Day 176 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Psalm 8

1 For the end, concerning the wine-presses, a Psalm of David. 2 O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the earth! for thy magnificence is exalted above the heavens. 3 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected praise, because of thine enemies; that thou mightest put down the enemy and avenger. 4 For I will regard the heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and stars, which thou hast established. 5 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 6 Thou madest him a little less than angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour; 7 and thou hast set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his feet: 8 sheep and all oxen, yea, and the cattle of the field; 9 the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, the [creatures] passing through the paths of the sea. 10 O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the earth!

Psalm 9 (9–10)

1 For the end, a Psalm of David, concerning the secrets of the Son. 2 I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will recount all thy wonderful works. 3 I will be glad and exult in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou Most High. 4 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall be feeble and perish at thy presence. 5 For thou hast maintained my cause and my right; thou satest on the throne, that judgest righteousness. 6 Thou hast rebuked the nations, and the ungodly one has perished; thou hast blotted out their name for ever, even for ever and ever. 7 The swords of the enemy have failed utterly; and thou hast destroyed cities: their memorial has been destroyed with a noise, 8 but the Lord endures for ever: he has prepared his throne for judgment. 9 And he will judge the world in righteousness, he will judge the nations in uprightness. 10 The Lord also is become a refuge for the poor, a seasonable help, in affliction. 11 And let them that know thy name hope in thee: for thou, O Lord, hast not failed them that diligently seek thee. 12 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Sion: declare his dealings among the nations. 13 For he remembered them, [in] making inquisition for blood: he has not forgotten the supplication of the poor. 14 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; look upon my affliction [which I suffer] of mine enemies, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: 15 that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion: I will exult in thy salvation. 16 The heathen are caught in the destruction which they planned: in the very snare which they hid is their foot taken. 17 The Lord is known as executing judgments: the sinner is taken in the works of his hands. A song of Pause. 18 Let sinners be driven away into Hades, [even] all the nations that forget God. 19 For the poor shall not be forgotten for ever: the patience of the needy ones shall not perish for ever. 20 Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged before thee. 21 Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: let the heathen know that they are men. Pause. 22 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? [why] dost thou overlook [us] in times of need, in affliction? 23 While the ungodly one acts proudly, the poor is hotly pursued: [the wicked] are taken in the crafty counsels which they imagine. 24 Because the sinner praises himself for the desires of his heart; and the unjust one blesses himself. 25 The sinner has provoked the Lord: according to the abundance of his pride he will not seek after [him]: God is not before him. 26 His ways are profane at all times; thy judgments are removed from before him: he will gain the mastery over all his enemies. 27 For he has said in his heart, I shall not be moved, [continuing] without evil from generation to generation. 28 Whose mouth is full of cursing, and bitterness, and fraud: under his tongue are trouble and pain. 29 He lies in wait with rich [men] in secret places, in order to slay the innocent: his eyes are set against the poor. 30 He lies in wait in secret as a lion in his den: he lies in wait to ravish the poor, to ravish the poor when he draws him [after him]: he will bring him down in his snare. 31 He will bow down and fall when he has mastered the poor. 32 For he has said in his heart, God has forgotten: he has turned away his face so as never to look. 33 Arise, O Lord God; let thy hand be lifted up: forget not the poor. 34 Wherefore has the wicked provoked God? for he has said in his heart, He will not require [it]. 35 Thou seest [it]; for thou dost observe trouble and wrath, to deliver them into thy hands: the poor has been left to thee; thou wast a helper to the orphan. 36 Break thou the arm of the sinner and wicked man: his sin shall be sought for, and shall not be found. 37 The Lord shall reign for ever, even for ever and ever: ye Gentiles shall perish out of his land. 38 The Lord has heard the desire of the poor: thine ear has inclined to the preparation of their heart; 39 to plead for the orphan and afflicted, that man may no more boast upon the earth.

1 Peter 4

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. 4 They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. 5 They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit. 7 But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer. 8 And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. 13 But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. 16 But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God? 18 “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.