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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Modern English Version (MEV)
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Psalm 30

Psalm 30

A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the temple.

I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up,
    and have not caused my foes to rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to You,
    and You healed me.
O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave;
    You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His,
    and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
For His anger endures but a moment,
    in His favor is life;
weeping may endure for a night,
    but joy comes in the morning.

In my prosperity I said,
    “I will never be moved.”
Lord, by Your favor
    You had set me strong as a mountain;
You hid Your face,
    and I was terrified.

I cried to You, O Lord,
    and to the Lord I made supplication:
“What profit is there in my death,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust give You thanks?
    Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
    Lord, be my helper.”

11 For You have turned my mourning into dancing;
    You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
12 so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Psalm 32

Psalm 32

A Psalm of David. A Contemplative Maskil.

Blessed is he
    whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man
    against whom the Lord does not count iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
    Your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was changed
    into the drought of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin to You,
    and my iniquity I did not conceal.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord,”
and You forgave
    the iniquity of my sin. Selah

For this cause everyone who is godly will pray to You
    in a time when You may be found;
surely in the floods of great waters
    they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place;
    You will preserve me from trouble;
    You will surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye on you.
Do not be as the horse or as the mule
    that are without understanding,
that must be restrained with bit and bridle,
    or they will not come near you.
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but lovingkindness will surround
    the man who trusts in the Lord.

11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous one;
    and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!

Psalm 42-43

BOOK TWO

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42

For the Music Director. A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah.

As the deer pants after the water brooks,
    so my soul pants after You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When will I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while they always say to me,
    “Where is your God?”
When I remember these things,
    I pour out my soul within me.
For I would travel with the throng of people;
    I proceeded with them to the house of God,
with the voice of joy and thanks,
    with a multitude making a pilgrimage.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
    And why are you disquieted in me?
Hope in God,
    for I will yet thank Him
    for the help of His presence.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I will remember You
from the land of Jordan,
    and of the Hermon, from the hill of Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
    at the noise of Your waterfalls;
all Your waves and Your billows
    passed over me.

Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
    and in the night His song will be with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God, my rock,
    “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 With shattering in my bones,
    those harassing me reproach me,
when they say to me every day,
    “Where is your God?”

11 Why, my soul, are you cast down?
    Why do you groan within me?
Wait for God;
    I will yet thank Him,
    For He is my deliverance and my God.

Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God,
    and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
    deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For You are the God of my refuge;
    why have You rejected me?
Why do I walk about mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?
Send out Your light and Your truth.
    Let them lead me;
let them bring me to Your holy hill,
    and to Your dwelling place.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to the God of my joyful gladness;
with the harp I will give thanks to You,
    O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
    And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
    for I will yet give Him thanks,
    the salvation of my countenance and my God.

1 Kings 12:1-20

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam(A)

12 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. When Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, heard of it (for he had fled from King Solomon and stayed in Egypt), they called and sent for him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, “Your father made our yoke unbearable. Now, therefore, make the grievous service to your father and the heavy yoke he put upon us lighter, and we will serve you.”

He said to them, “Depart for three days, and then come back to me.” And the people departed.

King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who advised his father Solomon while he was still alive and asked, “How do you advise me to answer the people?”

And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people this day and will serve them and answer them and speak kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

But he rejected the advice that the old men gave him and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and who stood before him, and he said to them, “What advice do you give on how we should answer this people, who have spoken to me saying, ‘Make the yoke your father put on us lighter’?”

10 And the young men who grew up with him said, “Thus shall you answer this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger will be thicker than my father’s loins! 11 Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your burden. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!’ ”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had appointed, saying, “Come to me again the third day.” 13 The king answered the people roughly and forsook the counsel the old men gave him, 14 and instead spoke to them following the advice of the young men. He said, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your burden. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 15 Thus the king did not listen to the people, for the cause was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His saying, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 So when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people responded to the king, saying,

“What portion do we have in David?
    We also do not have an inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel,
    and see to your own house, David!”

So the people of Israel departed to their tents. 17 But the people of Israel living in the cities of Judah were ruled over by Rehoboam.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. As a result, King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David, and it remains so even to this day.

20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him before the congregation and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

James 5:7-12

Patience and Prayer

Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Notice how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until he receives the early and late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawing near. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, lest you be condemned. Look, the Judge is standing at the door.

10 My brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them happy who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the purpose of the Lord, that the Lord is very gracious and merciful.

12 But above all things, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by the earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No,” that you do not fall into condemnation.

James 5:19-20

19 Brothers, if any one of you strays from the truth and someone corrects him, 20 let him know that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Mark 15:33-39

The Death of Jesus(A)

33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”[a]

35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Listen, He is calling Elijah!”

36 One man ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

37 But Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the spirit.

38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion[b] who stood facing Him saw that He cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, “Truly, this Man was the Son of God.”

Modern English Version (MEV)

The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.