Daily Lectionary Readings for October 09, 2026

Daily Lectionary Readings (Two-Year Cycle)

Lectionary Readings for Friday, October 9, 2026

Morning Psalm 51 1   Have mercy on me, O God,           according to your steadfast love;      according to your abundant mercy           blot out my transgressions. 2   Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,           and cleanse me from my sin. 3   For I know my transgressions,           and my sin is ever before me. 4   Against you, you alone, have I sinned,           and done what is evil in your sight,      so that you are justified in your sentence           and blameless when you pass judgment. 5   Indeed, I was born guilty,           a sinner when my mother conceived me. 6   You desire truth in the inward being;           therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7   Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;           wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8   Let me hear joy and gladness;           let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9   Hide your face from my sins,           and blot out all my iniquities. 10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,           and put a new and right spirit within me. 11  Do not cast me away from your presence,           and do not take your holy spirit from me. 12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,           and sustain in me a willing spirit. 13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,           and sinners will return to you. 14  Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,           O God of my salvation,           and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 15  O Lord, open my lips,           and my mouth will declare your praise. 16  For you have no delight in sacrifice;           if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. 17  The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;           a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18  Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;           rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 19  then you will delight in right sacrifices,           in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;           then bulls will be offered on your altar. Morning Psalm 148 1   Praise the Lord!      Praise the Lord from the heavens;           praise him in the heights! 2   Praise him, all his angels;           praise him, all his host! 3   Praise him, sun and moon;           praise him, all you shining stars! 4   Praise him, you highest heavens,           and you waters above the heavens! 5   Let them praise the name of the Lord,           for he commanded and they were created. 6   He established them forever and ever;           he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. 7   Praise the Lord from the earth,           you sea monsters and all deeps, 8   fire and hail, snow and frost,           stormy wind fulfilling his command! 9   Mountains and all hills,           fruit trees and all cedars! 10  Wild animals and all cattle,           creeping things and flying birds! 11  Kings of the earth and all peoples,           princes and all rulers of the earth! 12  Young men and women alike,           old and young together! 13  Let them praise the name of the Lord,           for his name alone is exalted;           his glory is above earth and heaven. 14  He has raised up a horn for his people,           praise for all his faithful,           for the people of Israel who are close to him.      Praise the Lord! First Reading Hosea 9:10-17 10Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its first season, I saw your ancestors. But they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved. 11Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird - no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! 12Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them until no one is left. Woe to them indeed when I depart from them! 13Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow, but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter. 14Give them, O Lord - what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal; there I came to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their officials are rebels. 16Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb. 17Because they have not listened to him, my God will reject them; they shall become wanderers among the nations. Second Reading Acts 24:24-25:12 24Some days later when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ Jesus. 25And as he discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, "Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity, I will send for you." 26At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, and for that reason he used to send for him very often and converse with him. 27After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. 1Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem 2where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him 3and requested, as a favor to them against Paul, to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way. 4Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5"So," he said, "let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him." 6After he had stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. 8Paul said in his defense, "I have in no way committed an offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor." 9But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, "Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?" 10Paul said, "I am appealing to the emperor's tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. 11Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor." 12Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, "You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go." Gospel Reading Luke 8:1-15 1Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. 4When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5"A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. 7Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" 9Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that 'looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.' 11"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. 14As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance. Evening Psalm 142 1   With my voice I cry to the LORD;           with my voice I make supplication to the LORD. 2   I pour out my complaint before him;           I tell my trouble before him. 3   When my spirit is faint,           you know my way.      In the path where I walk           they have hidden a trap for me. 4   Look on my right hand and see —           there is no one who takes notice of me;      no refuge remains to me;           no one cares for me. 5   I cry to you, O LORD;           I say, “You are my refuge,           my portion in the land of the living.” 6   Give heed to my cry,           for I am brought very low.      Save me from my persecutors,           for they are too strong for me. 7   Bring me out of prison,           so that I may give thanks to your name.      The righteous will surround me,           for you will deal bountifully with me. Evening Psalm 65 1   Praise is due to you,           O God, in Zion;      and to you shall vows be performed, 2        O you who answer prayer!      To you all flesh shall come. 3   When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,           you forgive our transgressions. 4   Happy are those whom you choose and bring near           to live in your courts.      We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,           your holy temple. 5   By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,           O God of our salvation;      you are the hope of all the ends of the earth           and of the farthest seas. 6   By your strength you established the mountains;           you are girded with might. 7   You silence the roaring of the seas,           the roaring of their waves,           the tumult of the peoples. 8   Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;           you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. 9   You visit the earth and water it,           you greatly enrich it;      the river of God is full of water;           you provide the people with grain,           for so you have prepared it. 10  You water its furrows abundantly,           settling its ridges,      softening it with showers,           and blessing its growth. 11  You crown the year with your bounty;           your wagon tracks overflow with richness. 12  The pastures of the wilderness overflow,           the hills gird themselves with joy, 13  the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,           the valleys deck themselves with grain,           they shout and sing together for joy.

