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Old/New Testament

Each day includes a passage from both the Old Testament and New Testament.

Duration: 365 days

Psalm 116-118

Psalm 116^[a]

Thanksgiving to God for Help Received

¹I love the Lord because he has heard my voice
    and listened to my cry for mercy,^[b]
²because he has inclined his ear to me
    on the day when I called out to him.^[c]
³The bonds of death^[d] encompassed me;
    the snares of the netherworld held me tightly.
    I was seized by distress and sorrow.
⁴Then I cried out in the name^[e] of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I entreat you to preserve my life.”
⁵Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
⁶The Lord watches over his little ones;^[f]
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Be at peace once again, O my soul,
    for the Lord has shown mercy to you.
⁸He has delivered my soul^[g] from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    and my feet from stumbling.
⁹I will walk in the presence of the Lord
    in the land of the living.^[h]
¹⁰I believed; therefore, I said,^[i]
    “I am greatly afflicted.”
¹¹In my dismay I cried out,
    “All men are liars.”^[j]
¹²How can I repay the Lord
    for all the good he has done for me?
¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation^[k]
    and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁴I will fulfill my vows^[l] to the Lord
    in the presence of his people.
¹⁵Precious in the eyes of the Lord
    is the death^[m] of his faithful ones.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your servant.
    I am your servant, the child of your handmaid;^[n]
    you have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Alleluia.^[o]

Psalm 117^[p]

Universal Praise of God

¹Glorify the Lord, all you nations;^[q]
praise him, all you peoples.
²For his kindness toward us is constant,
and the faithfulness of the Lord will endure forever.
Alleluia.^[r]

Psalm 118^[s]

Thanksgiving for Salvation

¹^[t]Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his kindness^[u] endures forever.
²Let Israel say,
    “His kindness endures forever.”
³Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His kindness endures forever.”
⁴Let those who fear the Lord^[v] say,
    “His kindness endures forever.”
⁵^[w]In my distress I called out to the Lord;
    he answered by setting me free.
⁶With the Lord to protect me I am not afraid.
    What can mortals do to me?
⁷The Lord is at my side to offer me help;
    I will look down upon my enemies.
⁸^[x]It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to place your trust in mortals.
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to place your trust in princes.
¹⁰^[y]All the nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
¹¹They surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
¹²They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed like a fire in the midst of thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
¹³I was hard pressed and close to falling,
    but the Lord came to my aid.
¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.^[z]
¹⁵Joyful shouts of triumph
    ring out in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord has done wondrous deeds;
¹⁶    the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
    the right hand of the Lord has done wondrous deeds.”
¹⁷I shall not die; rather I shall live
    and recount^[aa] the works of the Lord.
¹⁸Even though the Lord punished me harshly,
    he did not hand me over to death.
¹⁹^[ab]Open to me the gates of righteousness
    so that I may enter them and praise the Lord.
²⁰This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous enter.
²¹I thank you for having answered me;
    you have become my salvation.
²²^[ac]The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
²³This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made;^[ad]
    let us exult and rejoice in it.
²⁵O Lord, grant us salvation.^[ae]
    O Lord, grant us success.
²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.^[af]
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷The Lord is God,
    and he has given us light.
Holding leafy branches, join in the festal procession
    up to the horns of the altar.^[ag]
²⁸^[ah]You are my God, and I will offer thanks to you;
    you are my God, and I will extol you.
²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his kindness endures forever.

Psalm 119^[ai]

