Daily Office - May 3

Psalm 118
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures for ever.
Let Israel now proclaim, ‘His mercy endures for ever.’
Let the house of Aaron now proclaim, ‘His mercy endures for ever.’
Let those who fear the Lord proclaim, ‘His mercy endures for ever.’
In my constraint I called to the Lord; the Lord answered and set me free. The Lord is at my side; I will not fear; what can flesh do to me? With the Lord at my side as my saviour, I shall see the downfall of my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put any confidence in flesh. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put any confidence in princes. All the nations encompassed me, but by the name of the Lord I drove them back. They hemmed me in, they hemmed me in on every side, but by the name of the Lord I drove them back. They swarmed about me like bees; they blazed like fire among thorns, but by the name of the Lord I drove them back. Surely, I was thrust to the brink, but the Lord came to my help. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. Joyful shouts of salvation sound from the tents of the righteous: ‘The right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds; the right hand of the Lord raises up; the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds.’ I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has punished me sorely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Come, O Lord, and save us we pray. Come, Lord, send us now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God; he has given us light; link the pilgrims with cords right to the horns of the altar. You are my God and I will thank you; you are my God and I will exalt you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures for ever.

Exodus 34:1-10,27-end
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.’ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, ‘The Lord.’ The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’
And Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped. He said, ‘If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’
He said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been performed in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord; for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
The Lord said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. He was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

The Collect
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life: raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, that we may seek those things which are above, where he reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.