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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 120-127

Prayer for deliverance from the treacherous.

A Song of Ascents.

120 In my distress I cried unto Jehovah,
And he answered me.
Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips,
And from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee,
Thou deceitful tongue?
[a]Sharp arrows of the mighty,
With coals of [b]juniper.
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
My soul hath long had her dwelling
With him that hateth peace.
I am for peace:
But when I speak, they are for war.

Jehovah the keeper of his people.

A Song of Ascents.

121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:
From whence shall my help come?
My help cometh from Jehovah,
Who made heaven and earth.

[c]He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
Jehovah is thy keeper:
Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night.
Jehovah will keep thee from all evil;
He will keep thy soul.
Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in
From this time forth and for evermore.

Prayer for the peace of Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents; of David.

122 I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go unto the house of Jehovah.
Our feet [d]are standing
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, that art builded
As a city that is compact together;
Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of [e]Jehovah,
For [f]an ordinance for Israel,
To give thanks unto the name of Jehovah.
For there [g]are set thrones for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
[h]Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
[i]They shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now [j]say, Peace be within thee.
For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God
I will seek thy good.

An expectant prayer for Jehovah’s help.

A Song of Ascents.

123 Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes,
O thou that sittest in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress;
So our eyes look unto Jehovah our God,
Until he have mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us;
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scoffing of those that are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud.

Praise for rescue from enemies.

A Song of Ascents; of David.

124 If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,
Let Israel now say,
If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,
When men rose up against us;
Then they had swallowed us up alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us:
Then the waters had overwhelmed us,
The stream had gone over our soul;
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Blessed be Jehovah,
Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers:
The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our help is in the name of Jehovah,
Who made heaven and earth.

Jehovah round about his people.

A Song of Ascents.

125 They that trust in Jehovah
Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
So Jehovah is round about his people
From this time forth and for evermore.
For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous;
That the righteous put not forth their hands unto iniquity.
Do good, O Jehovah, unto those that are good,
And to them that are upright in their hearts.
But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,
Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel.

Thanksgiving for return from captivity.

A Song of Ascents.

126 When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing:
Then said they among the nations,
Jehovah hath done great things for them.
Jehovah hath done great things for us,
Whereof we are glad.
Turn again our captivity, O Jehovah,
As the streams in the South.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, [k]bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Prosperity comes from Jehovah.

A Song of Ascents; of Solomon.

127 Except Jehovah build the house,
They labor in vain that build it:
Except Jehovah keep the city,
The watchman waketh but in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To take rest late,
To eat the bread of toil;
For so he giveth unto his beloved [l]sleep.
Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah;
And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
So are the children of youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
They shall not be put to shame,
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Zechariah 11:4-17

Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; whose [a]possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and [b]their own shepherds pity them not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily [c]the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called [d]Beauty, and the other I called [e]Bands; and I fed the flock. And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and [f]that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another. 10 And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken in that day; and [g]thus [h]the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew that it was the word of Jehovah. 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. 13 And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of Jehovah. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not [i]visit those that are [j]cut off, neither will seek [k]those that are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which [l]is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

1 Corinthians 3:10-23

10 According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; [a]and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.

16 Know ye not that ye are a [b]temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man destroyeth the [c]temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the [d]temple of God is holy, [e]and such are ye.

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this [f]world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, [g]He that taketh the wise in their craftiness: 20 and again, [h]The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

Luke 18:31-43

31 And he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man. 32 For he shall be [a]delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon: 33 and they shall scourge and kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said.

35 And it came to pass, as he drew nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: 36 and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they that went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried out the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41 What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath [b]made thee whole. 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.