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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
Version
Psalm 131-135

Calm Trust in Yahweh

A song of ascents. Of David.[a]

131 My heart is not haughty nor my eyes arrogant.[b]
And I do not concern myself[c]
with things too great and difficult for me.
Rather I have soothed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother,
like the weaned child is my soul with me.
O Israel, hope in Yahweh
from now until forever.

Yahweh Dwells in Zion

A song of ascents.[d]

132 O Yahweh, remember with regard to David
all his affliction.[e]
How he swore to Yahweh,
he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
“I will not enter into the tent of my house,
I will not go up to the couch of my bed,
I will give no sleep to my eyes,
no slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for Yahweh,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Look, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found her in the fields of Jaar.[f]
Let us go to his dwelling places;[g]
Let us worship at his footstool.
Arise, O Yahweh, to your resting place,
you and your mighty ark.
Let your priests clothe themselves with righteousness,
and let your faithful sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 Yahweh swore in truth to David;
he will not turn back from it.
“One from the fruit of your body[h]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons will heed my covenant
and my testimonies that I will teach them,
their sons also forever
will sit on your throne.”
13 For Yahweh has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his habitation.
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will bless its provisions abundantly;
I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe its priests with salvation,
and its faithful will shout exuberantly for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to grow for David;
I will set a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but on him his crown will flourish.”[i]

The People of God Dwell in Unity

A song of ascents. Of David.[j]

133 Look, how good and how pleasant it is
when brothers dwell together in unity.
It is like the fragrant oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron,
that runs down upon the edges of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon that runs down
upon the mountains of Zion,
because there Yahweh commanded the blessing—
life forever.

Praising Yahweh in the Temple at Night

A song of ascents.[k]

134 Look, bless Yahweh, all you the servants of Yahweh,
who serve[l] in the house[m] of Yahweh by night.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and bless Yahweh.
May Yahweh bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth.

Praise to God for His Power and Redemption

135 Praise Yah![n] Praise the name of Yahweh.
Praise him, O servants of Yahweh,
who stand in the house[o] of Yahweh,
in the courts of the house[p] of our God.
Praise Yah,[q] for Yahweh is good.
Sing praises concerning his name, for it is pleasant.
For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his special possession.
For I know that Yahweh is great,
and our Lord is greater than all gods.
All that Yahweh desires, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.
He causes clouds to rise from the edge of the earth;
he makes lightnings for the rain;
he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
Who struck the firstborn of Egypt,
both of humans[r] and animals.[s]
He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 Who struck many nations
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon the king of the Amorites,
and Og the king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance for his people Israel.
13 O Yahweh, your name endures forever,
your renown[t] throughout all generations,[u]
14 for Yahweh will plead the cause of his people
and will have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of the hands of humankind.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak;
they have eyes, but cannot see;
17 they have ears, but cannot hear;
there is not even breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them become like them,
as does everyone who trusts in them.
19 O house of Israel, bless Yahweh.
O house of Aaron, bless Yahweh.
20 O house of Levi, bless Yahweh.
You who fear Yahweh, bless Yahweh.
21 Blessed be Yahweh from Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise Yah![v]

Numbers 23:11-26

11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have surely blessed them!” 12 He answered and said, “Should I not speak[a] what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

13 Then Balak said, “Please walk with me to another place where you will see them, but you will only see part of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam[b] said to Balak, “Station yourself here at the burnt offering while I myself meet with Yahweh there.” 16 Then Yahweh met with Balaam, and he put a word in his mouth, and he said, “Return to Balak, and you must speak thus.” 17 He came to him, and behold, he was standing at his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?” 18 Then he uttered[c] his oracle, and said,

“Stand up, Balak, and hear;
    listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
    nor a son of humankind,
that he should change his mind.
    Has he said, and will he not do it?
And has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20     Behold, I have received a command to bless;
when he has blessed, I cannot cause it to return.
21     He has no regard for evil in Jacob,
and he does not see trouble in Israel;
    Yahweh his God is with him,
and a shout[d] of a king is among them.[e]
22     God, who brings them out from Egypt,
is like the strength[f] of a wild ox for them.[g]
23     Because there is no sorcery against Jacob,
and there is no divination against Israel.
    Now[h] it will be said to Jacob and Israel,
    what God has done!
24 Look! the people will rise like the lion;
    he raises himself and will not lie down
until he eats the prey
    and drinks the blood of the slain.”

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them[i] at all, nor bless them[j] at all!” 26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Whatever Yahweh speaks I will do’?”

Romans 8:1-11

Set Free from the Law of Sin and Death

Consequently, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did. By[a] sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the law would be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are living according to the flesh are intent on the things of the flesh, but those who are living according to the Spirit are intent on the things of the Spirit. For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace, because the mindset of the flesh is enmity toward God, for it is not subjected to the law of God, for it is not able to do so, and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him[b]. 10 But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ Jesus[c] from the dead will also make alive your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.

Matthew 22:1-14

The Parable of the Wedding Celebration

22 And continuing, Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who gave a wedding celebration for his son. And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding celebration!”’ But they paid no attention and[a] went away—this one to his own field, that one to his business. And the others, seizing his slaves, mistreated them[b] and killed them.[c] And the king was angry and sent his troops and[d] destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy. Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the roads and[e] gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled with dinner guests.[f] 11 But when[g] the king came in to see the dinner guests,[h] he saw a man there not dressed in wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But he could say nothing.[i] 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot[j] and[k] throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called but few are chosen.”

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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