Praise of God’s Law

Aleph

Footnotes

Psalm 116:1 Countless are the distresses of human beings and countless too are the deliverances worked by God. This psalm adapts itself to diverse situations; every believer knows the mortal dangers from which the Lord has extricated him in order to bring him to the joy of his presence. In a praying community, all can give thanks. In thanking the divinity it was the custom in the ancient East to pour a cup as a libation, i.e., the “cup of salvation” (that has been granted) (v. 13). The Jews certainly practiced a similar rite during the “peace offerings” (see Lev 7:11ff). By this act of thanksgiving, the Israelites publicly bore witness that God had saved them; this is the loftiest expression of their religion.
It is also the loftiest expression of the Christian religion. It was certainly in this spirit that Jesus recited this psalm with his disciples after having instituted the Eucharist (see Mt 26:30). Who else could have fully relied on God even through the moment of his death? Once this psalm became the prayer of Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed, it proclaimed the hope of a life and a joy that are everlasting. The priest who mystically offers the divine victim anew still says: “We offer to you, God of glory and majesty . . . the cup of eternal salvation” (Eucharistic Prayer I) and “We offer you, Father, . . . this saving cup” (Eucharistic Prayer II).
In the Hebrew text, this psalm is a single psalm, as the sense requires; in the Septuagint and Vulgate, it is two distinct psalms: Pss 114 (comprising vv. 1-9); 115 (comprising vv. 10-19).
Psalm 116:1 The psalmist expresses love for God who has heard his prayer. For a similar expression of God’s care and people’s love of him, see 1 Jn 4:19: “We love because [God] first loved us.”
Psalm 116:2 On the day when I called out to him: see Pss 4:4; 31:23; 34:5; 138:3. Another possible translation is: “I will call on him as long as I live.”
Psalm 116:3 Bonds of death: see note on Ps 18:6.
Psalm 116:4 Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 116:6 Little ones: just like the “poor,” the “little ones” are those who depend on and trust only in the Lord (see Ps 34:7). They have a poverty of spirit, not simply of money. Just as the Spirit of God worked on the primeval darkness to produce all that exists, so the Lord works on his little ones to produce all that is good for them.
Psalm 116:8 The psalmist here spells out salvation in terms of earthly well-being, but in words that are true at the deepest level (see, e.g., Rom 8:10f; 2 Cor 6:10; Jude 24). Soul: see note on Ps 6:4.
Psalm 116:9 The land of the living: reference to this life or to the temple (see Pss 52:7; 116:9; Isa 38:11), where the God of life is present; the psalmist is speaking of the world of the living as opposed to the world of the dead.
Psalm 116:10 I believed; therefore, I said: the psalmist kept faith even in the darkest times (see 2 Cor 4:13 where this text is cited).
Psalm 116:11 All men are liars: the psalmist avers that his enemies are telling falsehoods about him (see Pss 5:10f; 35:11, 15; 109:2-4), because all people are liars. He could also be alluding to the fact that all people offer only a false hope of deliverance. These words are cited in Rom 3:4.
Psalm 116:13 The cup of salvation: probably the libation of wine poured out in gratitude for one’s deliverance (see Ex 25:29; Num 15:1-10). These words are used at Mass in Eucharistic Prayer I and II, as indicated in the note on Ps 116. Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 116:14 Vows: see note on Ps 7:18.
Psalm 116:15 Precious . . . is the death: the psalmist indicates that God consents to the death of his faithful only with difficulty (see Isa 43:4), for death was regarded as taking away their relationship with him (see Pss 6:6; 72:13; 115:17). Some versions interpret this passage according to the dogma of the resurrection: “the death of his faithful ones has worth in the eyes of God.” See the analogous expression, “Their blood is precious in his sight” (Ps 72:14).
Psalm 116:16 Child of your handmaid: see note on Ps 86:16.
Psalm 116:19 Alleluia: i.e., “Hallelujah” or “Bless [or praise] the Lord”; the Septuagint and Vulgate add this line as the opening of Ps 117.
Psalm 117:1 This psalm is a short invitatory earnestly exhorting all peoples to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, for the signal kindness and faithfulness that he manifests toward his people. His goodness toward Israel should inspire admiration and enthusiastic praise among foreigners, who are simply witnesses of his wonders (see Sir 36:1-4; Ezek 36).
Since God’s kindness and faithfulness are manifested much more forcefully in the life of the Church than in the history of Israel, all people should on that account give more enthusiastic praise to the heavenly Father. Enabling his Son to vanquish his enemies (the devil and death), the Father fills him with divine riches (eternal life in glory, joy, peace, beatitude, royalty). And he has done the same for the Church and her members. Praise of God is to be unanimous (see Rom 15:11).
Psalm 117:1 All nations and peoples are called to praise the Lord (see Pss 47:1; 67:4-6; 96:7; 98:4; 100:1-3; see also note on Ps 9:2). This verse is cited in Rom 15:11.
Psalm 117:2 Universal praise is owed to the Lord because of his fidelity to his people. He has shown them constant kindness and faithfulness, that is, faithful love. Indeed, his love is not only great in depth and height (see Rom 5:20; 1 Tim 1:14) but also lasting (see Ps 89:29); see also note on Ps 6:5. In Christ, the love of God has been even more powerfully shown both to Jews and to Gentiles so that all might praise him for it (see Rom 15:8ff). Alleluia: i.e., “Hallelujah” or “Bless [or praise] the Lord”; the Septuagint and Vulgate add this line to open Ps 118.
Psalm 118:1 This psalm brings to a close the Egyptian Hallel. As the procession of pilgrims goes up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (vv. 15, 27; see Lev 23:39-43), the celebrants and the crowd conduct a dialogue, the rhythm of which is determined by the stages of the journey. The procession starts out with a familiar refrain (vv. 1-4) and proceeds while singing a hymn of thanksgiving (vv. 5-18); it arrives at the gates of the temple that has been rebuilt (v. 19) and has become the sign of Israel’s renewal after the Exile (vv. 22-24) where the priests respond to the acclamations of the people by blessing them (vv. 25-27). Finally, with palms in hand the procession reaches the sanctuary, whose courts are illumined, and the liturgy takes place with the most solemn thanksgiving (vv. 28-29).
