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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
Version
Psalm 8

Psalm 8

Your Name Is Majestic

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For the choir director. According to gittith.[a] A psalm by David.

The Glory of God Declared by the Heavens
The Glory of God Declared by Children

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Set this glory of yours above the heavens.[b]
From the lips of little children and nursing babies
    you have established strength[c] because of your foes,
        to put a stop to the enemy and the avenger.

The Glory of the Son of Man

Whenever I look up at your heavens, the works of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place—
what is man that you remember him,
the son of man[d] that you pay attention to him!
Nevertheless, you make him suffer need,
    apart from God for a while,[e]
but you crown him with glory and honor.
You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.
You put everything under his feet:
all flocks and cattle, and even the wild animals,
the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
    which pass through the currents of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 47

Psalm 47

The King’s Empire

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For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Praise the Great King of All the Earth!

All you peoples, clap your hands!
Shout to God! Sing a loud song!

Yes, the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is the great King over all the earth!
He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
He chooses our inheritance for us.
It is the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. Interlude
God has ascended with a joyful shout.
The Lord goes up with the sound of the ram’s horn.

Make music for God! Make music!
Make music for our King! Make music!
For God is the King of all the earth.
Make music for him with a wise song.

God reigns as king over the nations.
God is seated on his holy throne.
The nobles of the peoples come together
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
Yes, the shields of the earth[a] belong to God.
He is greatly exalted.

Psalm 24

Psalm 24

The King of Glory

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By David. A psalm.

The King of Glory Owns the Whole World

The earth is the Lord’s
and everything that fills it,
the world and all who live in it,
because he founded it on the seas,
and he established it on the rivers.[a]

The King of Glory Is Served by a Holy People

Who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
whose soul is not set on what is false,
who does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God who saves him.
Such are the people of Jacob who look for the Lord,
who seek your face.[b] Interlude

The King of Glory Comes

Lift up your heads, you gates.
Lift yourselves up, you ancient doors,
and the King of Glory will come in.
Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates.
Lift up, you ancient doors,
and the King of Glory will come in.
10 Who is he, this King of Glory?
The Lord of Armies—he is the King of Glory. Interlude[c]

Psalm 96

Psalm 96

Sing to the Lord a New Song

Call to Worship

Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord. Praise his name.
Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
Tell about his glory among the nations,
about his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

Praise Him Alone

For great is the Lord and worthy of great praise.
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are “nothings,”[a]
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him.
Power and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, families of peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and power.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bring a gift and come into his courtyards.
Bow down to the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.[b]
Look away from his face,[c] all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established.
It will not be moved.
He will judge the peoples with fairness.

Let Nature Praise Him

11 Let the heavens rejoice.
Let the earth celebrate.
Let the sea roar,
and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields be overjoyed,
and everything that is in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13     before the Lord, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Ezekiel 1:1-14

Ezekiel’s First Vision

In the thirtieth year,[a] in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, when I was among the exiles by the Kebar Canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of that month, in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, the word of the Lord came in a dramatic way[b] upon Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans,[c] by the Kebar Canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

The Glory of the Lord Appears

As I watched, I noticed a windstorm coming from the north. There was a large cloud, with fire flashing through it, and there was a bright light all around it. In the middle of it, there was something that looked like glowing metal[d] in the middle of the fire.

In the middle of it I saw what looked like four living creatures. This was what they looked like. Each of them had a human appearance, but each one had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Each of their legs was straight,[e] and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like polished bronze. They had human hands under their wings on all four of their sides. All four of them had faces and wings.

Their wings were touching one another. The creatures did not turn from side to side as they moved, but each one faced straight ahead.[f]

10 This is what their faces looked like. Each one had a face like a man’s face. On the right side of their heads, all four of them had a face like a lion. On the left side, all four of them had a face like an ox. All four of them also had a face like an eagle. 11 Those were their faces.

Their wings were stretched upward. Each of them had one pair of wings which touched the wings of each of the cherubs next to it and another pair of wings which covered their bodies.

12 Each one faced straight ahead as it moved. They went in whatever direction the spirit[g] wanted to go. They did not turn as they moved ahead.

13 The appearance of the living creatures was like red-hot coals, like the appearance of blazing torches. Fire was moving back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was coming out of the fire. 14 The creatures darted back and forth. They looked like jagged bolts of lightning.

Ezekiel 1:24-28

24 I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of rushing water. It was like the voice of the Almighty when they moved—a sound of commotion, like the noise in an army camp. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. 25 A voice came from above the dome that was over their heads. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

26 Above the dome that was over their heads, there was something that appeared to be a sapphire that was shaped like a throne. Seated on that throne-like form there was a figure that looked like a man. 27 I saw something like the gleam of glowing metal[a] with fire in it and all around it. It extended upward from what appeared to be the man’s waist. Below what appeared to be his waist, I saw what appeared to be fire, and a bright light surrounded him. 28 The bright light that surrounded him looked like the rainbow that is in the clouds on a rainy day.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the Glory of the Lord. When I saw this, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

Hebrews 2:5-18

God Put Everything Under His Control

For God did not place the coming world, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels. But there is a place where someone has testified:

What is man that you remember him,
or the Son of Man[a] that you look after him?
You made him lower than the angels for a little while.[b]
You crowned him with glory and honor.[c]
You put everything in subjection under his feet.[d]

Indeed, in putting everything in subjection to him, God left nothing that is not in subjection to him. At the present time, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we look to Jesus (the one who was made lower than the angels for a little while, so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone), now crowned with glory and honor, because he suffered death.

A Merciful and Faithful High Priest

10 Certainly it was fitting for God (the one for whom and through whom everything exists), in leading many sons to glory, to bring the author of their salvation to his goal through sufferings. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have one Father. For that reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers.[e] 12 He says:

I will declare your name to my brothers.
Within the congregation I will sing your praise.[f]

13 And again:

I will trust in him.[g]

And again:

Here I am and the children God has given me.[h]

14 Therefore, since the children share flesh and blood,[i] he also shared the same flesh and blood, so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death (that is, the Devil) 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. 16 For surely he was not concerned with helping angels but with helping Abraham’s offspring.[j] 17 For this reason, he had to become like his brothers in every way, in order that he would be a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God, so that he could pay[k] for the sins of the people. 18 Indeed, because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Matthew 28:16-20

“Go and Gather Disciples”

16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain.[a] 18 Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.