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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 118

Psalm 118^[a]

Thanksgiving for Salvation

¹^[b]Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his kindness^[c] endures forever.
²Let Israel say,
    “His kindness endures forever.”
³Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His kindness endures forever.”
⁴Let those who fear the Lord^[d] say,
    “His kindness endures forever.”
⁵^[e]In my distress I called out to the Lord;
    he answered by setting me free.
⁶With the Lord to protect me I am not afraid.
    What can mortals do to me?
⁷The Lord is at my side to offer me help;
    I will look down upon my enemies.
⁸^[f]It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to place your trust in mortals.
⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to place your trust in princes.
¹⁰^[g]All the nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
¹¹They surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
¹²They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed like a fire in the midst of thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I overcame them.
¹³I was hard pressed and close to falling,
    but the Lord came to my aid.
¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.^[h]
¹⁵Joyful shouts of triumph
    ring out in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord has done wondrous deeds;
¹⁶    the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
    the right hand of the Lord has done wondrous deeds.”
¹⁷I shall not die; rather I shall live
    and recount^[i] the works of the Lord.
¹⁸Even though the Lord punished me harshly,
    he did not hand me over to death.
¹⁹^[j]Open to me the gates of righteousness
    so that I may enter them and praise the Lord.
²⁰This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous enter.
²¹I thank you for having answered me;
    you have become my salvation.
²²^[k]The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
²³This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made;^[l]
    let us exult and rejoice in it.
²⁵O Lord, grant us salvation.^[m]
    O Lord, grant us success.
²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.^[n]
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷The Lord is God,
    and he has given us light.
Holding leafy branches, join in the festal procession
    up to the horns of the altar.^[o]
²⁸^[p]You are my God, and I will offer thanks to you;
    you are my God, and I will extol you.
²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his kindness endures forever.

Psalm 119^[q]

