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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 120-127

Prayer for deliverance from the treacherous.

A Song of Ascents.

120 In my distress I cried unto Jehovah,
And he answered me.
Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips,
And from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee,
Thou deceitful tongue?
[a]Sharp arrows of the mighty,
With coals of [b]juniper.
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
My soul hath long had her dwelling
With him that hateth peace.
I am for peace:
But when I speak, they are for war.

Jehovah the keeper of his people.

A Song of Ascents.

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:
From whence shall my help come?
My help cometh from Jehovah,
Who made heaven and earth.

[c]He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
Jehovah is thy keeper:
Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night.
Jehovah will keep thee from all evil;
He will keep thy soul.
Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in
From this time forth and for evermore.

Prayer for the peace of Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents; of David.

122 I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go unto the house of Jehovah.
Our feet [d]are standing
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, that art builded
As a city that is compact together;
Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of [e]Jehovah,
For [f]an ordinance for Israel,
To give thanks unto the name of Jehovah.
For there [g]are set thrones for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
[h]Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
[i]They shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now [j]say, Peace be within thee.
For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God
I will seek thy good.

An expectant prayer for Jehovah’s help.

A Song of Ascents.

123 Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes,
O thou that sittest in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress;
So our eyes look unto Jehovah our God,
Until he have mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us;
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scoffing of those that are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud.

Praise for rescue from enemies.

A Song of Ascents; of David.

124 If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,
Let Israel now say,
If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,
When men rose up against us;
Then they had swallowed us up alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us:
Then the waters had overwhelmed us,
The stream had gone over our soul;
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Blessed be Jehovah,
Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers:
The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our help is in the name of Jehovah,
Who made heaven and earth.

Jehovah round about his people.

A Song of Ascents.

125 They that trust in Jehovah
Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
So Jehovah is round about his people
From this time forth and for evermore.
For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous;
That the righteous put not forth their hands unto iniquity.
Do good, O Jehovah, unto those that are good,
And to them that are upright in their hearts.
But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,
Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel.

Thanksgiving for return from captivity.

A Song of Ascents.

126 When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing:
Then said they among the nations,
Jehovah hath done great things for them.
Jehovah hath done great things for us,
Whereof we are glad.
Turn again our captivity, O Jehovah,
As the streams in the South.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, [k]bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Prosperity comes from Jehovah.

A Song of Ascents; of Solomon.

127 Except Jehovah build the house,
They labor in vain that build it:
Except Jehovah keep the city,
The watchman waketh but in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To take rest late,
To eat the bread of toil;
For so he giveth unto his beloved [l]sleep.
Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah;
And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
So are the children of youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
They shall not be put to shame,
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Ezekiel 33:21-33

21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. 22 Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

23 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? 26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor’s wife: and shall ye possess the land? 27 Thus shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured; and they that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30 And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah. 31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain. 32 And, lo, thou art unto them as [a]a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 33 And when this cometh to pass (behold, it cometh), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

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.

Matthew 9:35-10:4

35 And Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the [a]gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness. 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few. 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.

10 And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; [b]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the [c]publican; [d]James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the [e]Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also [f]betrayed him.