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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Version
Psalm 95

Psalm 95

Worship and Warning

Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!(A)
Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to Him in song.(B)

For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.(C)
The depths of the earth are in His hand,
and the mountain peaks are His.(D)
The sea is His; He made it.
His hands formed the dry land.(E)

Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.(F)
For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture,
the sheep under His care.[a](G)

Today, if you hear His voice:(H)
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness(I)
where your fathers tested Me;
they tried Me, though they had seen what I did.(J)
10 For 40 years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know My ways.”(K)
11 So I swore in My anger,
“They will not enter My rest.”(L)

Psalm 102

Psalm 102

Affliction in Light of Eternity

A prayer of an afflicted person who is weak and pours out his lament before the Lord.(A)

Lord, hear my prayer;
let my cry for help come before You.(B)
Do not hide Your face from me in my day of trouble.
Listen closely to me;
answer me quickly when I call.(C)

For my days vanish like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.(D)
My heart is afflicted, withered like grass;(E)
I even forget to eat my food.(F)
Because of the sound of my groaning,
my flesh sticks to my bones.(G)
I am like a desert owl,[a]
like an owl among the ruins.(H)
I stay awake;(I)
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
My enemies taunt me all day long;
they ridicule and curse me.(J)
I eat ashes like bread
and mingle my drinks with tears(K)
10 because of Your indignation and wrath;
for You have picked me up and thrown me aside.(L)
11 My days are like a lengthening shadow,
and I wither away like grass.(M)

12 But You, Lord, are enthroned forever;(N)
Your fame endures to all generations.(O)
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her—
the appointed time has come.(P)
14 For Your servants take delight in its stones
and favor its dust.(Q)

15 Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh,
and all the kings of the earth Your glory,(R)
16 for the Lord will rebuild Zion;
He will appear in His glory.(S)
17 He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.(T)

18 This will be written for a later generation,
and a newly created people will praise the Lord:(U)
19 He looked down from His holy heights—
the Lord gazed out from heaven to earth(V)
20 to hear a prisoner’s groaning,
to set free those condemned to die,[b](W)
21 so that they might declare
the name of Yahweh in Zion
and His praise in Jerusalem,(X)
22 when peoples and kingdoms are assembled
to serve the Lord.(Y)

23 He has broken my[c] strength in midcourse;
He has shortened my days.(Z)
24 I say: “My God, do not take me
in the middle of my life![d]
Your years continue through all generations.(AA)
25 Long ago You established the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Your hands.(AB)
26 They will perish, but You will endure;
all of them will wear out like clothing.
You will change them like a garment,
and they will pass away.(AC)
27 But You are the same,
and Your years will never end.(AD)
28 Your servants’ children will dwell securely,
and their offspring will be established before You.”(AE)

Psalm 107:1-32

BOOK V
(Psalms 107–150)

Psalm 107

Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(A)
Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim
that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe(B)
and has gathered them from the lands—
from the east and the west,
from the north and the south.(C)

Some[a] wandered in the desolate wilderness,
finding no way to a city where they could live.(D)
They were hungry and thirsty;
their spirits failed[b] within them.(E)
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He rescued them from their distress.(F)
He led them by the right path
to go to a city where they could live.(G)
Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(H)
For He has satisfied the thirsty
and filled the hungry with good things.(I)

10 Others[c] sat in darkness and gloom[d]
prisoners in cruel chains(J)
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the counsel of the Most High.(K)
12 He broke their spirits[e] with hard labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.(L)
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them from their distress.(M)
14 He brought them out of darkness and gloom[f]
and broke their chains apart.(N)
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(O)
16 For He has broken down the bronze gates
and cut through the iron bars.(P)

17 Fools suffered affliction
because of their rebellious ways and their sins.(Q)
18 They loathed all food
and came near the gates of death.(R)
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them from their distress.(S)
20 He sent His word and healed them;
He rescued them from the Pit.(T)
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(U)
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and announce His works with shouts of joy.(V)

23 Others[g] went to sea in ships,
conducting trade on the vast waters.(W)
24 They saw the Lord’s works,
His wonderful works in the deep.(X)
25 He spoke and raised a tempest
that stirred up the waves of the sea.[h](Y)
26 Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths,
their courage[i] melting away in anguish,(Z)
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men,
and all their skill was useless.(AA)
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He brought them out of their distress.(AB)
29 He stilled the storm to a murmur,
and the waves of the sea[j] were hushed.(AC)
30 They rejoiced when the waves[k] grew quiet.
Then He guided them to the harbor they longed for.(AD)
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(AE)
32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people
and praise Him in the council of the elders.(AF)

Exodus 2:1-22

Moses’ Birth and Adoption

Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman.(A) The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful,[a] she hid him for three months.(B) But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. Then his sister(C) stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. Seeing the basket among the reeds, she sent her slave girl to get it. When she opened it, she saw the child—a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a woman from the Hebrews to nurse the boy for you?”

“Go,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”[b]

Moses in Midian

11 Years later,[c] after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people[d] and observed their forced labor.(D) He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your neighbor?”[e]

14 “Who made you a leader and judge over us?” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses became afraid and thought: What I did is certainly known. 15 When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian,(E) and sat down by a well.(F)

16 Now the priest of Midian(G) had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When they returned to their father Reuel[f](H) he asked, “Why have you come back so quickly today?”

19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “So where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why then did you leave the man behind? Invite him to eat dinner.”

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah(I) to Moses in marriage. 22 She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a foreigner(J) in a foreign land.”[g]

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3

27 Now you are the body of Christ,(A) and individual members of it. 28 And God has placed these in the church:(B)

first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers,(C) next miracles,(D)
then gifts of healing,(E) helping,
managing, various kinds of languages.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets?
Are all teachers? Do all do miracles?
30 Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in other languages?
Do all interpret?(F)

31 But desire(G) the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

Love: The Superior Way

13 If I speak human or angelic languages
but do not have love,(H)
I am a sounding gong(I) or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy(J)
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains(K)
but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast[a]
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Mark 9:2-13

The Transfiguration

After(A) six days(B) Jesus took Peter, James, and John(C) and led them up on a high mountain(D) by themselves to be alone. He was transformed[a](E) in front of them, and His clothes(F) became dazzling—extremely white(G) as no launderer on earth could whiten(H) them. Elijah(I) appeared to them with Moses,(J) and they were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi,(K) it’s good(L) for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles:(M) one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— because he did not know what he should say,(N) since they were terrified.(O)

A cloud(P) appeared, overshadowing(Q) them, and a voice(R) came from the cloud:(S)

This is My beloved(T) Son;(U)
listen to Him!(V)

Then suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone.

As(W) they were coming down from the mountain,(X) He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen(Y) until the Son of Man(Z) had risen(AA) from the dead.(AB) 10 They kept this word(AC) to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

11 Then they began to question Him, “Why do the scribes(AD) say that Elijah must come first?”(AE)

12 “Elijah does come first and restores(AF) everything,”(AG) He replied. “How then is it written(AH) about the Son of Man that He must suffer(AI) many things and be treated with contempt?(AJ) 13 But I tell you that Elijah really has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written(AK) about him.”