Daily Lectionary Readings for October 31, 2025

Daily Lectionary Readings (Two-Year Cycle)

Daily Lectionary Readings for October 31, 2025 By Daily Lectionary Readings, Friday, October 31, 2025 12:00 AM Morning Psalm 84 1   How lovely is your dwelling place,           O LORD of hosts! 2   My soul longs, indeed it faints           for the courts of the LORD;      my heart and my flesh sing for joy           to the living God. 3   Even the sparrow finds a home,           and the swallow a nest for herself,           where she may lay her young,      at your altars, O LORD of hosts,           my King and my God. 4   Happy are those who live in your house,           ever singing your praise. Selah 5   Happy are those whose strength is in you,           in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6   As they go through the valley of Baca           they make it a place of springs;           the early rain also covers it with pools. 7   They go from strength to strength;           the God of gods will be seen in Zion. 8   O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;           give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 9   Behold our shield, O God;           look on the face of your anointed. 10  For a day in your courts is better           than a thousand elsewhere.      I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God           than live in the tents of wickedness. 11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield;           he bestows favor and honor.      No good thing does the LORD withhold           from those who walk uprightly. 12  O LORD of hosts,           happy is everyone who trusts in you. Morning Psalm 148 1   Praise the Lord!      Praise the Lord from the heavens;           praise him in the heights! 2   Praise him, all his angels;           praise him, all his host! 3   Praise him, sun and moon;           praise him, all you shining stars! 4   Praise him, you highest heavens,           and you waters above the heavens! 5   Let them praise the name of the Lord,           for he commanded and they were created. 6   He established them forever and ever;           he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. 7   Praise the Lord from the earth,           you sea monsters and all deeps, 8   fire and hail, snow and frost,           stormy wind fulfilling his command! 9   Mountains and all hills,           fruit trees and all cedars! 10  Wild animals and all cattle,           creeping things and flying birds! 11  Kings of the earth and all peoples,           princes and all rulers of the earth! 12  Young men and women alike,           old and young together! 13  Let them praise the name of the Lord,           for his name alone is exalted;           his glory is above earth and heaven. 14  He has raised up a horn for his people,           praise for all his faithful,           for the people of Israel who are close to him.      Praise the Lord! First Reading Nehemiah 2:1-20 1In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was served him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in his presence before. 2So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This can only be sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my ancestors’ graves, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may rebuild it.” 6The king said to me (the queen also was sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a date. 7Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may grant me passage until I arrive in Judah; 8and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, directing him to give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me. 9Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent officers of the army and cavalry with me. 10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. 11So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. 12Then I got up during the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the animal I rode. 13I went out by night by the Valley Gate past the Dragon’s Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool; but there was no place for the animal I was riding to continue. 15So I went up by way of the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest that were to do the work. 17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.” 18I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us start building!” So they committed themselves to the common good. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven is the one who will give us success, and we his servants are going to start building; but you have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem.” Or alternate First Reading Lamentations 4:1-22 1   How the gold has grown dim,           how the pure gold is changed!      The sacred stones lie scattered           at the head of every street. 2   The precious children of Zion,           worth their weight in fine gold —      how they are reckoned as earthen pots,           the work of a potter’s hands! 3   Even the jackals offer the breast           and nurse their young,      but my people has become cruel,           like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4   The tongue of the infant sticks           to the roof of its mouth for thirst;      the children beg for food,           but no one gives them anything. 5   Those who feasted on delicacies           perish in the streets;      those who were brought up in purple           cling to ash heaps. 6   For the chastisement of my people has been greater           than the punishment of Sodom,      which was overthrown in a moment,           though no hand was laid on it. 7   Her princes were purer than snow,           whiter than milk;      their bodies were more ruddy than coral,      their hair like sapphire. 8   Now their visage is blacker than soot;           they are not recognized in the streets.      Their skin has shriveled on their bones;           it has become as dry as wood. 9   Happier were those pierced by the sword           than those pierced by hunger,      whose life drains away, deprived           of the produce of the field. 10  The hands of compassionate women           have boiled their own children;      they became their food      in the destruction of my people. 11  The LORD gave full vent to his wrath;           he poured out his hot anger,      and kindled a fire in Zion           that consumed its foundations. 12  The kings of the earth did not believe,           nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,      that foe or enemy could enter           the gates of Jerusalem. 