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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 31

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31 (A)In you, O Lord, do I (B)take refuge;
    (C)let me never be put to shame;
    in your (D)righteousness deliver me!
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be (E)a rock of (F)refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your (G)name's sake you lead me and guide me;
you (H)take me out of (I)the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my (J)refuge.
(K)Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, (L)faithful God.

I (M)hate[a] those who pay (N)regard to worthless (O)idols,
    but I trust in the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have (P)known the distress of my soul,
and you have not (Q)delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in (R)a broad place.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am (S)in distress;
    (T)my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and (U)my bones waste away.

11 Because of all my adversaries I have become (V)a reproach,
    especially to my (W)neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street (X)flee from me.
12 I have been (Y)forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like (Z)a broken vessel.
13 For I (AA)hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
(AB)as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

14 But I (AC)trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
15 My (AD)times are in your hand;
    (AE)rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 (AF)Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, (AG)let me not be put to shame,
    for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go (AH)silently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
    which (AI)speak (AJ)insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.

19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
    (AK)in the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In (AL)the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
you (AM)store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously (AN)shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in (AO)a besieged city.
22 I had said in my (AP)alarm,[b]
    “I am (AQ)cut off from (AR)your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all you his (AS)saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly (AT)repays the one who acts in pride.
24 (AU)Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!

Psalm 35

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

35 Contend, O Lord, with those who (A)contend with me;
    (B)fight against those who fight against me!
Take hold of (C)shield and buckler
    and rise for my help!
Draw the spear and javelin[a]
    against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation!”

(D)Let them be (E)put to shame and dishonor
    who seek after my life!
Let them be (F)turned back and disappointed
    who devise evil against me!
Let them be like (G)chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
Let their way be dark and (H)slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

For (I)without cause (J)they hid their net for me;
    without cause they dug (K)a pit for my life.[b]
Let (L)destruction come upon him (M)when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
    let him fall into it—to his destruction!

Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
    (N)exulting in his salvation.
10 All my (O)bones shall say,
    “O Lord, (P)who is like you,
delivering the poor
    from him who is too strong for him,
    the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11 (Q)Malicious[c] witnesses rise up;
    they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 (R)They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is bereft.[d]
13 But I, (S)when they were sick—
    I (T)wore sackcloth;
    I (U)afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed (V)with head bowed[e] on my chest.
14     I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
    I (W)bowed down in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
    they gathered together against me;
(X)wretches whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;
16 like profane mockers at a feast,[f]
    they (Y)gnash at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O Lord, will you (Z)look on?
    Rescue me from their destruction,
    (AA)my precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in (AB)the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19 (AC)Let not those rejoice over me
    who are (AD)wrongfully my foes,
and let not those (AE)wink the eye
    who (AF)hate me (AG)without cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
    but against those who are quiet in the land
    they devise words of deceit.
21 They (AH)open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, (AI)“Aha, Aha!
    Our eyes have seen it!”

22 (AJ)You have seen, O Lord; (AK)be not silent!
    O Lord, (AL)be not far from me!
23 Awake and (AM)rouse yourself for (AN)my vindication,
    for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 (AO)Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
    according to your righteousness,
    and (AP)let them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts,
    (AQ)“Aha, our heart's desire!”
Let them not say, (AR)“We have swallowed him up.”

26 Let them be (AS)put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be (AT)clothed with shame and dishonor
    who (AU)magnify themselves against me!

27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
    shout for joy and be glad
    (AV)and say evermore,
(AW)“Great is the Lord,
    who (AX)delights in the welfare of his servant!”
28 Then my (AY)tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all the day long.

Isaiah 45:18-25

18 (A)For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
    (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
    (he established it;
he (B)did not create it empty,
    (C)he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 (D)I did not speak in secret,
    in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    (E)‘Seek me in vain.’[a]
I the Lord speak (F)the truth;
    I declare what is right.

20 (G)“Assemble yourselves and come;
    draw near together,
    you survivors of the nations!
(H)They have no knowledge
    who (I)carry about their wooden idols,
(J)and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
21 (K)Declare and present your case;
    let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
    Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God (L)and a Savior;
    there is none besides me.

22 “Turn to me and be saved,
    (M)all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
23 (N)By myself I have sworn;
    from my mouth has gone out in (O)righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
(P)‘To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear allegiance.’[b]

24 (Q)“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and (R)strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
    (S)all who were incensed against him.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
    shall be justified and shall glory.”

Ephesians 6:1-9

Children and Parents

(A)Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (B)“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, (C)but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

(D)Bondservants,[a] obey your earthly masters[b] with fear and trembling, (E)with a sincere heart, (F)as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as (G)people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, (H)knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, (I)whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, (J)and stop your threatening, knowing that (K)he who is both their Master[c] and yours is in heaven, and that (L)there is no partiality with him.

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 (A)On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves (B)were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and (C)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and (D)there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you (E)so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, (F)“Who then is this, that even (G)the wind and the sea obey 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.