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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 69

Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to (A)Lilies. Of David.

69 Save me, O God!
    For (B)the waters have come up to my neck.[a]
I sink in deep (C)mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood (D)sweeps over me.
(E)I am weary with my crying out;
    (F)my throat is parched.
(G)My eyes grow dim
    with (H)waiting for my God.

(I)More in number than the hairs of my head
    are (J)those who hate me (K)without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
    (L)those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
    must I now restore?
O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

Let not those who hope in you (M)be put to shame through me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
    O God of Israel.
For it is (N)for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that dishonor has covered my face.
I have become (O)a stranger to my brothers,
    an alien to my mother's sons.

For (P)zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and (Q)the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled[b] my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach.
11 When I made (R)sackcloth my clothing,
    I became (S)a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who (T)sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make (U)songs about me.

13 But as for me, my (V)prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At (W)an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
    from sinking in (X)the mire;
(Y)let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from (Z)the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or (AA)the pit close (AB)its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Lord, for your (AC)steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant (AD)mercy, (AE)turn to me.
17 (AF)Hide not your face from your servant,
    (AG)for I am in distress; (AH)make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
    ransom me because of my enemies!

19 You know my (AI)reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
20 (AJ)Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in (AK)despair.
I (AL)looked for (AM)pity, but there was none,
    and for (AN)comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me (AO)poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me (AP)sour wine to drink.

22 (AQ)Let their own (AR)table before them become a snare;
    (AS)and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.[c]
23 (AT)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
    (AU)and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 (AV)May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they (AW)persecute him whom (AX)you have struck down,
    and they recount the pain of (AY)those you have wounded.
27 (AZ)Add to them punishment upon punishment;
    may they have no acquittal from you.[d]
28 Let them be (BA)blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be (BB)enrolled among the righteous.

29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
    let your salvation, O God, (BC)set me on high!

30 I will (BD)praise the name of God with a song;
    I will (BE)magnify him with (BF)thanksgiving.
31 This will (BG)please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull (BH)with horns and hoofs.
32 When (BI)the humble see it they will be glad;
    you who seek God, (BJ)let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
    and (BK)does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34 Let (BL)heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For (BM)God will save Zion
    and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36     (BN)the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
    and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

Psalm 73

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of (A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to (B)Israel,
    to those who are (C)pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
(D)For I was (E)envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the (F)prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not (G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as (I)a garment.
Their (J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and (K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find (L)no fault in them.[a]
11 And they say, (M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they (N)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (O)kept my heart clean
    and (P)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (Q)stricken
    and (R)rebuked (S)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed (T)the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me (U)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (V)the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their (W)end.

18 Truly you set them in (X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed (Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by (Z)terrors!
20 Like (AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when (AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was (AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like (AD)a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you (AE)hold my right hand.
24 You (AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will (AG)receive me to glory.
25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is (AJ)the strength[b] of my heart and my (AK)portion (AL)forever.

27 For behold, those who are (AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is (AN)unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to (AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my (AP)refuge,
    that I may (AQ)tell of all your works.

Jeremiah 22:13-23

13 (A)“Woe to him who builds his house by (B)unrighteousness,
    and his upper rooms by injustice,
(C)who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
    and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
    with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
    paneling it with cedar
    and (D)painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
    because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
    and (E)do justice and righteousness?
    (F)Then it was well with him.
16 (G)He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    (H)then it was well.
Is not this (I)to know me?
    declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
    only for your dishonest gain,
(J)for shedding innocent blood,
    and for practicing oppression and violence.”

18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

(K)“They shall not lament for him, saying,
    (L)‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
    (M)‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey (N)he shall be buried,
    dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”

20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
    and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from (O)Abarim,
    for all (P)your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
    but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
(Q)This has been your way from (R)your youth,
    that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 (S)The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
    and (T)your lovers shall go into captivity;
(U)then you will be ashamed and confounded
    because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of (V)Lebanon,
    nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
    (W)pain as of a woman in labor!”

Romans 8:12-27

Heirs with Christ

12 So then, brothers,[a] we are debtors, (A)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you (B)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are (C)led by the Spirit of God are (D)sons[b] of God. 15 For (E)you did not receive (F)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of (G)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, (H)“Abba! Father!” 16 (I)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then (J)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, (K)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (L)are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for (M)the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation (N)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but (O)because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that (P)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that (Q)the whole creation (R)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have (S)the firstfruits of the Spirit, (T)groan inwardly as (U)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, (V)the redemption of our bodies. 24 For (W)in this hope we were saved. Now (X)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we (Y)wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For (Z)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but (AA)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And (AB)he who searches hearts knows what is (AC)the mind of the Spirit, because[c] the Spirit (AD)intercedes for the saints (AE)according to the will of God.

John 6:41-51

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, (A)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, (B)“Is not this Jesus, (C)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother (D)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me (E)draws him. And (F)I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, (G)‘And they will all be (H)taught by God.’ (I)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 (J)not that anyone has seen the Father except (K)he who is from God; he (L)has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, (M)whoever believes has eternal life. 48 (N)I am the bread of life. 49 (O)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and (P)they died. 50 (Q)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it (R)and not die. 51 I am the living bread (S)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give (T)for the life of the world is (U)my flesh.”

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.