Daily Office - Aug 17

Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
tell out his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
he is more to be feared than all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are but idols;
it is the Lord who made the heavens.

Honour and majesty are before him;
power and splendour are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples;
ascribe to the Lord honour and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name;
bring offerings and come into his courts.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
let the whole earth tremble before him.
Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is king.
He has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad;
let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
Let the fields be joyful and all that is in them;
let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord.
For he comes, he comes to judge the earth;
with righteousness he will judge the world and the peoples with his truth.

Psalm 97
The Lord is king: let the earth rejoice;
let the multitude of the isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him and burns up his enemies on every side.
His lightnings lit up the world;
the earth saw it and trembled.
The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The heavens declared his righteousness and all the peoples have seen his glory.

Confounded be all who worship carved images and delight in mere idols.
Bow down before him, all you gods.
Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced,
because of your judgements, O Lord.
For you, Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he preserves the lives of his faithful and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light has sprung up for the righteous and joy for the true of heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name.

Psalm 100
O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth;
serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song.
Know that the Lord is God;
it is he that has made us and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and bless his name.
For the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting,
and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

Proverbs 12.10-end
The righteous know the needs of their animals,
   but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
Those who till their land will have plenty of food,
   but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.
The wicked covet the proceeds of wickedness,
   but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips,
   but the righteous escape from trouble.
From the fruit of the mouth one is filled with good things,
   and manual labour has its reward.
Fools think their own way is right,
   but the wise listen to advice.
Fools show their anger at once,
   but the prudent ignore an insult.
Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
   but a false witness speaks deceitfully.
Rash words are like sword thrusts,
   but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Truthful lips endure for ever,
   but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
Deceit is in the mind of those who plan evil,
   but those who counsel peace have joy.
No harm happens to the righteous,
   but the wicked are filled with trouble.
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
   but those who act faithfully are his delight.
One who is clever conceals knowledge,
   but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly.
The hand of the diligent will rule,
   while the lazy will be put to forced labour.
Anxiety weighs down the human heart,
   but a good word cheers it up.
The righteous gives good advice to friends,
   but the way of the wicked leads astray.
The lazy do not roast their game,
   but the diligent obtain precious wealth.
In the path of righteousness there is life,
   in walking its path there is no death.

Mark 6.30-44
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

The Collect
O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.