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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
English Standard Version (ESV)
Version
Psalm 56-58

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A (A)Miktam[a] of David, when the (B)Philistines seized him in Gath.

56 (C)Be gracious to me, O God, for man (D)tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
    I (E)put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; (F)I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause;[b]
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They (G)stir up strife, they (H)lurk;
    they (I)watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
    (J)In wrath (K)cast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;[c]
    (L)put my tears in your bottle.
    (M)Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
    (N)in the day when I call.
    This I know, that[d] (O)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; (P)I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

12 I must perform my (Q)vows to you, O God;
    I will (R)render thank offerings to you.
13 (S)For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
(T)that I may walk before God
    (U)in the light of life.

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to (V)Do Not Destroy. A (W)Miktam[e] of David, when he fled from Saul, in (X)the cave.

57 (Y)Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul (Z)takes refuge;
in (AA)the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    (AB)till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who (AC)fulfills his purpose for me.
(AD)He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame (AE)him who tramples on me. Selah
(AF)God will send out (AG)his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

My soul is in the midst of (AH)lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose (AI)teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose (AJ)tongues are sharp swords.

(AK)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

They set (AL)a net for my steps;
    my soul was (AM)bowed down.
They (AN)dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
(AO)My heart is (AP)steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
    (AQ)Awake, (AR)my glory![f]
Awake, (AS)O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your (AT)steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

11 (AU)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to (AV)Do Not Destroy. A (AW)Miktam[g] of David.

58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[h]
    Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands (AX)deal out violence on earth.

The wicked are (AY)estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
(AZ)They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
    like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
so that it (BA)does not hear the voice of charmers
    or of the cunning enchanter.

O God, (BB)break the teeth in their mouths;
    tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
Let them (BC)vanish like water that runs away;
    when he (BD)aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
Let them be like the snail (BE)that dissolves into slime,
    like (BF)the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of (BG)thorns,
    whether green or ablaze, may he (BH)sweep them away![i]

10 (BI)The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
    he will (BJ)bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is (BK)a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who (BL)judges on earth.”

Psalm 64-65

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

64 Hear my voice, O God, in my (A)complaint;
    preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
Hide me from (B)the secret plots of the wicked,
    from the throng of evildoers,
who (C)whet their tongues like swords,
    who (D)aim bitter words like arrows,
shooting from (E)ambush at the blameless,
    shooting at him suddenly and (F)without fear.
They (G)hold fast to their evil purpose;
    they talk of (H)laying snares secretly,
thinking, (I)“Who can see them?”
    They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
    For (J)the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

(K)But God shoots his arrow at them;
    they are wounded suddenly.
They are brought to ruin, with their own (L)tongues turned against them;
    all who (M)see them will (N)wag their heads.
Then all mankind (O)fears;
    they (P)tell what God has brought about
    and ponder what he has done.

10 Let (Q)the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
    and (R)take refuge in him!
Let all (S)the upright in heart exult!

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

65 Praise (T)is due to you,[a] O God, in Zion,
    and to you shall (U)vows be performed.
O you who (V)hear prayer,
    to you (W)shall all flesh come.
When (X)iniquities prevail against me,
    you (Y)atone for our transgressions.
(Z)Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
    to (AA)dwell in your courts!
We shall be (AB)satisfied with the goodness of your house,
    the holiness of your temple!

By (AC)awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
    O God of our salvation,
the hope of all (AD)the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas;
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
    being (AE)girded with might;
who (AF)stills the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    (AG)the tumult of the peoples,
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

You visit the earth and (AH)water it;[b]
    you greatly enrich it;
(AI)the river of God is full of water;
    (AJ)you provide their grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
softening it with (AK)showers,
    and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks (AL)overflow with abundance.
12 (AM)The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills (AN)gird themselves with joy,
13 (AO)the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they (AP)shout and sing together for joy.

Joshua 24:16-33

16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

19 But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is (A)a holy God. He is (B)a jealous God; (C)he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 (D)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then (E)he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (F)you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then (G)put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” 25 So Joshua (H)made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place (I)statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua (J)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And (K)he took a large stone and set it up there (L)under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, (M)this stone shall be a witness against us, for (N)it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” 28 So Joshua (O)sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

Joshua's Death and Burial

29 (P)After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at (Q)Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.

31 (R)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua (S)and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.

32 (T)As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land (U)that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.[a] It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of (V)Phinehas his son, which had been given him in (W)the hill country of Ephraim.

Romans 16:1-16

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant[a] of the church at (A)Cenchreae, that you (B)may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

Greet (C)Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also (D)the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was (E)the first convert[b] to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia,[c] my kinsmen and my (F)fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,[d] and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those (G)who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers[e] who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 (H)Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Matthew 27:24-31

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that (A)a riot was beginning, he took water and (B)washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of (C)this man's blood;[a] (D)see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, (E)“His blood be on us and (F)on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having (G)scourged[b] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

27 (H)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the (I)governor's headquarters,[c] and they gathered the whole (J)battalion[d] before him. 28 And they stripped him and put (K)a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they (L)mocked him, saying, “Hail, (M)King of the Jews!” 30 And (N)they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and (O)led him away to crucify him.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.