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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
Version
Psalm 26

26 The psalm of David before he was anointed. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?

Whilst the wicked draw near against me, to eat my flesh. My enemies that trouble me, have themselves been weakened, and have fallen.

If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident.

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.

For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils, he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.

He hath exalted me upon a rock: and now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies. I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: I will sing, and recite a psalm to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me and hear me.

My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.

Turn not away thy face from me; decline not in thy wrath from thy servant. Be thou my helper, forsake me not; do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour.

10 For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up.

11 Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way, and guide me in the right path, because of my enemies.

12 Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; for unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself.

13 I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.

Psalm 28

28 A psalm for David, at the finishing of the tabernacle. Bring to the Lord, O ye children of God: bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.

Bring to the Lord glory and honour: bring to the Lord glory to his name: adore ye the Lord in his holy court.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of majesty hath thundered, The Lord is upon many waters.

The voice of the Lord is in power; the voice of the Lord in magnificence.

The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: yea, the Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus.

And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, and as the beloved son of unicorns.

The voice of the Lord divideth the flame of fire:

The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades.

The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover the thick woods: and in his temple all shall speak his glory.

10 The Lord maketh the flood to dwell: and the Lord shall sit king for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Psalm 36

36 A psalm for David himself. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity.

For they shall shortly wither away as grass, and as the green herbs shall quickly fall.

Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches.

Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart.

Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it.

And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Be subject to the Lord and pray to him Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things.

Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the land.

10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it.

11 But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of peace.

12 The sinner shall watch the just man: and shall gnash upon him with his teeth.

13 But the Lord shall laugh at him: for he foreseeth that his day shall come.

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword: they have bent their bow. To cast down the poor and needy, to kill the upright of heart.

15 Let their sword enter into their own hearts, and let their bow be broken.

16 Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; but the Lord strengtheneth the just.

18 The Lord knoweth the days of undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

19 They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be filled:

20 Because the wicked shall perish. And the enemies of the Lord, presently after they shall be honoured and exalted, shall come to nothing and vanish like smoke.

21 The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; but the just sheweth mercy and shall give.

22 For such as bless him shall inherit the land: but such as curse him shall perish.

23 With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well his way.

24 When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand under him.

25 I have been young, and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.

26 He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed shall be in blessing.

27 Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever.

28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: they shall be preserved for ever. The unjust shall be punished, and the seed of the wicked shall perish.

29 But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for evermore.

30 The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue shall speak judgment.

31 The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted.

32 The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to death,

33 But the Lord will not leave in his hands; nor condemn him when he shall be judged.

34 Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see.

35 I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus.

36 And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his place was not found.

37 Keep innocence, and behold justice: for there are remnants for the peaceable man.

38 But the unjust shall be destroyed together: the remnants of the wicked shall perish.

39 But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their protector in the time of trouble.

40 And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them, because they have hoped in him.

Psalm 39

39 Unto the end, a psalm for David himself.

With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me.

And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps.

And he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God. Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord.

Blessed is the man whose trust is in the name of the Lord; and who hath not had regard to vanities, and lying follies.

Thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: and in thy thoughts there is no one like to thee. I have declared and I have spoken they are multiplied above number.

Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire; but thou hast pierced ears for me. Burnt offering and sin offering thou didst not require:

Then said I, Behold I come. In the head of the book it is written of me

That I should do thy will: O my God, I have desired it, and thy law in the midst of my heart.

10 I have declared thy justice in a great church, lo, I will not restrain my lips: O Lord, thou knowest it.

11 I have not hid thy justice within my heart: I have declared thy truth and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from a great council.

12 Withhold not thou, O Lord, thy tender mercies from me: thy mercy and thy truth have always upheld me.

13 For evils without number have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me.

14 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me, look down, O Lord, to help me.

15 Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek after my soul to take it away. Let them be turned backward and be ashamed that desire evils to me.

16 Let them immediately bear their confusion, that say to me: 'T is well, 't is well.

17 Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.

18 But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me. Thou art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack.

1 Samuel 19:1-18

19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan the son of Saul loved David exceedingly.

And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning, and thou shalt abide in a secret place and shalt be hid.

And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee.

And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul his father: and said to him: Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and his works are very good towards thee.

And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood by killing David, who is without fault?

And when Saul heard this he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth he shall not be slain.

Then Jonathan called David and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before.

And the war began again, and David went out and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face.

And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.

10 And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled and escaped that night.

11 Saul therefore sent his guards to David's house to watch him, that he might be killed in the morning. And when Michol David's wife had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night, to morrow thou wilt die,

12 She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away and escaped.

13 And Michol took an image and laid it on the bed, and put a goat's skin with the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes.

14 And Saul sent officers to seize David: and it was answered that he was sick.

15 And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain.

16 And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat's skin at its head.

17 And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.

18 But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth.

Acts 12:1-17

12 And at the same time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to afflict some of the church.

And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.

And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter also. Now it was in the days of the Azymes.

And when he had apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four files of soldiers to be kept, intending, after the pasch, to bring him forth to the people.

Peter therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him.

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him: and a light shined in the room: and he striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands.

And the angel said to him: Gird thyself, and put on thy sandals. And he did so. And he said to him: Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

And going out, he followed him, and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel: but thought he saw a vision.

10 And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city, which of itself opened to them. And going out, they passed on through one street: and immediately the angel departed from him.

11 And Peter coming to himself, said: Now I know in very deed, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

12 And considering, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark, where many were gathered together and praying.

13 And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, whose name was Rhode.

14 And as soon as she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for joy, but running in she told that Peter stood before the gate.

15 But they said to her: Thou art mad. But she affirmed that it was so. Then said they: It is his angel.

16 But Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened, they saw him, and were astonished.

17 But he beckoning to them with his hand to hold their peace, told how the Lord had brought him out of prison, and he said: Tell these things to James, and to the brethren. And going out, he went into another place.

Mark 2:1-12

And again he entered into Capharnaum after some days.

And it was heard that he was in the house, and many came together, so that there was no room; no, not even at the door; and he spoke to them the word.

And they came to him, bringing one sick of the palsy, who was carried by four.

And when they could not offer him unto him for the multitude, they uncovered the roof where he was; and opening it, they let down the bed wherein the man sick of the palsy lay.

And when Jesus had seen their faith, he saith to the sick of the palsy: Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.

And there were some of the scribes sitting there, and thinking in their hearts:

Why doth this man speak thus? he blasphemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God only?

Which Jesus presently knowing in his spirit, that they so thought within themselves, saith to them: Why think you these things in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?

10 But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)

11 I say to thee: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.

12 And immediately he arose; and taking up his bed, went his way in the sight of all; so that all wondered and glorified God, saying: We never saw the like.