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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 83

God implored to confound his enemies.

A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.

83 O God, keep not thou silence:
Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult;
And they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
They take crafty counsel against thy people,
And consult together against thy hidden ones.
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;
That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
For they have consulted together with one consent;
Against thee do they make a covenant:
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab, and the [a]Hagarenes;
Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre:
Assyria also is joined with them;
They have [b]helped the children of Lot. Selah
Do thou unto them as unto Midian,
As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
10 Who perished at Endor,
Who became as dung for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb;
Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;
12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possession
The [c]habitations of God.
13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust;
As stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire that burneth the forest,
And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with thy tempest,
And terrify them with thy storm.
16 Fill their faces with confusion,
That they may seek thy name, O Jehovah.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;
Yea, let them be confounded and perish;
18 That they may know that [d]thou alone, whose name is Jehovah,
Art the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 34

Jehovah a provider and deliverer.

A Psalm of David; [a]when he [b]changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

34 I will bless Jehovah at all times:
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah:
The meek shall hear thereof, and be glad.
Oh magnify Jehovah with me,
And let us exalt his name together.
I sought Jehovah, and he answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked unto him, and were radiant;
And their faces shall never be confounded.
This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him,
And delivereth them.
Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good:
Blessed is the man that taketh refuge in him.
Oh fear Jehovah, ye his saints;
For there is no want to them that fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger;
But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing.
11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me:
I will teach you the fear of Jehovah.
12 What man is he that desireth life,
And loveth many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil,
And thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous,
And his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cried, and Jehovah heard,
And delivered them out of all their troubles.
18 Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,
And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous;
But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones:
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked;
And they that hate the righteous shall be [c]condemned.
22 Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants;
And none of them that take refuge in him shall be condemned.

Psalm 85-86

Prayer for God’s mercy upon the nation.

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

85 Jehovah, thou hast been favorable unto thy land;
Thou hast [a]brought back the captivity of Jacob.
Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people;
Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath;
Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
[b]Turn us, O God of our salvation,
And cause thine indignation toward us to cease.
Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?
Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
Wilt thou not quicken us again,
That thy people may rejoice in thee?
Show us thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah,
And grant us thy salvation.
I will hear what God Jehovah will speak;
For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints:
But let them not turn again to folly.
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth springeth out of the earth;
And righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
12 Yea, Jehovah will give that which is good;
And our land shall yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him,
And shall [c]make his footsteps a way to walk in.

A psalm of supplication and trust.

A Prayer of David.

86 Bow down thine ear, O Jehovah, and answer me;
For I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul; for I am godly:
O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
Be merciful unto me, O Lord;
For unto thee do I cry all the day long.
Rejoice the soul of thy servant;
For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon thee.
Give ear, O Jehovah, unto my prayer;
And hearken unto the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee;
For thou wilt answer me.
There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord;
Neither are there any works like unto thy works.
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord;
And they shall glorify thy name.
10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:
Thou art God alone.
11 Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth:
Unite my heart to fear thy name.
12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart;
And I will glorify thy name for evermore.
13 For great is thy lovingkindness toward me;
And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.
14 O God, the proud are risen up against me,
And a company of violent men have sought after my soul,
And have not set thee before them.
15 But thou, O Lord, art a God merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
16 Oh turn unto me, and [d]have mercy upon me;
Give thy strength unto thy servant,
And save the son of thy handmaid.
17 Show me a token for good,
That they who hate me may see it, and be put to shame,
Because thou, Jehovah, hast helped me, and comforted me.

1 Samuel 2:27-36

27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt [a]in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28 [b]and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to [c]go up unto mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? [d]and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Wherefore [e]kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 30 Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. 32 And thou shalt behold [f]the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. 33 [g]And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thy heart; and all the increase of thy house shall die [h]in the flower of their age. 34 And this shall be the sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. 35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. 36 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

Acts 2:22-36

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by [a]mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know; 23 him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of [b]lawless men did crucify and slay: 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David saith concerning him,

[c]I beheld the Lord always before my face;
For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
Moreover my flesh also shall [d]dwell in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades,
Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou madest known unto me the ways of life;
Thou shalt make me full of gladness [e]with thy countenance.

29 Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins [f]he would set one upon his throne; 31 he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus did God raise up, [g]whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore [h]by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. 34 For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself,

[i]The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.

36 Let [j]all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.

Luke 20:41-21:4

41 And he said unto them, How say they that the Christ is David’s son? 42 For David himself saith in the book of Psalms,

[a]The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand,
43 Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.

44 David therefore calleth him Lord, and how is he his son?

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said unto his disciples, 46 Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts; 47 who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater condemnation.

21 And he looked up, [b]and saw the rich men that were casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all: for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts; but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had.