Wednesday, February 7th, 2024
Psalm 4
1Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
3But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
5Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
6There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Old Testament Reading Job 4
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
3Behold, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened the weak hands.
4Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
6Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
8As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
9By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12“Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
my ear received the whisper of it.
13Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
14dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
15A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up.
16It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
17‘Can mortal man be in the right before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?
18Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like the moth.
20Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
21Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
do they not die, and that without wisdom?’
New Testament Reading John 2:1–12
1On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
12After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.