Praise of God’s Law

Aleph

Footnotes

Psalm 118:1 This psalm brings to a close the Egyptian Hallel. As the procession of pilgrims goes up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (vv. 15, 27; see Lev 23:39-43), the celebrants and the crowd conduct a dialogue, the rhythm of which is determined by the stages of the journey. The procession starts out with a familiar refrain (vv. 1-4) and proceeds while singing a hymn of thanksgiving (vv. 5-18); it arrives at the gates of the temple that has been rebuilt (v. 19) and has become the sign of Israel’s renewal after the Exile (vv. 22-24) where the priests respond to the acclamations of the people by blessing them (vv. 25-27). Finally, with palms in hand the procession reaches the sanctuary, whose courts are illumined, and the liturgy takes place with the most solemn thanksgiving (vv. 28-29).
Songs of thanksgiving such as this one called to mind the entire history of Israel, from past to present. Israel is ceaselessly put to the test, humbled, and then delivered, and in this very experience, it discovers its calling to be a people that bears witness to God in the midst of the nations and to be the capstone of the world (v. 22).
Jesus makes this calling his own (see Mt 21:42), and the apostles speak of it in their preaching (see Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:4-7). For them this psalm expresses in advance the mystery of Christ who is rejected and then exalted and who is the foundation stone of the new People of God (see 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20). This festal song soon became popular; we find the crowd spontaneously singing it on Palm Sunday to greet Jesus as the envoy promised by God (v. 26; see Mt 21:9; Jn 12:13). We find this same acclamation in the Sanctus of the Mass; in all the liturgical families, the psalm has become an Easter song.
Psalm 118:1 The liturgical call to praise that begins the procession. All Israel had benefited from God’s goodness and kindness, i.e., the congregation of Israel, the priests (house of Aaron), and those who fear the Lord (see note on Ps 115:9-11). Now the people of God’s kingdom (Ps 114:1; Ex 19:5-6) and the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are called to profess that the Lord is King and that he is good and kind in standing behind his covenant.
Psalm 118:1 A conventional call to praise (see Pss 105–107). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 118:4 Israel . . . house of Aaron . . . those who fear the Lord: see note on Ps 115:9-11.
Psalm 118:5 A song of thanksgiving for deliverance of the whole nation voiced by a single individual. Some believe the speaker is a king, others opt for Israel as a corporate body, and still others for a priest/Levite. In any case, the worshiper does a good job in reciting the deeds God worked in response to the prayers of his people in affliction.
Psalm 118:8 All should be ever mindful of the motto learned through experience that it is better to have confidence in the Lord than to rely on flesh and blood (see Ps 33:16-19; see also Pss 62; 146).
Psalm 118:10 The fury of the assault recalls the attacks experienced by Jesus at his trial (see Lk 22:63—23:25) and even during his public ministry (see Lk 11:53f). Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 118:14 This verse is an exact quotation from the song of victory at the Red Sea (see Ex 15:2) and is echoed in verses 15 (“right hand”) and 28 (“extol you”). Hence, God’s saving acts throughout history bear the stamp of the Exodus events (see 1 Cor 10:6) culminating in the work of Christ (see Lk 9:31: “his departure [literally, ‘exodus’], which would come to pass in Jerusalem”).
Psalm 118:17 Live and recount: see note on Ps 6:6.
Psalm 118:19 The procession has arrived at the gates of the rebuilt temple; all the righteous may enter and give thanks.
Psalm 118:22 The community of the righteous join in with thanksgiving. They praise the Lord because he has given prominence to his suffering servant Israel like a cornerstone. It was rejected by the worldly powers but has been made the cornerstone for God’s salvation of the world in the Messiah. These verses allude to Isa 8:14; 28:16; Jer 51:26; Zec 3:9; 4:7, passages that are interpreted in a Messianic sense. Israel is here a type of Christ, in whom these words have been most eminently fulfilled (see Mt 21:42 par; Acts 4:11; Rom 9:33; 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:7).
Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made: the day given by the Lord in which joy and jubilation are appropriate, the day of thanksgiving and rejoicing because of the wondrous deed of the Lord (vv. 22-23; see Ps 71:17; Jer 32:17, 27), the day of salvation. Used by the Liturgy as an antiphon for the Easter Season, this phrase identifies the “day” as that of Christ’s Resurrection.
Psalm 118:25 O Lord, grant us salvation: the Hebrew for this cry has come into English as “Hosanna.” The crowd takes it up on Palm Sunday (see Mt 21:9; 23:39; Mk 11:9; Jn 12:13). It has become part of the Sanctus at Mass.
Psalm 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: words used in the Gospels to welcome Jesus entering the temple on Palm Sunday (see Mk 11:9 par).
Psalm 118:27 The people respond to the blessing by confessing that the Lord alone is God. He has made his light shine upon them, protecting them from the darkness of great trials (e.g., famine, war, and exile; Ps 43:3). Accordingly, they are here renewing their commitment to the Lord in a formal liturgical celebration. The horns of the altar: the four corners of the altar of burnt offerings (see Ex 27:2; 38:2; Lev 4:25, 30, 34).
Psalm 118:28 The psalm concludes with the community’s affirmation that the Lord alone is God, similar to the confession of Moses (see Ex 15:2). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 118:29 This longest of the psalms is a monumental literary piece consisting of twenty-two strophes, each containing eight verses (sixteen lines) and each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet that is repeated at the beginning of each pair of verses. Each strophe is a unit, but does not have a close connection with the strophe that precedes or follows. The whole is a free-flowing meditation, now sad, now joyous, now peaceful, now passionate. It is a reflection and a prayer in which the author, a sage and a mystic who draws his inspiration from the Prophets and Deuteronomy, converses with God and voices his deepest feelings: love of true wisdom, attachment and fidelity to the word of God in spite of weakness and obstacles; desire to better understand and live the truth; joy of outdoing oneself to follow the will of God manifested in the law.
In practically every verse, there is the word “law” or some equivalent. We can point to eight such terms—four with a more juridic nuance (statutes, precepts, decrees, commands or commandments) and four with a more religious nuance (law, promise, word, laws, or judgments). These terms introduce us into the heart of the psalm, for they signify less an ensemble of laws to observe than the word of God, which sometimes ordains and judges and sometimes reveals and promises. It is a psalm of spiritual intimacy, of love for God (which means doing his will). In meditating on the law, believers contemplate above all the visage of God and let themselves be transformed in the very depths of their hearts. Such observance becomes liberty. Understood in this fashion, the law proclaims to us Jesus Christ, the living revelation of God, given to human beings to lead them to the Father: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).

