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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
Version
Psalm 20-21

God’s Blessing on the King

For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]

20 May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble.
May the name of Jacob’s God protect[b] you.
May he send you help[c] from the sanctuary,
and from Zion may he sustain you.
May he remember all your offerings,
and your burnt offering may he regard favorably.[d]
May he give to you your heart’s desire,[e]
and your every plan may he fulfill. Selah
May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God may we set up banners.
May Yahweh fulfill all your requests.
Now I know that Yahweh will help his anointed.[f]
He will answer him from his holy heaven
with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some boast in chariots and others in horses,[g]
but we boast in the name of Yahweh, our God.
They will collapse and fall,
and we will rise and stand firm.
Rescue,[h] O Yahweh.
Let the king answer us when we call.

Joy in the Salvation of Yahweh

For the music director. A psalm of David.[i]

21 O Yahweh, the king will rejoice in your strength,
and how greatly he will delight in your help.[j]
You have given him the desire of his heart,
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
For you meet him with blessings of good things.
You set on his head a crown of fine gold.
He asked life from you; you gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.
His honor is great because of your help.[k]
Splendor and majesty you have bestowed upon him.
For you set on him blessings forever.
You make him glad with the joy of your presence.
Because the king trusts Yahweh,
and through the steadfast love[l] of the Most High
he shall not be moved.
Your hand will find all your enemies;
your right hand will find those who hate you.
You will make them like your fiery furnace
at the time of your appearance.
Yahweh will swallow them in his wrath
and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring[m] from the earth,
and their descendants[n] from among the children of humankind.
11 Though they have plotted[o] evil against you,
though they have planned a scheme, they will not prevail.
12 For you will turn them to flight;[p]
you will aim arrows on your bowstrings at their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Yahweh, in your strength,
and we sing and praise your power.

Psalm 110

Yahweh Gives Authority to His Messiah

Of David. A psalm.[a]

110 A declaration of Yahweh to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Yahweh will send out your mighty scepter from Zion;
rule in the midst of your enemies.
Your people will volunteer[b] in the day of your power.[c]
In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,
you will have the dew of your youth.[d]
Yahweh has sworn and he will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
according to the manner of Melchizedek.”
O Lord, at your right hand
he will shatter kings in the day of his anger.
He will judge among the nations;
he will fill them with corpses.
He will shatter the rulers[e] of many countries.
He will drink from the stream by the road;
therefore he will lift up his head.

Psalm 116-117

Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance

116 I love him, because Yahweh has heard
the voice of my supplications.[a]
Because he has inclined his ear to me,
I will call all my days.[b]
The ropes of death encircled me,
and the distresses of Sheol found me.
I found trouble and grief.
Then I called on the name of Yahweh:
“O Yahweh, please save my life!”
Gracious is Yahweh and righteous,
and our God is merciful.
Yahweh watches over the simple.
I was brought low, but he gave me victory.
Return, O my soul, to your repose,
for Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have rescued me[c] from death,
my eyes[d] from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I will walk before Yahweh
in the land[e] of the living.
10 I believed when I spoke,
“I am afflicted greatly.”
11 I said in my haste,
Everyone[f] is a liar.”
12 What shall I give back to Yahweh
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and proclaim the name of Yahweh.
14 I will pay my vows made to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people.
15 Costly in Yahweh’s view[g] is
the death of his faithful ones.
16 Ah, Yahweh, I am indeed your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and proclaim the name of Yahweh.
18 I will pay my vows made to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house[h] of Yahweh,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise Yah![i]

Let All Peoples Praise Yahweh

117 Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
For his loyal love is mighty on our behalf,
and the faithfulness of Yahweh is forever.
Praise Yah![j]

1 Samuel 17:31-49

David Appears before Saul

31 Now the words which David had spoken were heard and they reported them to[a] Saul, and he summoned him. 32 David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone’s heart fail concerning him! Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 But Saul said to David, “You will not be able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are only a boy, whereas he has been a man of war since his childhood!” 34 And David said to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group, 35 I would go out after it and strike it down and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose against me, I would grab it by its beard and strike it down and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he defied the battle lines of the living God.”

37 And David said, “Yahweh, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go and may Yahweh be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with body armor. 39 Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk around, for he was not trained to use them. So David said to Saul, “I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, picked out for himself five smooth stones from the wadi,[b] and he put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

41 Then the Philistine came on, getting nearer and nearer[c] to David, with his shield bearer[d] in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was only a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me so that I can give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the wild animals of the field!” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I am coming to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have defied! 46 This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head![e] Then I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God who is for Israel. 47 And all of this assembly will know that Yahweh does not rescue with sword or with spear, for the battle belongs to Yahweh, and he will give you into our hands!”

David Defeats Goliath

48 When[f] the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly[g] to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung it. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

Acts 11:1-18

Peter’s Explanation to the Church in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had accepted the word[a] of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision took issue with him, saying, “You went to men who were uncircumcised[b] and ate with them!” But Peter began and[c] explained it[d] to them in an orderly sequence, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision—an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. As I[e] looked intently into it, I was considering it,[f] and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild animals and the reptiles and the birds of the sky. And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!’ But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has ever entered into my mouth!’ But the voice replied from heaven for the second time, ‘The things which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!’ 10 And this happened three times, and everything was pulled up into heaven again. 11 And behold, at once three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea approached the house in which we were staying.[g] 12 And the Spirit told me to accompany them, not hesitating at all. So these six brothers also went with me, and we entered into the man’s house. 13 And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter, 14 who will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 And as I was beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as also on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’[h] 17 Therefore if God gave them the same gift as also to us when we[i] believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18 And when they[j] heard these things, they became silent[k] and praised God, saying, “Then God has granted the repentance leading to life to the Gentiles also!”

Mark 1:14-28

Public Ministry in Galilee

14 And after[a] John had been taken into custody,[b] Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

16 And as he[c] was passing by along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net[d] into the sea (for they were fishermen). 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow[e] me and I will make you become fishers of people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and[f] followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and[g] went away after him. 21 And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue.[h]

A Man with an Unclean Spirit Healed

22 And they were amazed at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like the scribes. 23 And so then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 24 saying, “Leave us alone,[i] Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And after[j] convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they began to discuss with one another, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.” 28 And the report about him then went out everywhere in the whole surrounding region of Galilee.

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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