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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 83

83 Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for the sons of Core.

How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of host!

My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.

For the sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones: Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God.

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever.

Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps,

In the vale of tears, in the place which be hath set.

For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall go from virtue to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Sion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob.

10 Behold, O God our protector: and look on the face of thy Christ.

11 For better is one day in thy courts above thousands. I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners.

12 For God loveth mercy and truth: the Lord will give grace and glory.

13 He will not deprive of good things them that walk in innocence: O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Psalm 23

23 On the first day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?

The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.

This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

10 Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

Psalm 27

27 A psalm for David himself. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord: O my God, be not thou silent to me: lest thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to thee; when I lift up my hands to thy holy temple.

Draw me not away together with the wicked; and with the workers of iniquity destroy me not: Who speak peace with their neighbour, but evils are in their hearts.

Give them according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their inventions. According to the works of their hands give thou to them: render to them their reward.

Because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and the operations of his hands: thou shalt destroy them, and shalt not build them up.

Blessed be the Lord, for he hath heard the voice of my supplication.

The Lord is my helper and my protector: in him hath my heart confided, and I have been helped. And my flesh hath flourished again, and with my will I will give praise to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of his anointed.

Save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thy inheritance: and rule them and exalt them for ever.

Psalm 85-86

85 A prayer for David himself. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor.

Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.

Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul.

For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my petition.

I have called upon thee in the day of my trouble: because thou hast heard me.

There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord: and there is none according to thy works.

All the nations thou hast made shall come and adore before thee, O Lord: and they shall glorify thy name.

10 For thou art great and dost wonderful things: thou art God alone.

11 Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth: let my heart rejoice that it may fear thy name.

12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God: with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name for ever:

13 For thy mercy is great towards me: and thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell.

14 O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty have sought my soul: and they have not set thee before their eyes.

15 And thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and true.

16 O look upon me, and have mercy on me: give thy command to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid.

17 shew me a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded, because thou, O Lord, hast helped me and hast comforted me.

86 For the sons of Core, a psalm of a canticle. The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains:

The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob.

Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God.

I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon knowing me. Behold the foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians, these were there.

Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in her? and the Highest himself hath founded her.

The Lord shall tell in his writings of peoples and of princes, of them that have been in her.

The dwelling in thee is as it were of all rejoicing.

1 Maccabees 1:1-28

Now it came to pass, after that Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, who first reigned in Greece, coming out of the land of Cethim, had overthrown Darius king of the Persians and Medes:

He fought many battles, and took the strong holds of all, and slew the kings of the earth:

And he went through even to the ends of the earth, and took the spoils of many nations: and the earth was quiet before him.

And he gathered a power, and a very strong army: and his heart was exalted and lifted up.

And he subdued countries of nations, and princes: and they became tributaries to him.

And after these things, he fell down upon his bed, and knew that he should die.

And he called his servants the nobles that were brought up with him from his youth: and he divided his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.

And Alexander reigned twelve years, and he died.

And his servants made themselves kings every one in his place:

10 And they all put crowns upon themselves after his death, and their sons after them many years, and evils were multiplied in the earth.

11 And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus the Illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome: and he reigned in the hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

12 In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, and they persuaded many, saying: Let us go, and make a covenant with the heathens that are round about us: for since we departed from them, many evils have befallen us.

13 And the word seemed good in their eyes.

14 And some of the people determined to do this, and went to the king: and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathens.

15 And they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the nations:

16 And they made themselves prepuces, and departed from the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathens, and were sold to do evil.

17 And the kingdom was established before Antiochus, and he had a mind to reign over the land of Egypt, that he might reign over two kingdoms.

18 And he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants, and horsemen, and a great number of ships:

19 And he made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt, but Ptolemee was afraid at his presence, and fled, and many were wounded unto death.

20 And he took the strong cities in the land of Egypt: and he took the spoils of the land of Egypt.

21 And after Antiochus had ravaged Egypt in the hundred and forty-third year, he returned and went up against Israel.

22 And he went up to Jerusalem with a great multitude.

23 And he proudly entered into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament that was before the temple: and he broke them all in pieces.

24 And he took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels: and he took the hidden treasures which he found: and when he had taken all away he departed into his own country.

25 And he made a great slaughter of men, and spoke very proudly.

26 And there was great mourning in Israel, and in every place where they were.

27 And the princes, and the ancients mourned, and the virgins and the young men were made feeble, and the beauty of the women was changed.

28 Every bridegroom took up lamentation: and the bride that sat in the marriage bed, mourned:

Revelation 19:1-10

19 After these things I heard as it were the voice of much people in heaven, saying: Alleluia. Salvation, and glory, and power is to our God.

For true and just are his judgments, who hath judged the great harlot which corrupted the earth with her fornication, and hath revenged the blood of his servants, at her hands.

And again they said: Alleluia. And her smoke ascendeth for ever and ever.

And the four and twenty ancients, and the four living creatures fell down and adored God that sitteth upon the throne, saying: Amen; Alleluia.

And a voice came out from the throne, saying: Give praise to our God, all ye his servants; and you that fear him, little and great.

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunders, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord our God the Almighty hath reigned.

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath prepared herself.

And it is granted to her that she should clothe herself with fine linen, glittering and white. For the fine linen are the justifications of saints.

And he said to me: Write: Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith to me: These words of God are true.

10 And I fell down before his feet, to adore him. And he saith to me: See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren, who have the testimony of Jesus. Adore God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Matthew 16:1-12

16 And there came to him the Pharisees and Sadducees tempting: and they asked him to shew them a sign from heaven.

But he answered and said to them: When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.

And in the morning: To day there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering. You know then how to discern the face of the sky: and can you not know the signs of the times?

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. And he left them, and went away.

And when his disciples were come over the water, they had forgotten to take bread.

Who said to them: Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

But they thought within themselves, saying: Because we have taken no bread.

And Jesus knowing it, said: Why do you think within yourselves, O ye of little faith, for that you have no bread?

Do you not yet understand, neither do you remember the five loaves among five thousand men, and how many baskets you took up?

10 Nor the seven loaves among four thousand men, and how many baskets you took up?

11 Why do you not understand that it was not concerning the bread I said to you: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

12 Then they understood that he said not that they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.