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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.

Duration: 861 days

Psalm 101

Psalm 101^[a]

Norm of Life for a Good Ruler

¹A psalm of David.

I will sing of kindness and justice;
    to you, O Lord, I will offer praise in song.
²I will walk in the path of blamelessness;
    when will you come to me?^[b]
Within my house^[c] I will act
    with integrity of heart.
³I will not allow any shameful act
    to be done before my eyes.
^[d]I will refuse to associate
    with people who do evil.
⁴Let the perverse of heart remain far from me;
    I will not tolerate the wicked.
⁵^[e]Anyone who secretly slanders a neighbor
    I will reduce to silence.
Anyone with haughty glances and an arrogant heart
    I cannot endure.
⁶The faithful in the land are the ones
    whom I will choose to be my companions.
Only the one who follows the path of integrity
    will be allowed to be my servant.
⁷No one who practices deceit
    will be permitted to remain in my house.
No one who utters lies
    will be numbered among my companions.^[f]
⁸Morning after morning^[g] I will banish
    all the wicked from the land,
    removing all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Footnotes

Psalm 101:1 The Lord’s covenant comprises a rule of life for every Israelite, including the king. This psalm constitutes the mirror of the ruler in whom it inculcates essential resolutions: personal integrity, choice of loyal counselors, ferreting out the arrogant, the deceitful, and the slanderous from the royal court, and the battle against injustice. The teaching is classic in the Bible, but its application is rarely carried out. Nonetheless, its main ideas continue to be vitally relevant.
We can pray this psalm in honor of Christ the King, constituted by the Father as supreme Head of the Church and of the world (Eph 1:20-23), who alone has perfectly fulfilled the commitments mentioned herein. He is thus the invisible suzerain from whom all visible leaders (both spiritual and temporal) derive their authority (see Jn 21:15-17; Rev 1:5). Since Christ makes them his representatives, all these leaders must be loving and faithful images before their subjects.
Psalm 101:2 In imitation of the heavenly King, the psalmist himself will lead a blameless life. But to do so he will need God’s help, which he prays will be forthcoming (see 1 Ki 3:7-9; see also Ps 72). When will you come to me?: some see in these words an allusion to the awaited coming of the Messiah, who was at times called “The one who is to come” (see Mt 11:3; Jn 4:25). Others offer an alternative translation: “I will attend to the wholehearted man / whenever he comes to me.”
Psalm 101:2 House: the king promises to make his household free of those who abuse power. Heart . . . eyes: in the Old Testament, people were thought to act after inner (“heart”) and/or external (“eye”) influence (see note on Ps 4:7; see also Ps 119:36f; Num 15:39; Job 31:7; Prov 21:4; Eccl 2:10; Jer 22:17).
Psalm 101:3 The psalmist will not desire or do evil himself nor condone it in others and will avoid all evildoers.
Psalm 101:5 The norms of the king’s private life are also the fundamental principles of his governing. He will bring into his service only the “faithful” and those who follow “the path of integrity.” Reduce to silence: i.e., destroy (see Pss 54:7; 94:23). Arrogant: see note on Ps 31:24.
Psalm 101:7 Will . . . companions: another translation is: “will stand in my presence.”
Psalm 101:8 Evildoers will be eradicated from the kingdom. Morning after morning: the customary time for administering justice (see 2 Sam 15:2; Jer 21:12) and for receiving God’s help (see Pss 59:17; 143:8; Isa 33:2). City of the Lord: see Pss 46:5f; 48:2f, 9; 87:3.

Psalm 109:1-30

Psalm 109^[a]

Prayer for One Falsely Accused

¹For the director.^[b] A psalm of David.

