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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 87

The privileges of citizenship in Zion.

A Psalm of the sons of Korah; a Song.

[a]87 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah
I will make mention of [b]Rahab and Babylon as among them that know me:
Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with [c]Ethiopia:
This one was born there.
Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her;
And the Most High himself will establish her.
Jehovah will count, when he writeth up the peoples,
This one was born there. Selah
They that sing as well as [d]they that dance shall say,
All my fountains are in thee.

Psalm 90

Book IV

God’s eternity and man’s transitoriness.

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

90 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place
In all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever thou [a]hadst formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Thou turnest man to [b]destruction,
And sayest, Return, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight
Are but as yesterday [c]when it is past,
And as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:
In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;
In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed in thine anger,
And in thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:
We bring our years to an end as [d]a sigh.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten,
Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;
Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow;
For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger,
And thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee?
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may get us a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Jehovah; how long?
And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14 Oh satisfy us in the morning with thy lovingkindness,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,
And the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants,
And thy glory upon their children.
17 And let the [e]favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And establish thou the work of our hands upon us;
Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Psalm 136

Thanks for Jehovah’s goodness to Israel.

136 Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
Oh give thanks unto the God of gods;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
Oh give thanks unto the Lord of lords;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
To him who alone doeth great wonders;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
To him that by understanding made the heavens;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
To him that spread forth the earth above the waters;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
To him that made great lights;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
The sun to rule by day;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
The moon and stars to rule by night;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
10 To him that smote Egypt in their first-born;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
11 And brought out Israel from among them;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
13 To him that divided the Red Sea in sunder;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
15 But [a]overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
16 To him that led his people through the wilderness;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
17 To him that smote great kings;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
18 And slew famous kings;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
19 Sihon king of the Amorites;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
20 And Og king of Bashan;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
21 And gave their land for a heritage;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
22 Even a heritage unto Israel his servant;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
23 Who remembered us in our low estate;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
24 And hath delivered us from our adversaries;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
25 Who giveth food to all flesh;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
26 Oh give thanks unto the God of heaven;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.

2 Kings 11:1-20

11 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, [a]and put them in the [b]bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain; And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the [c]Carites and of the [d]guard, and brought them to him into the house of Jehovah; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah, and showed them the king’s son. And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house; and a third part shall be at the gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. And the two companies of you, even all that go forth on the sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king. And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that cometh within the ranks, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he goeth out, and when he cometh in.

And the captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 And the priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David’s, which were in the house of Jehovah. 11 And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right [e]side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. 12 Then he brought out the king’s son, and [f]put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king.

13 And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of Jehovah: 14 and she looked, and, behold, the king stood [g]by the pillar, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason! treason! 15 And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth between the ranks; and him that followeth her slay with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be slain in the house of Jehovah. 16 So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses’ entry to the king’s house: and there was she slain.

17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be Jehovah’s people; between the king also and the people. 18 And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed [h]officers over the house of Jehovah. 19 And he took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way of the gate of the guard unto the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And Athaliah they had slain with the sword at the king’s house.

1 Corinthians 7:10-24

10 But unto the married I give charge, yea not I, but the Lord, That the wife depart not from her husband 11 (but should she depart, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband); and that the husband leave not his wife. 12 But to the rest say I, not the Lord: If any brother hath an unbelieving wife, and she is content to dwell with him, let him not leave her. 13 And the woman that hath an unbelieving husband, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 15 Yet if the unbelieving departeth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called [a]us in peace. 16 For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O husband, whether thou shalt save thy wife? 17 Only, as the Lord hath distributed to each man, as God hath called each, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all the churches. 18 Was any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Hath any been called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping of the commandments of God. 20 Let each man abide in that calling wherein he was called. 21 Wast thou called being a bondservant? care not for it: [b]nay, even if thou canst become free, use it rather. 22 For he that was called in the Lord being a bondservant, is the Lord’s freedman: likewise he that was called being free, is Christ’s bondservant. 23 Ye were bought with a price; become not bondservants of men. 24 Brethren, let each man, wherein he was called, therein abide with God.

Matthew 6:19-24

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not [a]break through nor steal: 21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. 22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.