Christmas

Monday in Christmas

Monday, January 4, 2027

FIRST READING

Proverbs 3:1-12

Verse 1. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; Verse 2. for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life. Verse 3. Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Verse 4. Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. Verse 5. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; Verse 6. in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Verse 7. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. Verse 8. This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Verse 9. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops; Verse 10. then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Verse 11. My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; Verse 12. for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.

PSALM

Psalm 110

Verse 1. A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Verse 2. The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
Verse 3. Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.
Verse 4. The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Verse 5. The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.
Verse 6. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead; He will crush the leaders far and wide.
Verse 7. He will drink from the brook by the road; therefore He will lift up His head.

SECOND READING

James 4:11-17

Verse 11. Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. Verse 12. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Verse 13. Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” Verse 14. You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Verse 15. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” Verse 16. As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. Verse 17. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.