^[c]O God, whom I praise,
    do not remain silent.
²Wicked and deceitful men
    have opened their mouths against me;^[d]
    they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
³They confront me with words of hatred
    and assail me without cause.
⁴In return for my love they denounce me
    even as I offer up prayers for them.^[e]
⁵They give me back evil in exchange for good
    and hatred in place of my love.^[f]
⁶^[g]They say:^[h]
“Choose a wicked man to oppose him,
    an accuser to stand on his right.
⁷At his judgment, let him be found guilty,
    with even his prayers deemed sinful.^[i]
⁸“May his remaining days be few,
    with someone else appointed to take his office.^[j]
⁹May his children become fatherless
    and his wife become widowed.
¹⁰“May his children be vagrants and beggars,
    driven from the ruins they use for shelter.
¹¹May the creditor seize all he has,
    and strangers abscond with his life savings.
¹²^[k]“May no one extend mercy to him
    or take pity on his fatherless children.
¹³May his posterity be doomed to extinction
    and his name be blotted out within a generation.
¹⁴“May the iniquity of his ancestors be remembered by the Lord,
    and the sin of his mother never be wiped out.
¹⁵May their guilt be continually before the Lord,
    and may he banish all remembrance of them from the earth.
¹⁶^[l]“For he never thought of showing mercy;
    rather, he hounded to death
    the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted.
¹⁷He loved to level curses^[m] at others;
    may they recoil on him.
He took no pleasure in blessing;
    may no blessing be his.
¹⁸^[n]“He clothed himself with cursing as his garment;
    it seeped into his body like water
    and into his bones like oil.
¹⁹May it be like the robe that envelops him,
    like the belt that encircles him every day.”
²⁰May these evils my accusers wish for me
    be inflicted upon them by the Lord.^[o]
²¹^[p]But you, O Lord, my God,
    treat me kindly for your name’s sake;^[q]
    deliver me because of your overwhelming kindness.
²²For I am poor and needy,^[r]
    and my heart is pierced within me.
²³I am fading away^[s] like an evening shadow;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴My knees are weak from fasting;
    my flesh is wasting away.
²⁵I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers;
    upon seeing me, they toss their heads.^[t]
²⁶Come to my aid, O Lord, my God;
    save me because of your kindness.^[u]
²⁷Let them know that your hand has done this,
    that you, O Lord, have accomplished it.
²⁸When they curse, you will bless;
    when they attack, they will be put to shame,
    and your servant will rejoice.^[v]
²⁹My accusers will be clothed in disgrace,
    wrapped in their shame as in a cloak.
³⁰I will thank the Lord with my lips,
    and before all the people I will praise him.^[w]

