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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 20-21

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

20 May the Lord (A)answer you in the day of trouble!
    May (B)the name of the God of Jacob (C)protect you!
May he send you help from (D)the sanctuary
    and give you support from (E)Zion!
May he (F)remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

May he (G)grant you your heart's desire
    and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over (H)your salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our (I)banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with (J)the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in (K)chariots and some in (L)horses,
    (M)but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save (N)the king!
    May he answer us when we call.

The King Rejoices in the Lord's Strength

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

21 O Lord, in your (O)strength the king rejoices,
    and in your (P)salvation how greatly he exults!
You have (Q)given him his heart's desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
For you (R)meet him with rich blessings;
    you set (S)a crown of (T)fine gold upon his head.
He asked life of you; you (U)gave it to him,
    (V)length of days forever and ever.
His (W)glory is great through your salvation;
    (X)splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
For you make him most blessed forever;[a]
    you make him glad with the (Y)joy of your presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord,
    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be (Z)moved.

Your hand will (AA)find out all your enemies;
    your right hand will find out those who hate you.
You will make them as (AB)a blazing oven
    when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his (AC)wrath,
    and (AD)fire will consume them.
10 You (AE)will destroy their (AF)descendants from the earth,
    and their offspring from among the children of man.
11 Though they plan evil against you,
    though they (AG)devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them (AH)to flight;
    you will (AI)aim at their faces with your bows.

13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
    We will sing and praise your power.

Psalm 110

Sit at My Right Hand

A Psalm of David.

110 (A)The Lord says to my Lord:
    (B)“Sit at my right hand,
(C)until I make your enemies your (D)footstool.”

The Lord sends forth (E)from Zion
    (F)your mighty scepter.
    (G)Rule in the midst of your enemies!
(H)Your people will (I)offer themselves freely
    on the day of your (J)power,[a]
    in (K)holy garments;[b]
from the womb of the morning,
    the dew of your youth will be yours.[c]
(L)The Lord has (M)sworn
    and will (N)not change his mind,
(O)“You are (P)a priest (Q)forever
    after the order of (R)Melchizedek.”

The Lord is at your (S)right hand;
    he will (T)shatter kings on (U)the day of his wrath.
He will (V)execute judgment among the nations,
    (W)filling them with corpses;
he will (X)shatter chiefs[d]
    over the wide earth.
He will (Y)drink from the brook by the way;
    therefore he will lift up his head.

Psalm 116-117

I Love the Lord

116 I (A)love the Lord, because he has (B)heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he (C)inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
(D)The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
Then (E)I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

(F)Gracious is the Lord, and (G)righteous;
    our God is (H)merciful.
The Lord preserves (I)the simple;
    when (J)I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your (K)rest;
    for the Lord has (L)dealt bountifully with you.

For (M)you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the Lord
    (N)in the land of the living.

10 (O)I believed, (P)even when[a] I spoke:
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 (Q)I said in my alarm,
    (R)“All mankind are liars.”

12 What shall I (S)render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up (T)the cup of salvation
    and (U)call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will (V)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

15 (W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his (X)saints.
16 O Lord, I am your (Y)servant;
    I am your servant, (Z)the son of your maidservant.
    You have (AA)loosed my bonds.
17 I will (AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and (AC)call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will (AD)pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
19 in (AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
(AF)Praise the Lord!

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

117 (AG)Praise the Lord, all nations!
    Extol him, all peoples!
For (AH)great is his steadfast love toward us,
    and (AI)the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
(AJ)Praise the Lord!

Daniel 3:19-30

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was (A)filled with fury, and the expression of his face (B)was changed against (C)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army (D)to bind (E)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were (F)bound in their cloaks, their tunics,[a] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22 Because the king's order was (G)urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up (H)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell (I)bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was (J)astonished and rose up (K)in haste. He declared to his (L)counselors, “Did we not cast three men (M)bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, (N)walking in the midst of the fire, and they (O)are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like (P)a son of the gods.”

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, (Q)“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the (R)Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then (S)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the (T)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and (U)the king's counselors gathered together and saw that (V)the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their (W)cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of (X)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who (Y)has sent his angel and (Z)delivered his servants, who (AA)trusted in him, and set aside[b] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than (AB)serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore (AC)I make a decree: Any (AD)people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of (AE)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (AF)shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30 Then the king promoted (AG)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in (AH)the province of Babylon.

1 John 3:11-18

Love One Another

11 For (A)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, (B)that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like (C)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? (D)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[a] (E)that the world hates you. 14 We know that (F)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 (G)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (H)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that (I)he laid down his life for us, and (J)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But (K)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet (L)closes his heart against him, (M)how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not (N)love in word or talk but in deed and (O)in truth.

Luke 4:1-13

The Temptation of Jesus

(A)And Jesus, (B)full of the Holy Spirit, (C)returned from the Jordan and was led (D)by the Spirit in the wilderness for (E)forty days, (F)being tempted by the devil. (G)And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, (H)he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are (I)the Son of God, command (J)this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, (K)“It is written, (L)‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (M)And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you (N)I will give all this authority and their glory, (O)for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, (P)“It is written,

(Q)“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and (R)him only shall you serve.’”

(S)And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are (T)the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

(U)“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’

11 and

(V)“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, (W)‘You shall not (X)put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him (Y)until an opportune time.

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.