Print Page Options
Previous Prev Day Next DayNext

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 37

Security of those who trust in Jehovah, and insecurity of the wicked.

A Psalm of David.

37 Fret not thyself because of evil-doers,
Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
Trust in Jehovah, and do good;
[a]Dwell in the land, and [b]feed on his faithfulness.
[c]Delight thyself also in Jehovah;
And he will give thee the [d]desires of thy heart.
[e]Commit thy way unto Jehovah;
Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass.
And he will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light,
And thy justice as the noon-day.
[f]Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him:
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,
Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath:
Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.
For evil-doers shall be cut off;
But those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit [g]the land.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be:
Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and [h]he shall not be.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plotteth against the just,
And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13 The Lord will laugh at him;
For he seeth that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay such as are upright in the way.
15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
16 Better is a little that the righteous hath
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;
But Jehovah upholdeth the righteous.
18 Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect;
And their inheritance shall be for ever.
19 They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil;
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish,
And the enemies of Jehovah shall be as [i]the fat of lambs:
They shall consume; [j]in smoke shall they consume away.
21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again;
But the righteous dealeth graciously, and giveth.
22 For such as are blessed of him shall inherit the land;
And they that are cursed of him shall be cut off.
23 A man’s goings are established of Jehovah;
And he delighteth in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For Jehovah [k]upholdeth him with his hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his seed begging bread.
26 All the day long he dealeth graciously, and lendeth;
And his seed is blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell for evermore.
28 For Jehovah loveth justice,
And forsaketh not his saints;
They are preserved for ever:
But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell therein for ever.
30 The mouth of the righteous talketh of wisdom,
And his tongue speaketh justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide.
32 The wicked watcheth the righteous,
And seeketh to slay him.
33 Jehovah will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 Wait for Jehovah, and keep his way,
And he will exalt thee to inherit the land:
When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
36 [l]But one passed by, and, lo, he was not:
Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright;
For there is a happy end to the man of peace.
38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together:
The end of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is of Jehovah:
He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 And Jehovah helpeth them, and rescueth them:
He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them,
Because they have taken refuge in him.

Habakkuk 3:1-18

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.

O Jehovah, I have heard [a]the report of thee, and [b]am afraid:
O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
God [c]came from Teman,
And the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had [d]rays coming forth [e]from his hand;
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,
And [f]fiery bolts went forth at his feet.
He stood, and [g]measured the earth;
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the eternal mountains were scattered;
The everlasting hills did bow;
[h]His goings were as of old.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers?
Was thine anger against the rivers,
Or thy wrath against the sea,
That thou didst ride upon thy horses,
Upon thy chariots of salvation?
Thy bow was made quite bare;
[i]The oaths to the tribes were a sure word. Selah
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, and [j]were afraid;
The tempest of waters passed by;
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted up its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,
At the light of thine arrows as they went,
At the shining of thy glittering spear.
12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation;
Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.
13 Thou [k]wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
[l]For the salvation of thine anointed;
[m]Thou [n]woundest the head out of the house of the wicked man,
Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck. Selah
14 Thou [o]didst pierce with his own staves the head of his [p]warriors:
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
15 Thou [q]didst tread the sea with thy horses,
The [r]heap of mighty waters.

16 I heard, and my body trembled,
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place;
Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
[s]For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.
17 For though the fig-tree shall not flourish,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no food;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
18 Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Philippians 3:12-21

12 Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may [a]lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself [b]yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14 I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the [c]high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are [d]perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: 16 only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.

17 Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. 18 For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. 20 For our [e]citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.

John 17:1-8

17 These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee: even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that [a]to all whom thou hast given him, he should give eternal life. And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. Now they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee: for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them; and they received them, and knew of a truth that I came forth from thee, and they believed that thou didst send me.