Footnotes

Psalm 109:1 The Psalter contains other cries of hatred or revenge (Pss 9; 35; 137; 139), but none is harsher than this one (Ps 109:6-19). It is ordinarily attributed to the psalmist who has been speaking from the beginning of the psalm. However, an attentive examination of the context leads some scholars to attribute these imprecations to another person—most likely, the leader of the psalmist’s enemies.
It is a fact, of course, that in the East people enjoy exaggerated expressions, and it is also a fact that it was written before the Christian faith changed the harsh law of revenge or law of talion. But the Gospel itself contains curses (see Mt 23:13-26; Lk 6:24-26), and while it is true that Jesus and the apostles were able to forgive their enemies, they also saw the “ancient serpent” (Rev 12:9) at work against God’s will and for their destruction.
In taking up these imprecatory psalms, the Church invites Christians to commence an unceasing struggle against the spirit of evil (see Eph 6:12). Except for a few details, the formulas of this prayer were suitable for Jesus to express his own situation and sentiments and to describe the attitude and machinations of his enemies. In fact, the evangelists record that his enemies fulfilled certain passages to the letter (v. 25; see Mt 27:39; Mk 15:20).
Psalm 109:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation.
Psalm 109:1 This psalmist has never said and done anything other than good; will betrayal, hatred, and slander be his recompense? Bitter is the calumny that crushes the righteous.
Psalm 109:2 Opened their mouths against me: see note on Ps 5:10.
Psalm 109:4 I offer up prayers for them: the psalmist is not a man of evil and slander; he even prays for his foes, as in Ps 35:13f.
Psalm 109:5 The psalmist has done nothing but good to his enemies whereas they have repaid him with evil in exchange for goodness and hatred in exchange for friendliness. The psalmist puts this fact before the Lord. Will God the Judge overlook such wicked behavior? This verse recalls Pss 35:12, 22; 38:20-21; 69:5; Jer 18:20.
Psalm 109:6 Pitiless are the words of those who curse the innocent psalmist; he has taken them to heart and remembered every one. See note on Ps 5:11 concerning redress for wrongs.
Psalm 109:6 They say: these words are lacking in the Hebrew, but they are called for by the context. Wicked man: or “the evil one.” Accuser: i.e., a “satan” (see Job 1:6), a name later given to the devil (see 1 Chr 21:1). He stood as an advocate (Ps 109:31) at the right of the accused (see Zec 3:1).
Psalm 109:7 With even his prayers deemed sinful: another possible translation is: “with even his pleas being in vain.”
Psalm 109:8 With someone else appointed . . . office: applied to Judas in Acts 1:20.
Psalm 109:12 The Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel all give warnings of what the sins of ancestors can bring down upon the children (see Ex 20:5; 1 Sam 2:31ff; Lk 19:41ff). Name be blotted out: see note on Ps 69:29.
Psalm 109:16 No other place expresses with such vivid intensity the terrible logic of judgment whereby what humans choose, they ultimately receive to the full.
Psalm 109:17 Curses: see note on Ps 10:7.
Psalm 109:18 These words, leveled at the psalmist by his enemies, claim that cursing was his clothing as well as his food and drink; he lived, so to speak, by cursing (see Prov 4:17). Cursing was intended to destroy a person, his position, his family, and the remembrance of his name.
Psalm 109:20 May these . . . by the Lord: literally, “May this be the recompense of my accusers from the Lord / and of those who speak evil against me.” Accordingly, the preceding curses may be understood as spoken either by the psalmist against his primary foe or by his enemies first and then willed by him to recoil against them. Another translation for the verse is also possible: “This is the work of those / who wish to call down harm upon me from the Lord.” In that case, the only imprecations of the psalmist would be the mild ones in verse 29.
Psalm 109:21 The poem seems to begin again at this point. The poor man once again invokes God, reveals his distress, asks for health, cries out his imprecations, and promises to give thanks. It is the rhythm of the prayer of a persecuted person. It testifies to a conviction: in the time of God’s judgment, the evil one will return in defeat to the world of darkness where he willed to swallow up everything, but the righteous will obtain access to the glory of the Lord.
Psalm 109:21 For your name’s sake: see note on Ps 5:12. The Lord’s kindness is one of his most defining attributes (see notes on Pss 5:8; 6:5; Ex 34:6; see also Pss 25:10-11; 69:17; 79:8-9; 86:15; 103:8; Num 14:18; Joel 2:13). Kindness is also the love of the covenant between the Lord and his people, and it includes the sentiments that are found in each (grace and love on the part of the Lord and piety on the part of the faithful). It specifically refers to all that God promised to his people (see Deut 7:9, 12) through the Davidic dynasty (see Ps 89:25, 29, 34; 2 Sam 7:15; Isa 55:3).
Psalm 109:22 Poor and needy: see note on Ps 22:27. Heart: see note on Ps 4:8.
Psalm 109:23 I am fading away: the psalmist’s illness draws the scorn of enemies (see note on Ps 5:10). Like an evening shadow: similar to Ps 102:12. Shaken off like a locust: allusion to the custom of brushing locusts off the plants in order to kill them on the ground. Another translation possible is: “swept away like a locust,” an image similar to Job 30:22; in Palestine a strong wind sometimes ends a plague of locusts by blowing them out into the sea (see Ex 10:19; Joel 2:20).
Psalm 109:25 His accusers seek the psalmist’s downfall by casting scorn on him (see Pss 31:12; 79:4; 89:42) and by rejecting him ([tossing] their heads: see Ps 22:8; Mt 27:39).
Psalm 109:26 Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 109:28 This is a good prayer to turn the edge of an attack (see Rom 8:31ff).
Psalm 109:30 A vow to praise the Lord for his deliverance (see note on 7:18).