13  It was for the sins of her prophets           and the iniquities of her priests,      who shed the blood of the righteous           in the midst of her. 14  Blindly they wandered through the streets,           so defiled with blood      that no one was able           to touch their garments. 15  “Away! Unclean!” people shouted at them;           “Away! Away! Do not touch!”      So they became fugitives and wanderers;           it was said among the nations,           “They shall stay here no longer.” 16  The LORD himself has scattered them,           he will regard them no more;      no honor was shown to the priests,           no favor to the elders. 17  Our eyes failed, ever watching           vainly for help;      we were watching eagerly           for a nation that could not save. 18  They dogged our steps           so that we could not walk in our streets;      our end drew near; our days were numbered;           for our end had come. 19  Our pursuers were swifter           than the eagles in the heavens;      they chased us on the mountains,           they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. 20  The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,           was taken in their pits —      the one of whom we said, “Under his shadow           we shall live among the nations.“ 21  Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom,           you that live in the land of Uz;           but to you also the cup shall pass;           you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. 22  The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is accomplished,           he will keep you in exile no longer;      but your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish,           he will uncover your sins. Second Reading Revelation 6:12-7:4 6:12When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and there came a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” 7:1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, 3saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel. Gospel Reading Matthew 13:24-30 24He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Evening Psalm 25 1   To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2   O my God, in you I trust;           do not let me be put to shame;           do not let my enemies exult over me. 3   Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;           let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 4   Make me to know your ways, O LORD;           teach me your paths. 5   Lead me in your truth, and teach me,           for you are the God of my salvation;           for you I wait all day long. 6   Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love,           for they have been from of old. 7   Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;           according to your steadfast love remember me,           for your goodness’ sake, O LORD! 8   Good and upright is the LORD;           therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9   He leads the humble in what is right,           and teaches the humble his way. 10  All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,           for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. 11  For your name’s sake, O LORD,           pardon my guilt, for it is great. 12  Who are they that fear the LORD?           He will teach them the way that they should choose. 13  They will abide in prosperity,           and their children shall possess the land. 14  The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,           and he makes his covenant known to them. 15  My eyes are ever toward the LORD,           for he will pluck my feet out of the net. 16  Turn to me and be gracious to me,           for I am lonely and afflicted. 17  Relieve the troubles of my heart,           and bring me out of my distress. 18  Consider my affliction and my trouble,           and forgive all my sins. 19  Consider how many are my foes,           and with what violent hatred they hate me. 20  O guard my life, and deliver me;           do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21  May integrity and uprightness preserve me,           for I wait for you. 22  Redeem Israel, O God,           out of all its troubles. Evening Psalm 40 1   I waited patiently for the LORD;           he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2   He drew me up from the desolate pit,           out of the miry bog,      and set my feet upon a rock,           making my steps secure. 3   He put a new song in my mouth,           a song of praise to our God.      Many will see and fear,           and put their trust in the LORD. 4   Happy are those who make           the LORD their trust,      who do not turn to the proud,           to those who go astray after false gods. 5   You have multiplied, O LORD my God,           your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;           none can compare with you.      Were I to proclaim and tell of them,           they would be more than can be counted. 6   Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,           but you have given me an open ear.      Burnt offering and sin offering           you have not required. 7   Then I said, “Here I am;           in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8   I delight to do your will, O my God;           your law is within my heart.” 9   I have told the glad news of deliverance           in the great congregation;      see, I have not restrained my lips,           as you know, O LORD. 10  I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,           I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;      I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness           from the great congregation. 11  Do not, O LORD, withhold           your mercy from me;      let your steadfast love and your faithfulness           keep me safe forever. 12  For evils have encompassed me           without number;      my iniquities have overtaken me,           until I cannot see;      they are more than the hairs of my head,           and my heart fails me. 13  Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;           O LORD, make haste to help me. 14  Let all those be put to shame and confusion           who seek to snatch away my life;      let those be turned back and brought to dishonor           who desire my hurt. 15  Let those be appalled because of their shame           who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16  But may all who seek you           rejoice and be glad in you;      may those who love your salvation           say continually, “Great is the LORD!” 17  As for me, I am poor and needy,           but the Lord takes thought for me.      You are my help and my deliverer;           do not delay, O my God. 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