Study, Learn and Grow: Daily Lectionary Readings for January 16, 2025

Daily Lectionary Readings
(Two-Year Cycle)

Daily Lectionary Readings for January 16, 2025

By Daily Lectionary Readings, Thursday, January 16, 2025 12:00 AM

Morning Psalm 97

¹   The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;
          let the many coastlands be glad!
²   Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
          righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³   Fire goes before him,
          and consumes his adversaries on every side.
⁴   His lightnings light up the world;
          the earth sees and trembles.
⁵   The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
          before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶   The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
          and all the peoples behold his glory.
⁷   All worshipers of images are put to shame,
          those who make their boast in worthless idols;
          all gods bow down before him.
⁸   Zion hears and is glad,
          and the towns of Judah rejoice,
          because of your judgments, O God.
⁹   For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
          you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰  The LORD loves those who hate evil;
          he guards the lives of his faithful;
          he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹  Light dawns for the righteous,
          and joy for the upright in heart.
¹²  Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
          and give thanks to his holy name!

Morning Psalm 147:12-20

¹²  Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
          Praise your God, O Zion!
¹³  For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
          he blesses your children within you.
¹⁴  He grants peace within your borders;
          he fills you with the finest of wheat.
¹⁵  He sends out his command to the earth;
          his word runs swiftly.
¹⁶  He gives snow like wool;
          he scatters frost like ashes.
¹⁷  He hurls down hail like crumbs —
          who can stand before his cold?
¹⁸  He sends out his word, and melts them;
          he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
¹⁹  He declares his word to Jacob,
          his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
²⁰  He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
          they do not know his ordinances.
     Praise the Lord!

First Reading Isaiah 41:17-29

¹⁷  When the poor and needy seek water,
          and there is none,
          and their tongue is parched with thirst,
     I the LORD will answer them,
          I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
¹⁸  I will open rivers on the bare heights,
          and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
     I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
          and the dry land springs of water.
¹⁹  I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
          the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
     I will set in the desert the cypress,
          the plane and the pine together,
²⁰  so that all may see and know,
          all may consider and understand,
     that the hand of the LORD has done this,
          the Holy One of Israel has created it.

²¹  Set forth your case, says the LORD;
          bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
²²  Let them bring them, and tell us
          what is to happen.
     Tell us the former things, what they are,
          so that we may consider them,
     and that we may know their outcome;
          or declare to us the things to come.
²³  Tell us what is to come hereafter,
          that we may know that you are gods;
     do good, or do harm,
          that we may be afraid and terrified.
²⁴  You, indeed, are nothing
          and your work is nothing at all;
          whoever chooses you is an abomination.

²⁵  I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
          from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.
     He shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
          as the potter treads clay.
²⁶  Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know,
          and beforehand, so that we might say, “He is right”
     There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed,
          none who heard your words.
²⁷  I first have declared it to Zion,
          and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.
²⁸  But when I look there is no one;
          among these there is no counselor
          who, when I ask, gives an answer.
²⁹  No, they are all a delusion;
          their works are nothing;
          their images are empty wind.

Second Reading Ephesians 2:11-22

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — ¹²remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ¹⁵He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. ¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, ²⁰built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; ²²in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

Gospel Reading Mark 2:1-12

¹When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ²So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. ³Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic — ¹¹“I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” ¹²And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Evening Psalm 16

¹   Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
²   I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
          I have no good apart from you.”

³ As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.

⁴   Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
          their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
          or take their names upon my lips.

⁵   The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
          you hold my lot.
⁶   The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
          I have a goodly heritage.

⁷   I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
          in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸   I keep the LORD always before me;
          because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

⁹   Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
          my body also rests secure.
¹⁰  For you do not give me up to Sheol,
          or let your faithful one see the Pit.

¹¹  You show me the path of life.
          In your presence there is fullness of joy;
          in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Evening Psalm 62

¹   For God alone my soul waits in silence;
          from him comes my salvation.
²   He alone is my rock and my salvation,
          my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

³   How long will you assail a person,
          will you batter your victim, all of you,
          as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴   Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
          They take pleasure in falsehood;
     they bless with their mouths,
          but inwardly they curse. Selah

⁵   For God alone my soul waits in silence,
          for my hope is from him.
⁶   He alone is my rock and my salvation,
          my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷   On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
          my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸   Trust in him at all times, O people;
          pour out your heart before him;
          God is a refuge for us. Selah

⁹   Those of low estate are but a breath,
          those of high estate are a delusion;
     in the balances they go up;
          they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰  Put no confidence in extortion,
          and set no vain hopes on robbery;
          if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹  Once God has spoken;
          twice have I heard this:
     that power belongs to God,
¹²       and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
     For you repay to all
          according to their work.