Wednesday in Epiphany

FIRST READING

Song of Solomon 4:9-5:1

Verse 9. You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck. Verse 10. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices. Verse 11. Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon. Verse 12. My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed. Verse 13. Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard, Verse 14. with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices. Verse 15. You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon. Verse 16. Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits. Verse 1. I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.

PSALM

Psalm 145

A Psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—

the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.

They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness.

They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.

The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.

All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints will bless You.

They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might,

to make known to men Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions.

The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.

You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.

The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD; let every creature bless His holy name forever and ever.

SECOND READING

Luke 5:33-39

Verse 33. Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.” Verse 34. Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? Verse 35. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” Verse 36. He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old. Verse 37. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Verse 38. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins. Verse 39. And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”