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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
American Standard Version (ASV)
Version
Psalm 5-6

Prayer for protection from the wicked.

For the Chief Musician; with the [a]Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.

Give ear to my words, O Jehovah,
Consider my meditation.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God;
For unto thee do I pray.
O Jehovah, in the morning shalt thou hear my voice;
In the morning will I order my prayer unto thee, and will keep watch.
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:
[b]Evil shall not sojourn with thee.
[c]The arrogant shall not stand in thy sight:
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou wilt destroy them that speak lies:
Jehovah abhorreth the blood-thirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness will I come into thy house:
In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
Lead me, O Jehovah, in thy righteousness because of [d]mine enemies;
Make thy way [e]straight before my face.
For there is no [f]faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is [g]very wickedness;
Their throat is an open sepulchre;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Hold them guilty, O God;
Let them fall [i]by their own counsels;
Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions;
For they have rebelled against thee.
11 [j]But let all those that take refuge in thee rejoice,
Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou wilt bless the righteous;
O Jehovah, thou wilt compass him with favor as with a shield.

Prayer for mercy in time of trouble.

For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, set to [k]the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger,
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; for I am withered away:
O Jehovah, heal me; for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is sore troubled:
And thou, O Jehovah, how long?
Return, O Jehovah, deliver my soul:
Save me for thy lovingkindness’ sake.
For in death there is no remembrance of thee:
In Sheol who shall give thee thanks?
I am weary with my groaning;
Every night make I my bed to swim;
I water my couch with my tears.
Mine eye wasteth away because of grief;
It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries.
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity;
For Jehovah hath heard the voice of my weeping.
Jehovah hath heard my supplication;
Jehovah will receive my prayer.
10 All mine enemies shall be put to shame and sore troubled:
They shall turn back, they shall be put to shame suddenly.

Psalm 10-11

A prayer for the overthrow of the wicked.

10 Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah?
Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
In the pride of the wicked [a]the poor [b]is hotly pursued;
[c]Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.
For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire,
And [d]the covetous renounceth, yea, [e]contemneth Jehovah.
The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, saith, He will not require it.
All his thoughts are, There is no God.
His ways are [f]firm at all times;
Thy judgments are far above out of his sight:
As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.
He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved;
To all generations I shall not be in adversity.
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and [g]oppression:
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages;
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent;
His eyes are privily set against the [h]helpless.
He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert;
He lieth in wait to catch the poor:
He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net.
10 [i]He croucheth, he boweth down,
And the [j]helpless fall by his strong ones.
11 He saith in his heart: God hath forgotten;
He hideth his face, he will never see it.
12 Arise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand:
Forget not the [k]poor.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God,
And say in his heart, Thou wilt not require it?
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest [l]mischief and spite, [m]to requite it with thy hand:
The [n]helpless committeth himself unto thee;
Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked;
And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever:
The [o]nations are perished out of his land.
17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek:
Thou wilt [p]prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.

Jehovah a refuge and defence.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

11 In Jehovah do I take refuge:
How say ye to my soul,
Flee [q]as a bird to your mountain;
For, lo, the wicked bend the bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string,
That they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart;
[r]If the foundations be destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
Jehovah is in his holy temple;
Jehovah, his throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
Jehovah trieth the righteous;
But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he will rain snares;
Fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For Jehovah is righteous; he loveth [s]righteousness:
[t]The upright shall behold his face.

Daniel 2:1-16

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. Then spake the Chaldeans to the king [a]in the Syrian language, [b]O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, [c]The thing is gone from me: if ye make not known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me the dream and the interpretation thereof. They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. The king answered and said, I know of a certainty that ye would [d]gain time, because ye see [e]the thing is gone from me. But if ye make not known unto me the dream, there is but one law for you; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter, forasmuch as no king, [f]lord, or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought Daniel and his companions to be slain.

14 Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15 he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Wherefore is the decree so urgent from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would [g]appoint him a time, [h]and he would show the king the interpretation.

1 John 2:1-11

My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an [a]Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.

Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard. Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.

John 17:12-19

12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; [a]that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I [b]pray not that thou shouldest take them [c]from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them [d]from [e]the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 [f]Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I [g]sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.