Psalm 119:121-144

¹²¹^[a]Since my conduct has been just and upright,
    do not abandon me to those who oppress me.
¹²²Guarantee the well-being of your servant;^[b]
    do not allow the arrogant to oppress me.
¹²³My eyes fail^[c] as I long for your salvation
    and for the promise of your justice.
¹²⁴Deal with your servant in accordance with your kindness,^[d]
    and teach me your decrees.
¹²⁵I am your servant; grant me discernment
    so that I may understand your statutes.
¹²⁶It is time, O Lord, for you to take action;
    your law has been broken.
¹²⁷That is why I love your precepts
    more than gold, even the purest gold.^[e]
¹²⁸That is why I regard all your commandments as right
    and despise every way that is false.

¹²⁹^[f]Wonderful are your statutes;
    therefore, I willingly observe them.
¹³⁰The explanation^[g] of your words gives light
    and imparts understanding to the simple.
¹³¹I open wide my mouth and sigh,^[h]
    longing eagerly for your precepts.
¹³²^[i]Turn and have mercy on me,
    as you always do to those who love your name.^[j]
¹³³Guide my steps in accord with your word
    and never let evil triumph over me.
¹³⁴Rescue me from the oppression of men
    so that I may observe your commandments.
¹³⁵Allow your face to shine^[k] upon your servant
    and teach me your decrees.
¹³⁶Streams of tears flow from my eyes
    because your law is disregarded.^[l]

Sadhe

¹³⁷^[m]You are righteous, O Lord,
    and your judgments are right.
¹³⁸You have set down your statutes as righteous
    and as completely faithful.
¹³⁹Zeal has consumed me
    because my adversaries ignore your words.
¹⁴⁰Your word has been tested through and through,^[n]
    and your servant cherishes it.
¹⁴¹Although I am despised and unimportant,
    I do not forget your commands.
¹⁴²Your righteousness is everlasting,
    and your law is forever true.
¹⁴³I am afflicted by anguish and distress,
    but your precepts are my delight.
¹⁴⁴Your statutes are forever righteous;
    grant me understanding and I will live.

Qoph

Footnotes

Psalm 119:121 The psalmist has entrusted himself to God’s care and done what is just and upright; now he expects the Lord to keep his promise according to which the godly will be relieved of all adversities. He prays to receive understanding and, while affirming his devotion to the Lord and his commands, calls for God to deal justly with the ungodly, who have broken his law.
Psalm 119:122 This is the only verse in the psalm that lacks either a direct or an indirect reference to the law of God; some have suggested replacing servant by “word” as a remedy. The arrogant: see note on v. 21.
Psalm 119:123 My eyes fail: see note on Ps 6:8.
Psalm 119:124 Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 119:127 The psalmist compares the Lord’s commands favorably with pure gold (see Job 22:25; 28:15f; Prov 3:14; 8:10, 19; 16:16).
Psalm 119:129 God’s word illumines so that even those not experienced in the realities of life (the simple; see Ps 116; Prov 1:4) may gain wisdom (see Ps 19:8). The psalmist longs to receive, understand, and put it into practice. So great is his zeal for God’s law that he weeps over the continuance of rebellion and transgression on the part of evildoers.
Psalm 119:130 The law is a luminous sanctuary that fills souls with its clarity (see Ps 73:16f) when it is explained to them. Explanation: literally, “opening.”
Psalm 119:131 Open wide my mouth and sigh: same image as in Job 29:23.
Psalm 119:132 The psalmist asks for the Lord’s blessing (see Num 6:24-26), which brings down God’s grace to enable him to direct his steps in accord with the divine law and away from sin and adversity (Ps 119:133-134). He also asks for the Lord’s face to shine on him (v. 135), i.e., to bring him nothing but good in all circumstances of his life; for when God’s face shines on people it brings deliverance and blessings.
Psalm 119:132 See Pss 5:12; 25:16; 91:15. Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 119:135 Allow your face to shine: the psalmist asks God to smile on him with favor (see note on Ps 13:2; see also Pss 67:2; 80:4; Num 6:25).
Psalm 119:136 The godly are saddened in the face of evil (see Ezr 9:3ff; Job 16:20; Ezek 9:4).
Psalm 119:137 The troubles and disgraces of his holy ones reflect upon the Lord and his word. Hence, the psalmist points out his sad state and prays that the Lord will establish righteousness in his world. Though he is still immersed in troubles, he knows the Lord is faithful and so he wholeheartedly puts his trust in him.
Psalm 119:140 Tested through and through: literally, “refined.” God’s word is fire-tried; it is genuine and reliable.