Songs of thanksgiving such as this one called to mind the entire history of Israel, from past to present. Israel is ceaselessly put to the test, humbled, and then delivered, and in this very experience, it discovers its calling to be a people that bears witness to God in the midst of the nations and to be the capstone of the world (v. 22).
Jesus makes this calling his own (see Mt 21:42), and the apostles speak of it in their preaching (see Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:4-7). For them this psalm expresses in advance the mystery of Christ who is rejected and then exalted and who is the foundation stone of the new People of God (see 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20). This festal song soon became popular; we find the crowd spontaneously singing it on Palm Sunday to greet Jesus as the envoy promised by God (v. 26; see Mt 21:9; Jn 12:13). We find this same acclamation in the Sanctus of the Mass; in all the liturgical families, the psalm has become an Easter song.
Psalm 118:1 The liturgical call to praise that begins the procession. All Israel had benefited from God’s goodness and kindness, i.e., the congregation of Israel, the priests (house of Aaron), and those who fear the Lord (see note on Ps 115:9-11). Now the people of God’s kingdom (Ps 114:1; Ex 19:5-6) and the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are called to profess that the Lord is King and that he is good and kind in standing behind his covenant.
Psalm 118:1 A conventional call to praise (see Pss 105–107). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 118:4 Israel . . . house of Aaron . . . those who fear the Lord: see note on Ps 115:9-11.
Psalm 118:5 A song of thanksgiving for deliverance of the whole nation voiced by a single individual. Some believe the speaker is a king, others opt for Israel as a corporate body, and still others for a priest/Levite. In any case, the worshiper does a good job in reciting the deeds God worked in response to the prayers of his people in affliction.
Psalm 118:8 All should be ever mindful of the motto learned through experience that it is better to have confidence in the Lord than to rely on flesh and blood (see Ps 33:16-19; see also Pss 62; 146).
Psalm 118:10 The fury of the assault recalls the attacks experienced by Jesus at his trial (see Lk 22:63—23:25) and even during his public ministry (see Lk 11:53f). Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 118:14 This verse is an exact quotation from the song of victory at the Red Sea (see Ex 15:2) and is echoed in verses 15 (“right hand”) and 28 (“extol you”). Hence, God’s saving acts throughout history bear the stamp of the Exodus events (see 1 Cor 10:6) culminating in the work of Christ (see Lk 9:31: “his departure [literally, ‘exodus’], which would come to pass in Jerusalem”).
Psalm 118:17 Live and recount: see note on Ps 6:6.
Psalm 118:19 The procession has arrived at the gates of the rebuilt temple; all the righteous may enter and give thanks.
Psalm 118:22 The community of the righteous join in with thanksgiving. They praise the Lord because he has given prominence to his suffering servant Israel like a cornerstone. It was rejected by the worldly powers but has been made the cornerstone for God’s salvation of the world in the Messiah. These verses allude to Isa 8:14; 28:16; Jer 51:26; Zec 3:9; 4:7, passages that are interpreted in a Messianic sense. Israel is here a type of Christ, in whom these words have been most eminently fulfilled (see Mt 21:42 par; Acts 4:11; Rom 9:33; 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:7).
Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made: the day given by the Lord in which joy and jubilation are appropriate, the day of thanksgiving and rejoicing because of the wondrous deed of the Lord (vv. 22-23; see Ps 71:17; Jer 32:17, 27), the day of salvation. Used by the Liturgy as an antiphon for the Easter Season, this phrase identifies the “day” as that of Christ’s Resurrection.
Psalm 118:25 O Lord, grant us salvation: the Hebrew for this cry has come into English as “Hosanna.” The crowd takes it up on Palm Sunday (see Mt 21:9; 23:39; Mk 11:9; Jn 12:13). It has become part of the Sanctus at Mass.
Psalm 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: words used in the Gospels to welcome Jesus entering the temple on Palm Sunday (see Mk 11:9 par).
Psalm 118:27 The people respond to the blessing by confessing that the Lord alone is God. He has made his light shine upon them, protecting them from the darkness of great trials (e.g., famine, war, and exile; Ps 43:3). Accordingly, they are here renewing their commitment to the Lord in a formal liturgical celebration. The horns of the altar: the four corners of the altar of burnt offerings (see Ex 27:2; 38:2; Lev 4:25, 30, 34).
Psalm 118:28 The psalm concludes with the community’s affirmation that the Lord alone is God, similar to the confession of Moses (see Ex 15:2). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 118:29 This longest of the psalms is a monumental literary piece consisting of twenty-two strophes, each containing eight verses (sixteen lines) and each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet that is repeated at the beginning of each pair of verses. Each strophe is a unit, but does not have a close connection with the strophe that precedes or follows. The whole is a free-flowing meditation, now sad, now joyous, now peaceful, now passionate. It is a reflection and a prayer in which the author, a sage and a mystic who draws his inspiration from the Prophets and Deuteronomy, converses with God and voices his deepest feelings: love of true wisdom, attachment and fidelity to the word of God in spite of weakness and obstacles; desire to better understand and live the truth; joy of outdoing oneself to follow the will of God manifested in the law.
In practically every verse, there is the word “law” or some equivalent. We can point to eight such terms—four with a more juridic nuance (statutes, precepts, decrees, commands or commandments) and four with a more religious nuance (law, promise, word, laws, or judgments). These terms introduce us into the heart of the psalm, for they signify less an ensemble of laws to observe than the word of God, which sometimes ordains and judges and sometimes reveals and promises. It is a psalm of spiritual intimacy, of love for God (which means doing his will). In meditating on the law, believers contemplate above all the visage of God and let themselves be transformed in the very depths of their hearts. Such observance becomes liberty. Understood in this fashion, the law proclaims to us Jesus Christ, the living revelation of God, given to human beings to lead them to the Father: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).

