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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
English Standard Version (ESV)
Version
Psalm 95

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us (A)make a joyful noise to (B)the rock of our salvation!
Let us (C)come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us (D)make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is (E)a great God,
    and a great King (F)above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for (G)he made it,
    and his hands formed (H)the dry land.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us (I)kneel before the Lord, our (J)Maker!
For he is our (K)God,
    and we are the people of his (L)pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
(M)Today, if you (N)hear his voice,
    (O)do not harden your hearts, as at (P)Meribah,
    as on the day at (Q)Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the (R)test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my (S)work.
10 (T)For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
    and they have not known (U)my ways.”
11 Therefore I (V)swore in my wrath,
    “They shall not enter (W)my rest.”

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of (A)the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to (B)Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil[a] of (C)Heman the Ezrahite.

88 O Lord, (D)God of my salvation,
    I (E)cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
    (F)incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,
    and (G)my life draws near to (H)Sheol.
I am counted among those who (I)go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom (J)you remember no more,
    for they are (K)cut off from your hand.
You have put me in (L)the depths of the pit,
    in the (M)regions dark and (N)deep.
Your wrath (O)lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with (P)all your waves. Selah

You have caused (Q)my companions to shun me;
    you have made me (R)a horror[b] to them.
I am (S)shut in so that I cannot escape;
    (T)my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I (U)spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
    (V)Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your (W)wonders known in (X)the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of (Y)forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry (Z)to you;
    (AA)in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why (AB)do you cast my soul away?
    Why (AC)do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.[c]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your (AD)dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They (AE)surround me like a flood (AF)all day long;
    they (AG)close in on me together.
18 You have caused (AH)my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.[d]

Psalm 27

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

Of David.

27 The Lord is my (A)light and my (B)salvation;
    (C)whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold[a] of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me
    to (D)eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
    it is they who stumble and fall.

(E)Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
    yet[b] I will be confident.

(F)One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may (G)dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon (H)the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire[c] in his temple.

For he will (I)hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will (J)lift me high upon a rock.

And now my (K)head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of (L)joy;
(M)I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

(N)Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, (O)“Seek[d] my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”[e]
    (P)Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
    O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
    (Q)O God of my salvation!
10 For (R)my father and my mother have forsaken me,
    but the Lord will (S)take me in.

11 (T)Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on (U)a level path
    because of my enemies.
12 (V)Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
    for (W)false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they (X)breathe out violence.

13 I believe that I shall look[f] upon (Y)the goodness of the Lord
    in (Z)the land of the living!
14 (AA)Wait for the Lord;
    (AB)be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Lamentations 3:37-58

37 (A)Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 (B)Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
39 (C)Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us test and examine our ways,
    (D)and return to the Lord!
41 (E)Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
42 (F)“We have transgressed and (G)rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    (H)killing without pity;
44 (I)you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
45 (J)You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

46 (K)“All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
47 (L)panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and (M)destruction;
48 (N)my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 (O)“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
50 (P)until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

52 (Q)“I have been hunted (R)like a bird
    by those who were my enemies (S)without cause;
53 (T)they flung me alive into the pit
    (U)and cast stones on me;
54 (V)water closed over my head;
    I said, (W)‘I am lost.’

55 (X)“I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
56 (Y)you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
57 (Z)You came near when I called on you;
    you said, (AA)‘Do not fear!’

58 “You have (AB)taken up my cause, (AC)O Lord;
    you have (AD)redeemed my life.

Hebrews 4

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem (A)to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because (B)they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a] For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

(C)“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: (D)“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said,

(E)“They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news (F)failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

(G)“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also (H)rested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so (I)that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For (J)the word of God is living and (K)active, (L)sharper than any (M)two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and (N)discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And (O)no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are (P)naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Since then we have (Q)a great high priest (R)who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, (S)let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest (T)who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been (U)tempted as we are, (V)yet without sin. 16 (W)Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Romans 8:1-11

Life in the Spirit

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] For the law of (A)the Spirit of life (B)has set you[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For (C)God has done what the law, (D)weakened by the flesh, (E)could not do. (F)By sending his own Son (G)in the likeness of sinful flesh and (H)for sin,[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that (I)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, (J)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For (K)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on (L)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on (M)the things of the Spirit. For to set (N)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is (O)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; (P)indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact (Q)the Spirit of God dwells in you. (R)Anyone who does not have (S)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of (T)him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[d] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies (U)through his Spirit who dwells in you.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.