Lent

Thursday in Lent

Thursday, March 18, 2027

FIRST READING

Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Verse 1. Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Verse 2. You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Verse 3. You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste— so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. Verse 4. No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning. Verse 5. You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you. Verse 6. You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt. Verse 7. And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents. Verse 8. For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.

PSALM

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Verse 1. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
Verse 2. Let Israel say, “His loving devotion endures forever.”
Verse 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
Verse 20. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.
Verse 21. I will give You thanks, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation.
Verse 22. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Verse 23. This is from the LORD, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Verse 24. This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Verse 25. O LORD, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!
Verse 26. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
Verse 27. The LORD is God; He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
Verse 28. You are my God, and I will give You thanks. You are my God, and I will exalt You.
Verse 29. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

SECOND READING

Philippians 2:1-11

Verse 1. Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, Verse 2. then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. Verse 3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Verse 4. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Verse 5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Verse 6. Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, Verse 7. but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. Verse 8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross. Verse 9. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, Verse 10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Verse 11. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.