Psalm 145

Psalm 145^[a]

Praise of the Divine Majesty

¹^[b]Praise. Of David.

I will extol you, my God and King;
    I will bless your name^[c] forever and ever.
²Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.^[d]
³^[e]Great is the Lord and worthy of the highest praise;
    no one can even begin to comprehend his greatness.^[f]
⁴Each generation will praise your works^[g] to the next
    and proclaim your mighty deeds.
⁵People will proclaim the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
⁶They will speak of the power of your awesome deeds,
    and I will relate your greatness.
⁷They will celebrate your abundant goodness
    and sing joyfully of your saving justice.
⁸^[h]The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in kindness.^[i]
⁹The Lord is good to all,
    showing compassion to every creature.
¹⁰All your creatures praise you,^[j] O Lord,
    and all your saints bless you.
¹¹They relate the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of all your power.^[k]
¹²They make known to all people your mighty deeds
    and the glorious majesty of your kingdom.
¹³Your kingdom will last forever,
    and your dominion will endure throughout all generations.^[l]
^[m]The Lord is faithful in all his promises
    and kind^[n] in all his deeds.
¹⁴The Lord supports all those who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.^[o]
¹⁵The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
    and you give them their food at the right time.
¹⁶You open your hand
    and satisfy the needs of every living creature.^[p]
¹⁷^[q]The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and merciful in everything he does.^[r]
¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call out to him,
    to all who call out to him sincerely.^[s]
¹⁹He satisfies the desires of all who fear him;
    he hears their cry and saves them.^[t]
²⁰The Lord watches over all who love him,
    but he will completely destroy all the wicked.^[u]
²¹May my mouth declare the praise of the Lord,
    and may every creature^[v] bless his holy name
    forever and ever.

Footnotes

Psalm 145:1 This psalm is a hymn to God, the Great King. It is not original, for the psalmist strings together his verses in the order of the alphabet and takes the passages from several other psalms. The cantors of Israel were not reluctant to dip into the common treasury of sacred chant to celebrate God’s praise with the same words and phrases. But the repetition of certain terms also enables one to express the ardor of a conviction. By means of the words kingdom, power, majesty, name, works, mighty deeds, righteousness, faithfulness, compassion, love, and truth, the psalm exalts above all the God of the covenant. It then proclaims his benevolence that is manifested in the help, subsistence, and salvation accorded in some manner to all who invoke him. Thus, the cantor acknowledges God’s presence in the world, in history, and in life.
We can pray this psalm to bless, praise, and extol the heavenly Father in his perfections and prodigious works. But we can also recite it in honor of Christ, who shares fully in the perfections (see Col 1:15, 19; Heb 1:3) and works of his Father (see Jn 5:19).
Psalm 145:1 The psalmist calls for praise of God, the Great King. This praise is to be given unceasingly and forever.
Psalm 145:1 See Pss 30:2; 44:5; 71:14. Bless your name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 145:2 See Pss 34:2; 68:20; 71:14; 146:2. This verse has been incorporated into the Te Deum, the great prayer of Christian praise to the Trinity.
Psalm 145:3 The psalmist specifies the reason for praising God: his mighty deeds, which reveal his greatness and goodness. The same two themes are combined in Pss 86:10, 17; 135:3, 5.
Psalm 145:3 See Pss 48:2; 96:3f; Job 36:26.
Psalm 145:4 See Pss 71:17; 78:4; Isa 38:19. Salvation history is transmitted from generation to generation by the proclamation of God’s mighty deeds and wonderful works (see Ps 22:31f). Your works: of creation, providence, and redemption.
Psalm 145:8 Now the psalmist moves to praise God because of his divine attributes, e.g., compassion and love. These attributes lead all his works, including the saints, to give him thanks for the expressions of his glory, power, and kingdom.
Psalm 145:8 See Pss 86:15; 103:8, 13; Ex 34:6f; Num 14:18; Wis 1:13f; Isa 63:7.
Psalm 145:10 All your creatures praise you: see note on Ps 65:14. Saints: see notes on Pss 4:4; 34:10.
Psalm 145:11 See 93:1; 1 Chr 29:11.
Psalm 145:13 Text cited in Dan 3:100; 4:31, and applied to Christ the King. See Ps 102:13; Tob 13:6ff; Dan 7:14; 1 Tim 1:17; Rev 11:15.
Psalm 145:13 The psalmist calls for praise of God because of the Lord’s faithfulness to the covenant. The first two lines (v. 13c) are not in the Hebrew; they are in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint.
Psalm 145:13 Kind: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 145:14 See Pss 94:18; 146:8.
Psalm 145:16 See Ps 104:27f; Mt 6:25-34.
Psalm 145:17 The psalmist calls upon all creatures to praise God for his righteous acts—acts of restoration, redemption, and vindication.
Psalm 145:17 See Deut 32:4.
Psalm 145:18 See Deut 4:7; Isa 55:6; 58:9; Jer 29:13.
Psalm 145:19 See Pss 20:4; 34:18; 85:10.
Psalm 145:20 See Pss 34:18; 91:14; 104:35; 139:19; Jdg 5:31.
Psalm 145:21 Every creature: literally, “all flesh.”