1 Corinthians 7:1-19

Marriage and Celibacy among Christians^[a]

Chapter 7

Christian Marriage.^[b] ¹Now I will move on to the matters about which you wrote. Yes, it is a good thing for a man to refrain from touching a woman. ²However, to avoid the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³A husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise a wife should fulfill her conjugal obligations to her husband. ⁴For a wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, a husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

⁵Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual consent for a specified time so as to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you by taking advantage of your lack of self-control. ⁶I suggest this not as a command but by way of concession. ⁷I wish that all of you would be as I myself am. However, each person has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.

⁸To the unmarried and to widows, I say that it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do. ⁹However, if they are unable to exercise self-control, they should marry, for it is better to be married than to burn with passion.

¹⁰To those who are married, I give this command, which is not mine but the Lord’s: a wife should not separate from her husband— ¹¹and if she does separate, she must either remain unmarried or become reconciled to her husband—and a husband should not divorce his wife.

¹²Living at Peace with an Unbelieving Spouse.^[c] To the rest, I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to remain with him, he should not divorce her. ¹³And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to remain with her, she should not divorce him. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, whereas in fact they are holy.

¹⁵However, if the unbelieving partner chooses to separate, let that person go. The brother or sister is no longer bound in this case. God has called you to live in peace. ¹⁶As a wife, how can you be certain that you will save your husband? As a husband, how can you be certain that you will save your wife?

¹⁷Living Where Christ Calls Us. Everyone should accept the role in life assigned to each one by the Lord, continuing as he was when the Lord called him. This is the rule that I give to all the Churches. ¹⁸Was a man called after he had been circumcised? Then he must remain circumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should remain uncircumcised. ¹⁹To be circumcised is of no importance, and to be uncircumcised is of no importance. What matters is keeping God’s commandments.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Old/New Testament

Psalm 116[a]

Thanksgiving to God for Help Received

Psalm 117[p]

Universal Praise of God

Psalm 118[s]

Thanksgiving for Salvation

Psalm 119[ai]

Praise of God’s Law

Footnotes

Marriage and Celibacy among Christians[a]

Chapter 7

Footnotes

Psalm 116^[a]

Psalm 117^[p]

Psalm 118^[s]

Psalm 119^[ai]

Marriage and Celibacy among Christians^[a]