Thursday in Epiphany

FIRST READING

Isaiah 61:1-7

Verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, Verse 2. to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, Verse 3. to console the mourners in Zion — to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Verse 4. They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Verse 5. Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers. Verse 6. But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches. Verse 7. Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.

PSALM

Psalm 19

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard,

their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.

Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course,

it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

By them indeed Your servant is warned; in keeping them is great reward.

Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SECOND READING

Romans 7:1-6

Verse 1. Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? Verse 2. For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. Verse 3. So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. Verse 4. Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. Verse 5. For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death. Verse 6. But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.