Daily Scripture Reading for the
Liturgical Calendar Year
(beginning the 1st Sunday of Advent)

August 17, 2008

Text taken from the
Third Millennium Bible^® (TMB^®)
(New Authorized Version^TM NAV^TM)

The Lectionary According to the Christian Seasons

Isaiah 56:1-7

1 Thus saith the LORD, "Keep ye judgment, and do justice;
for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
who keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil."

3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying,
"The LORD hath utterly separated me from His people";
neither let the eunuch say,
"Behold, I am a dry tree."
4 For thus saith the LORD: "Unto the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths,
and choose the things that please Me, and take hold of My covenant,
5 even unto them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the LORD to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants,
every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant,
7 even them will I bring to My holy mountain,
and make them joyful in My house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar,
for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."

Psalms 67

1 God be merciful unto us and bless us,
and cause His face to shine upon us,
2 that Thy way may be known upon earth,
Thy saving health among all nations.

3 Let the people praise Thee, O God;
let all the people praise Thee.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for Thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon the earth.
5 Let the people praise Thee, O God;
let all the people praise Thee.
6 Then shall the earth yield her increase;
and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us,
and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

Romans 11:13-32

13 For I speak to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my office, 14 that by any means I may provoke to emulation those who are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the whole lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, "The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in." 20 Thou sayest well! Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear; 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.

22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness. Otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I, brethren, would not have you be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written:

"There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27 For this is My covenant unto them
when I shall take away their sins."

28 Concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake; but concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30 For as in times past ye have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, 31 even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.

Words of Worship - Matthew 4:23

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Matthew 15:21-28

21 Then Jesus went thence and departed into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same region and cried unto Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David! My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, "Send her away, for she crieth after us." 24 But He answered and said,

"I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord help me." 26 But He answered and said,

"It is not meet to take children's bread and cast it to dogs."

27 And she said, "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her,

"O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt."

And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiasticus 32:14

Whoso feareth the Lord will receive His discipline, 
and they that seek Him early shall find favor.

Jesus Speaks Morals & Values - Matthew 10:25b-27
         (see UniversalJesusSpeaks.info for more information)

Matthew 13:24-30

Another parable put He forth before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blades had sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, `Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath come the tares?' He said unto them, `An enemy hath done this.' The servants said unto him, `Wilt thou then have us go and gather them up?' But he said, `Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"