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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
American Standard Version (ASV)
Version
Psalm 45

A song celebrating the king’s marriage.

For the Chief Musician; set to [a]Shoshannim. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.

45 My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter;
[b]I speak the things which I have made touching the king:
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Thou art fairer than the children of men;
Grace is poured [c]into thy lips:
Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one,
Thy glory and thy majesty.
And in thy majesty ride on prosperously,
[d]Because of truth and meekness and righteousness:
And [e]thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
Thine arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under thee;
They are in the heart of the king’s enemies.
[f]Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness:
Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.
Kings’ daughters are among thy honorable women:
At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house:
11 So will the king desire thy beauty;
For he is thy lord; and reverence thou him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;
The rich among the people shall entreat thy favor.
13 The king’s daughter [g]within the palace is all glorious:
Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
14 She shall be led unto the king [h]in broidered work:
The virgins her companions that follow her
Shall be brought unto thee.
15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led:
They shall enter into the king’s palace.
16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,
Whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:
Therefore shall the peoples give thee thanks for ever and ever.

Psalm 47-48

God the King of the Earth.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

47 Oh clap your hands, all ye peoples;
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
For [a]Jehovah Most High is terrible;
He is a great King over all the earth.
He subdueth peoples under us,
And nations under our feet.
He chooseth our inheritance for us,
The glory of Jacob whom he [b]loved. Selah
God is gone up with a shout,
Jehovah with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises:
Sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth:
Sing ye praises [c]with understanding.
God reigneth over the nations:
God sitteth upon his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together
[d]To be the people of the God of Abraham;
For the shields of the earth belong unto God:
He is greatly exalted.

The beauty and glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

48 Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
God hath made himself known in her palaces for a [e]refuge.
For, lo, the kings assembled themselves,
They [f]passed by together.
They saw it, then were they amazed;
They were dismayed, they [g]hasted away.
Trembling took hold of them there,
Pain, as of a woman in travail.
[h]With the east wind
Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of Jehovah of hosts, in the city of our God:
God will establish it for ever. Selah
We have thought on thy lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of thy temple.
10 As is thy name, O God,
So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:
Thy right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let mount Zion be glad,
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice,
Because of thy judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her;
Number the towers thereof;
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks;
[i]Consider her palaces:
That ye may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever:
He will be our guide even unto death.

Genesis 37:12-24

12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Are not thy brethren feeding the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

18 And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this [a]dreamer cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him: that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; 24 and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this [a]world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the [b]preaching to save them that believe. 22 Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 but we preach [c]Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; 24 but unto [d]them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For [e]behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea [f]and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, [g]and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31 that, according as it is written, [h]He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Mark 1:14-28

14 Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the [a]gospel of God, 15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the [b]gospel.

16 And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they left the nets, and followed him. 19 And going on a little further, he saw [c]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending the nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.

21 And they go into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And straightway there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus rebuked [d]him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26 And the unclean spirit, [e]tearing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? a new teaching! with authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. 28 And the report of him went out straightway everywhere into all the region of Galilee round about.