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Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202

Bible Readings for October 12-18, 2026

Let’s read the Bible together next year. For the week of Monday, October 12 through Sunday, October 18, the daily readings are below.

• Monday, October 12, 2026 - Jer. 19:1–21:14, 1 Thess. 5:4-28, Psalm 82:1-8, Prov. 25:8-10
• Tuesday, October 13, 2026 - Jer. 22:1–23:20, 2 Thess. 1:1-12, Psalm 83:1-18, Prov. 25:11-14
• Wednesday, October 14, 2026 - Jer. 23:21–25:38, 2 Thess. 2:1-17, Psalm 84:1-12, Prov. 25:15
• Thursday, October 15, 2026 - Jer. 26:1–27:22, 2 Thess. 3:1-18, Psalm 85:1-13, Prov. 25:16
• Friday, October 16, 2026 - Jer. 28:1–29:32, 1 Tim. 1:1-20, Psalm 86:1-17, Prov. 25:17
• Saturday, October 17, 2026 - Jer. 30:1–31:26, 1 Tim. 2:1-15, Psalm 87:1-7, Prov. 25:18-19
• Sunday, October 18, 2026 - Jer. 31:27–32:44, 1 Tim. 3:1-16, Psalm 88:1-18, Prov. 25:20-22

Bible Readings for October 9, 2026

 

Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today, our passages are Jeremiah 12:1–14:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:1–2:9; Psalm 79:1-13; and Proverbs 24:30-34. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

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Jeremiah 12-14:10 (The Message)

Jeremiah 12

What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?

 ^1-4 You are right, O God, and you set things right. I can't argue with that. But I do have some questions:
Why do bad people have it so good?
   Why do con artists make it big?
You planted them and they put down roots.
   They flourished and produced fruit.
They talk as if they're old friends with you,
   but they couldn't care less about you.
Meanwhile, you know me inside and out.
   You don't let me get by with a thing!
Make them pay for the way they live,
   pay with their lives, like sheep marked for slaughter.
How long do we have to put up with this—
   the country depressed, the farms in ruin—
And all because of wickedness, these wicked lives?
   Even animals and birds are dying off
Because they'll have nothing to do with God
   and think God has nothing to do with them.  ^5-6"So, Jeremiah, if you're worn out in this footrace with men,
   what makes you think you can race against horses?
And if you can't keep your wits during times of calm,
   what's going to happen when troubles break loose like the Jordan in flood?
Those closest to you, your own brothers and cousins,
   are working against you.
They're out to get you. They'll stop at nothing.
   Don't trust them, especially when they're smiling.
 ^7-11"I will abandon the House of Israel,
   walk away from my beloved people.
I will turn over those I most love
   to those who are her enemies.
She's been, this one I held dear,
   like a snarling lion in the jungle,
Growling and baring her teeth at me—
   and I can't take it anymore.
Has this one I hold dear become a preening peacock?
   But isn't she under attack by vultures?
Then invite all the hungry animals at large,
   invite them in for a free meal!
Foreign, scavenging shepherds
   will loot and trample my fields,
Turn my beautiful, well-cared-for fields
   into vacant lots of tin cans and thistles.
They leave them littered with junk—
   a ruined land, a land in lament.
The whole countryside is a wasteland,
   and no one will really care.
 ^12-13"The barbarians will invade,
   swarm over hills and plains.
The judgment sword of God will take its toll
   from one end of the land to the other.
   Nothing living will be safe.
They will plant wheat and reap weeds.
   Nothing they do will work out.
They will look at their meager crops and wring their hands.
   All this the result of God's fierce anger!"
 ^14-17God's Message: "Regarding all the bad neighbors who abused the land I gave to Israel as their inheritance: I'm going to pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck Judah out from among them. Once I've pulled the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take them tenderly to my heart and put them back where they belong, put each of them back in their home country, on their family farms. Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them. But if they won't listen, then I'll pull them out of their land by the roots and cart them off to the dump. Total destruction!" God's Decree. 

