 When many cares fill my mind, your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you, one which frames evil into law?
21 They conspire against the life of the just and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my trust.
23 He will turn their wickedness back upon them and destroy them in their own malice; the LORD our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus
1 Come, let us sing to the LORD; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have molded the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
8 Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.
9 They put me to the test, though they had seen my works.
10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways."
11 So I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
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