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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 82

Unjust judgments rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

82 God standeth in the congregation of God;
He judgeth among the gods.
How long will ye judge unjustly,
And respect the persons of the wicked? Selah

Judge the [a]poor and fatherless:
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the [b]poor and needy:
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
They know not, neither do they understand;
They walk to and fro in darkness:
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of the Most High.
Nevertheless ye shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For thou shalt inherit all the nations.

Psalm 98

A call to praise Jehovah for his righteousness.

A Psalm.

98 Oh sing unto Jehovah a new song;
For he hath done marvellous things:
His right hand, and his holy arm, hath wrought salvation for him.
Jehovah hath made known his salvation:
His righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the nations.
He hath remembered his lovingkindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel:
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all the earth:
Break forth and sing for joy, yea, sing praises.
Sing praises unto Jehovah with the harp;
With the harp and the voice of melody.
With trumpets and sound of cornet
Make a joyful noise before the King, Jehovah.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
The world, and they that dwell therein;
Let the floods clap their hands;
Let the hills sing for joy together
Before Jehovah; for he cometh to judge the earth:
He will judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with equity.

Malachi 3:1-5

Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; [a]and the [b]messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.

John 3:22-30

22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there [a]was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 24 For John was not yet cast into prison. 25 There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purifying. 26 And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven. 28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Psalm 80

God implored to rescue his people from their calamities.

For the Chief Musician; set to [a]Shoshannim Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.

80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;
Thou that [b]sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy might,
And come to save us.
[c]Turn us again, O God;
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

O Jehovah God of hosts,
How long [d]wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in large measure.
Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors;
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
[e]Turn us again, O God of hosts;
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt:
Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it.
Thou preparedst room before it,
And it took deep root, and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with the shadow of it,
And [f]the boughs thereof were like [g]cedars of God.
11 It sent out its branches unto the sea,
And its shoots unto the River.
12 Why hast thou broken down its walls,
So that all they that pass by the way do pluck it?
13 The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,
And the wild beasts of the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, we beseech thee, O God of hosts:
Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine,
15 And [h]the stock which thy right hand planted,
And the [i]branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down:
They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,
Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18 So shall we not go back from thee:
Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 [j]Turn us again, O Jehovah God of hosts;
Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

Matthew 11:2-19

Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have [a]good tidings preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.

And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses. [b]But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 10 This is he, of whom it is written,

[c]Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
Who shall prepare thy way before thee.

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is [d]but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye are willing to receive [e]it, this is Elijah, that is to come. 15 He that hath ears [f]to hear, let him hear. 16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows 17 and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not [g]mourn. 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of [h]publicans and sinners! And wisdom [i]is justified by her [j]works.