Jeremiah 13

People Who Do Only What They Want to Do

 ^1-2 God told me, "Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don't even take them off to wash them." So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on. ^3-5Then God told me, "Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock." So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.  ^6-7Next, after quite a long time, God told me, "Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there." So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.
 ^8-11God explained, "This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won't obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They're going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care"—God's Decree—"so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.
 ¹²"And then tell them this, 'God's Message, personal from the God of Israel: Every wine jug should be full of wine.'
   "And they'll say, 'Of course. We know that. Every wine jug should be full of wine!'
 ^13-14"Then you'll say, 'This is what God says: Watch closely. I'm going to fill every person who lives in this country—the kings who rule from David's throne, the priests, the prophets, the citizens of Jerusalem—with wine that will make them drunk. And then I'll smash them, smash the wine-filled jugs—old and young alike. Nothing will stop me. Not an ounce of pity or mercy or compassion will slow me down. Every last drunken jug of them will be smashed!'" 

The Light You Always Took for Granted

 ^15-17Then I said, Listen. Listen carefully: Don't stay stuck in your ways!
   It's God's Message we're dealing with here.
Let your lives glow bright before God
   before he turns out the lights,
Before you trip and fall
   on the dark mountain paths.
The light you always took for granted will go out
   and the world will turn black.
If you people won't listen,
   I'll go off by myself and weep over you,
Weep because of your stubborn arrogance,
   bitter, bitter tears,
Rivers of tears from my eyes,
   because God's sheep will end up in exile.  ^18-19Tell the king and the queen-mother,
   "Come down off your high horses.
Your dazzling crowns
   will tumble off your heads."
The villages in the Negev will be surrounded,
   everyone trapped,
And Judah dragged off to exile,
   the whole country dragged to oblivion.
 ^20-22Look, look, Jerusalem!
   Look at the enemies coming out of the north!
What will become of your flocks of people,
   the beautiful flocks in your care?
How are you going to feel when the people
   you've played up to, looked up to all these years
Now look down on you? You didn't expect this?
   Surprise! The pain of a woman having a baby!
Do I hear you saying,
   "What's going on here? Why me?"
The answer's simple: You're guilty,
   hugely guilty.
Your guilt has your life endangered,
   your guilt has you writhing in pain.
 ²³Can an African change skin?
   Can a leopard get rid of its spots?
So what are the odds on you doing good,
   you who are so long-practiced in evil?
 ^24-27"I'll blow these people away—
   like wind-blown leaves.
You have it coming to you.
   I've measured it out precisely."
         God's Decree.
"It's because you forgot me
   and embraced the Big Lie,
   that so-called god Baal.
I'm the one who will rip off your clothes,
   expose and shame you before the watching world.
Your obsessions with gods, gods, and more gods,
   your goddess affairs, your god-adulteries.
Gods on the hills, gods in the fields—
   every time I look you're off with another god.
O Jerusalem, what a sordid life!
   Is there any hope for you!" 

Jeremiah 14

Time and Again We've Betrayed God

 ^1-6 God's Message that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought: "Judah weeps,
   her cities mourn.
The people fall to the ground, moaning,
   while sounds of Jerusalem's sobs rise up, up.
The rich people sent their servants for water.
   They went to the cisterns, but the cisterns were dry.
They came back with empty buckets,
   wringing their hands, shaking their heads.
All the farm work has stopped.
   Not a drop of rain has fallen.
The farmers don't know what to do.
   They wring their hands, they shake their heads.
Even the doe abandons her fawn in the field
   because there is no grass—
Eyes glazed over, on her last legs,
   nothing but skin and bones."  ^7-9We know we're guilty. We've lived bad lives—
   but do something, God. Do it for your sake!
Time and time again we've betrayed you.
   No doubt about it—we've sinned against you.
Hope of Israel! Our only hope!
   Israel's last chance in this trouble!
Why are you acting like a tourist,
   taking in the sights, here today and gone tomorrow?
Why do you just stand there and stare,
   like someone who doesn't know what to do in a crisis?
But God, you are, in fact, here, here with us!
   You know who we are—you named us!
   Don't leave us in the lurch.
 ¹⁰Then God said of these people: "Since they loved to wander this way and that,
   never giving a thought to where they were going,
I will now have nothing more to do with them—
   except to note their guilt and punish their sins."

