Psalm 138; Hosea 1:2–10; Luke 11:1–13; Colossians 2:6–19

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Psalm 138

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

bI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before cthe gods I sing your praise;

I bow down dtoward your eholy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.1

On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.2

fAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

and they shall sing of gthe ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

hFor though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

iThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you jpreserve my life;

you kstretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your lright hand delivers me.

The Lord will mfulfill his purpose for me;

nyour steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake othe work of your hands.


Hosea 1:2–10

Hosea’s Wife and Children

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, cGo, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have dchildren of whoredom, for ethe land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him, Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while fI will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and gI will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day hI will break the bow of Israel iin the Valley of Jezreel.

She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, jCall her name No Mercy,1 for kI will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But lI will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I mwill not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.

When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, nCall his name Not My People,2 for oyou are not my people, and I am not your God.3

10 4 Yet pthe number of the children of Israel shall be qlike the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. rAnd sin the place where it was said to them, oYou are not my people, it shall be said to them, tChildren5 of uthe living God.


Luke 11:1–13

The Lord’s Prayer

Now Jesus1 was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, gas John taught his disciples. And he said to them, hWhen you pray, say:

iFather, jhallowed be kyour name.

lYour kingdom come.

mGive us neach day our daily bread,2

and oforgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And plead us not into temptation.

And he said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and he will answer from within, Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything qbecause he is his friend, yet because of his impudence3 he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, rask, and sit will be given to you; tseek, and you will find; uknock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for4 a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, wwho are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father xgive the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!


Colossians 2:6–19

Alive in Christ

hTherefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, irooted and jbuilt up in him and kestablished in the faith, just las you were taught, abounding min thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by nphilosophy and oempty deceit, according to phuman tradition, according to the qelemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ. For rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells sbodily, 10 and tyou have been filled in him, who is uthe head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also vyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by wputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 xhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which yyou were also raised with him through faith in zthe powerful working of God, zwho raised him from the dead. 13 aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by ccanceling dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities2 and eput them to open shame, by ftriumphing over them in him.3

Let No One Disqualify You

16 Therefore let no one gpass judgment on you hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ia festival or ja new moon or a Sabbath. 17 kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but lthe substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one mdisqualify you, ninsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ogoing on in detail about visions,4 ppuffed up without reason by qhis sensuous mind, 19 and rnot sholding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.