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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 24

The King of Glory

A Psalm of David.

24 (A)The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,[a]
    the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has (B)founded it upon (C)the seas
    and established it upon the rivers.

(D)Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
    And who shall stand in his (E)holy place?
(F)He who has (G)clean hands and (H)a pure heart,
    who does not (I)lift up his soul to (J)what is false
    and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive (K)blessing from the Lord
    and (L)righteousness from (M)the God of his salvation.
Such is (N)the generation of those who seek him,
    who (O)seek the face of the God of Jacob.[b] Selah

(P)Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
    that (Q)the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord, strong and mighty,
    the Lord, (R)mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And lift them up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
    (S)The Lord of hosts,
    he is the King of glory! Selah

Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord Glory

A Psalm of David.

29 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,[a]
    (A)ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    worship the Lord in (B)the splendor of holiness.[b]

The voice of the Lord is over (C)the waters;
    the God of glory (D)thunders,
    the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is (E)powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks (F)the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to (G)skip like a calf,
    and (H)Sirion like a young (I)wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of (J)Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes (K)the deer give birth[c]
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned over (L)the flood;
    the Lord sits enthroned (M)as king forever.
11 May the Lord give (N)strength to his people!
    May the Lord bless[d] his people with (O)peace!

Psalm 8

How Majestic Is Your Name

To the choirmaster: according to The (A)Gittith.[a] A Psalm of David.

O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your (B)name in all the earth!
You have set your (C)glory above the heavens.
    (D)Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established (E)strength because of your foes,
    to still (F)the enemy and the avenger.

When I (G)look at your heavens, the work of your (H)fingers,
    the moon and the stars, (I)which you have set in place,
(J)what is man that you are (K)mindful of him,
    and (L)the son of man that you (M)care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than (N)the heavenly beings[b]
    and crowned him with (O)glory and honor.
You have given him (P)dominion over the works of your hands;
    (Q)you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 84

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to (A)The Gittith.[a] A Psalm of (B)the Sons of Korah.

84 How (C)lovely is your (D)dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
My soul (E)longs, yes, (F)faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to (G)the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    (H)my King and my God.
(I)Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
    ever (J)singing your praise! Selah

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    (K)in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[b]
As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    (L)the early rain also covers it with (M)pools.
They go (N)from strength to strength;
    each one (O)appears before God in Zion.

O (P)Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
(Q)Behold our (R)shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day (S)in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be (T)a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is (U)a sun and (V)shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
(W)No good thing does he withhold
    from those who (X)walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
    (Y)blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Deuteronomy 29:16-29

16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you (A)a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather (B)the anger of the Lord and (C)his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord (D)will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, (E)will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick— 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and (F)salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, (G)an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, (H)Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath— 24 all the nations (I)will say, (J)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, (K)bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, 28 and the Lord (L)uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and (M)cast them into another land, as they are this day.’

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Revelation 12:1-12

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman (A)clothed with (B)the sun, with (C)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and (D)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great (E)red dragon, (F)with seven heads and (G)ten horns, and on his heads (H)seven diadems. His tail swept down (I)a third of the stars of heaven and (J)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child (K)he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, (L)one who is to rule[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was (M)caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for (N)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

Now war arose in heaven, (O)Michael and (P)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And (Q)the great dragon was thrown down, (R)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, (S)the deceiver of the whole world—(T)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now (U)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers[b] has been thrown down, (V)who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And (W)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for (X)they loved not their lives (Y)even unto death. 12 Therefore, (Z)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But (AA)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because (AB)he knows that his time is short!”

Matthew 15:29-39

Jesus Heals Many

29 (A)Jesus went on from there and walked (B)beside the Sea of Galilee. And he (C)went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them (D)the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 (E)so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, (F)the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And (G)they glorified (H)the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

32 (I)Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, (J)“I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, (K)“Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and (L)having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And (M)they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of (N)Magadan.

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.