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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 25

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I (B)trust;
    (C)let me not be put to shame;
    (D)let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, (E)none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
    they shall be ashamed who are (F)wantonly (G)treacherous.

(H)Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach me your paths.
Lead me in your (I)truth and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all the day long.

Remember your (J)mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
    (K)for they have been from of old.
Remember not (L)the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your (M)steadfast love remember me,
    for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

(N)Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he (O)instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (P)steadfast love and faithfulness,
    for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your (Q)name's sake, O Lord,
    pardon my guilt, for it is (R)great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
    Him (S)will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall (T)abide in well-being,
    and his (U)offspring (V)shall inherit the land.
14 (W)The friendship[b] of the Lord is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My (X)eyes are ever toward the Lord,
    for he will (Y)pluck my feet out of the net.

16 (Z)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
18 (AA)Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    (AB)Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you.

22 (AC)Redeem Israel, O God,
    out of all his troubles.

Psalm 9

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

[a] To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.[b] A Psalm of David.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your (A)wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and (B)exult in you;
    I will (C)sing praise to your name, (D)O Most High.

When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before[c] your presence.
For you have (E)maintained my just cause;
    you have (F)sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

You have (G)rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have (H)blotted out their name forever and ever.
The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.

But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
and he (I)judges the world with righteousness;
    he (J)judges the peoples with uprightness.

The Lord is (K)a stronghold for (L)the oppressed,
    a stronghold in (M)times of trouble.
10 And those who (N)know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (O)sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the peoples his (P)deeds!
12 For he who (Q)avenges blood is mindful of them;
    he (R)does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13 (S)Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from (T)the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of (U)the daughter of Zion
    I may (V)rejoice in your salvation.

15 The nations have sunk in (W)the pit that they made;
    in (X)the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself (Y)known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.[d] Selah

17 The wicked shall (Z)return to Sheol,
    all the nations that (AA)forget God.

18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
    and (AB)the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

19 (AC)Arise, O Lord! Let not (AD)man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
    Let the nations know that they are but (AE)men! Selah

Psalm 15

Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?

A Psalm of David.

15 O Lord, (A)who shall sojourn in your (B)tent?
    Who shall dwell on your (C)holy hill?

He who (D)walks blamelessly and (E)does what is right
    and (F)speaks truth in his heart;
who (G)does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor (H)takes up a reproach against his friend;
(I)in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
    but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who (J)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who (K)does not put out his money at interest
    and (L)does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be (M)moved.

2 Chronicles 6:32-7:7

32 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house (A)that I have built is called by your name.

34 “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

36 “If they sin against you—(B)for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, 37 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 38 if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 39 then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40 Now, O my God, (C)let your eyes be open (D)and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

41 “And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your (E)resting place,
    you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O Lord God, be (F)clothed with salvation,
    and let your saints (G)rejoice in your goodness.
42 O Lord God, (H)do not turn away the face of your anointed one!
    (I)Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”

Fire from Heaven

(J)As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, (K)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, (L)and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, (M)for his steadfast love endures forever.”

The Dedication of the Temple

(N)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. The priests stood at their posts; (O)the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord(P)for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry;[a] (Q)opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.

(R)And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.

James 2:1-13

The Sin of Partiality

My brothers,[a] (A)show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, (B)the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” (C)while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become (D)judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, (E)has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be (F)rich in faith and heirs of (G)the kingdom, (H)which he has promised to those who love him? But you (I)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who (J)drag you (K)into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable (L)name by which you were called?

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, (M)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you (N)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point (O)has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, (P)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, (Q)“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under (R)the law of liberty. 13 For (S)judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Mark 14:53-65

Jesus Before the Council

53 (A)And (B)they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 (C)And (D)Peter had followed him at a distance, (E)right into (F)the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with (G)the guards and (H)warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council[a] were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 (I)For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony (J)did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 (K)“We heard him say, (L)‘I will destroy this temple (M)that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, (N)not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”[b] 61 But (O)he remained silent and made no answer. (P)Again the high priest asked him, “Are you (Q)the Christ, the Son of (R)the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and (S)you will see the Son of Man (T)seated at the right hand of Power, and (U)coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest (V)tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard (W)his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they (X)all condemned him as (Y)deserving death. 65 (Z)And some began (AA)to spit on him and (AB)to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him (AC)with blows.

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.