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Chapter 18

The Potter’s House.^[a] ¹This is the message delivered by the Lord to Jeremiah. ²“Arise and go forth to the potter’s house, and then I will tell you what I have to say.” ³Therefore, I proceeded to the potter’s house, where I found him working at his wheel. ⁴Whenever the vessel he was making of clay turned out badly in his hands, he would use that clay to remold it into another vessel as he saw fit.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶Can I not do to you what this potter does, O house of Israel? Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷On occasion I may threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a particular nation or kingdom. ⁸However, should that nation which I have threatened turn away from its evil ways, I will then relent and not inflict the disaster I had devised. ⁹On another occasion I may promise to build up and plant a nation or kingdom. ¹⁰However, if that nation follows an evil path and refuses to obey me, then I will cease to bestow upon it the blessings that I had promised.

¹¹Therefore, now deliver this message to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Be forewarned! I am preparing a disaster for you and designing a plan against you. So now, each one of you, turn away from your evil pursuits and amend your conduct and your actions.

Romans 8:1-11

The Spirit of God Dwells in Christians^[a]

Chapter 8

There Is No Longer Any Condemnation. ¹Hence, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³That which the Law, weakened by the flesh, was unable to do, God has done. By sending his own Son in the likeness of our sinful nature as a sin offering, he condemned sin in the flesh ⁴so that the righteous requirements of the Law^[b] might be fulfilled in us who live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Animated by the Spirit and Rendered Children of God.^[c] ⁵Those who live according to the flesh fix their attention on the things of the flesh, while those who live according to the Spirit set their thoughts on spiritual things. ⁶The desires of the flesh result in death, but the desires of the Spirit result in life and peace. ⁷Indeed, the desires of the flesh will be hostile to God, for they do not submit to the Law of God, nor could they do so. ⁸Those who live according to the flesh can never be pleasing to God.

⁹You, however, do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ cannot belong to him. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, then even though the body is dead as a result of sin, the Spirit is alive in you because of righteousness. ¹¹If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then the one who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you.^[d]

John 6:27-40

²⁷Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For it is on him
that God the Father has set his seal.”

²⁸Then they asked him, “What must we do if we are to carry out the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus replied,

“This is the work of God:
to believe in the one whom he has sent.”

³⁰They asked him further, “What sign can you give us that we can see and come to believe in you? What work will you do? ³¹Our ancestors ate manna in the desert. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven^[a] to eat.’ ” ³²Jesus replied,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses
who gave you the bread from heaven.
It is my Father
who gives you the true bread from heaven.
³³For the bread of God is
he who comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

³⁴The Bread of Life.^[b]“Sir,” they begged him, “give us this bread always.” ³⁵Jesus answered them,

“I am^[c] the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me
and yet you do not believe.
³⁷All that the Father gives me
will come to me,
and anyone who comes to me
I will never turn away.
³⁸For I have come down from heaven
not to do my own will
but the will of him who sent me.
³⁹“And this is the will of him who sent me:
that I should lose nothing
of all that he has given me,
but that I should raise it up
on the last day.
⁴⁰This indeed is the will of my Father:
that all who see the Son
and believe in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise them up
on the last day.”

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 101[a]

Norm of Life for a Good Ruler

Footnotes

Psalm 109[a]

Prayer for One Falsely Accused

Footnotes

Footnotes

Chapter 18

Footnotes

The Spirit of God Dwells in Christians[a]

Chapter 8

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 101^[a]

Psalm 109^[a]

The Spirit of God Dwells in Christians^[a]