Isaiah 66:7-14

Mother Zion

⁷Before she entered into labor,
    she gave birth.
Before she experienced the birth pains,
    she delivered a son.
⁸Who ever heard of such a thing?
    Who has ever seen anything like this?
Can a country be born in a single day?
    Can a nation be delivered in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
    when she brought forth her children.
⁹Shall I open the womb and not deliver?
    says the Lord.
Shall I close the womb at the moment of delivery?
    says your God.
¹⁰Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love her.
Be joyful as you rejoice with her,
    all you who mourned over her,
¹¹so that you may suck fully and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast,
as you drink deeply with delight
    at her abundant bosom.
¹²For thus says the Lord:
    I will make prosperity flow over her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations
    like a turbulent overflowing stream.
You will be nursed and carried in her arms
    and fondled in her lap.
¹³As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    in Jerusalem you will find your comfort.
¹⁴When you behold this, your heart will rejoice,
    and your bodies will flourish like grass in spring.
The Lord will make his power known to his servants
    but reveal his wrath to his enemies.

1 John 3:4-10

The Rupture with Sin^[a]

⁴Everyone who sins breaks the law,
for sin is lawlessness.
⁵You know that he appeared
in order to take away sins,
and that there is no sin in him.
⁶Whoever remains in him does not sin,^[b]
and whoever sins has not seen him
nor known him.
⁷Dear children,
do not let anyone deceive you.
Everyone who does what is right is righteous,
just as he is righteous.
⁸Everyone who sins comes from the devil,
for the devil has been a sinner
from the very beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this very purpose:
to destroy the work of the devil.
⁹Whoever is born of God
does not sin,
because his seed^[c] remains in him.
He cannot sin
because he is begotten by God.
¹⁰This is what distinguishes
the children of God from the children of the devil:
anyone who fails to live righteously
does not belong to God;
neither does anyone who fails to love a brother.

John 10:7-16

⁷Therefore, Jesus spoke to them again,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate of the sheepfold.
⁸All who came before me
were thieves and bandits,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
⁹“I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me
will be saved.
He will go in and out
and will find pasture.
¹⁰“A thief comes only
to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
that they may have life,
and have it in abundance.
¹¹“I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep.
¹²The hired hand,
who is not the shepherd
nor the owner of the sheep,
sees the wolf approaching,
and he leaves the sheep and runs away,
while the wolf catches and scatters them.
¹³He runs away
because he is only a hired hand
and he has no concern for the sheep.
¹⁴“I am the good shepherd.
I know my own,
and my own know me,
¹⁵just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father.
And I lay down my life for the sheep.
¹⁶“I have other sheep too
that do not belong to this fold.
I must lead them as well,
and they will hear my voice.
Thus, there will only be one flock,
one shepherd.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 118[a]

Thanksgiving for Salvation

Psalm 119[q]

Praise of God’s Law

Footnotes

Psalm 145[a]

Praise of the Divine Majesty

Footnotes

Mother Zion

The Rupture with Sin[a]

Footnotes

Psalm 118^[a]

Psalm 119^[q]

Psalm 145^[a]

The Rupture with Sin^[a]