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1 Thessalonians 1-2:9 (The Message)

1 Thessalonians 1

 ¹I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God's amazing grace be with you! God's robust peace! 

Convictions of Steel

 ^2-5Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.  ^5-6You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
 ^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom. 

1 Thessalonians 2

 ^1-2So, friends, it's obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time. We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn't slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God's Message to you, defiant of the opposition. 

No Hidden Agendas

 ^3-5God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message. Be assured that when we speak to you we're not after crowd approval—only God approval. Since we've been put through that battery of tests, you're guaranteed that both we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas. We never used words to butter you up. No one knows that better than you. And God knows we never used words as a smoke screen to take advantage of you.  ^6-8Even though we had some standing as Christ's apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.
 ^9-12You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn't have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God's Message to you. You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren't freeloaders! You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.

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Psalm 79:1-13 (The Message)

Psalm 79

An Asaph Psalm

 ^1-4 God! Barbarians have broken into your home, violated your holy temple,
      left Jerusalem a pile of rubble!
   They've served up the corpses of your servants
      as carrion food for birds of prey,
   Threw the bones of your holy people
      out to the wild animals to gnaw on.
   They dumped out their blood
      like buckets of water.
   All around Jerusalem, their bodies
      were left to rot, unburied.
   We're nothing but a joke to our neighbors,
      graffiti scrawled on the city walls.

 ^5-7 How long do we have to put up with this, God?
      Do you have it in for us for good?
      Will your smoldering rage never cool down?
   If you're going to be angry, be angry
      with the pagans who care nothing about you,
      or your rival kingdoms who ignore you.
   They're the ones who ruined Jacob,
      who wrecked and looted the place where he lived.

 ^8-10 Don't blame us for the sins of our parents.
      Hurry up and help us; we're at the end of our rope.
   You're famous for helping; God, give us a break.
      Your reputation is on the line.
   Pull us out of this mess, forgive us our sins—
      do what you're famous for doing!
   Don't let the heathen get by with their sneers:
      "Where's your God? Is he out to lunch?"
   Go public and show the godless world
      that they can't kill your servants and get by with it.

 ^11-13 Give groaning prisoners a hearing;
      pardon those on death row from their doom—you can do it!
   Give our jeering neighbors what they've got coming to them;
      let their God-taunts boomerang and knock them flat.
   Then we, your people, the ones you love and care for,
      will thank you over and over and over.
   We'll tell everyone we meet
      how wonderful you are, how praiseworthy you are!

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Proverbs 24:30-34 (The Message)

 ^30-34 One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones,
   and then passed the vineyard of a lout;
They were overgrown with weeds,
   thick with thistles, all the fences broken down.
I took a long look and pondered what I saw;
   the fields preached me a sermon and I listened:
"A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
   sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
   with poverty as your permanent houseguest!"

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Thought for the Day

“Pay attention to advice and accept correction, so you can live sensibly. We may make a lot of plans, but the LORD will do what he has decided.” (Proverbs 19:20-21 - Contemporary English Version) Nobody enjoys being corrected, yet if we surround ourselves with people who tell us only what we want to hear, we repeat the same mistakes. Although God is ultimately in control, let's be open and not stupid. 

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Quote for the Day

American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the Animorphs, Remnants, and Everworld book series, K. A. Applegate wrote, "I hate to witness animals in captivity - or see circus elephants paraded down the streets. When animals are caged, it's a loss of what they are."

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Joke for Today

A concerned woman phones a doctor and says, "Doctor, I'm worried about my husband. He thinks he's a dog!"

"I'm coming over right away," the doctor says.

When the doctor arrives, the woman opens the door, and her husband, on all four, starts wagging his bottom and licking the doctor's hand.

"Interesting", the doctor says, startled. "I'll examine him. Make him lie down on the sofa."

"Doctor", the woman says, "I can't! He's not allowed the sofa!"

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A Prayer Request

As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.

That churches fulfill their purpose as lighthouses for Christ.