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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
Version
Psalm 41

Thanksgiving for God’s Provision in Time of Sickness

For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]

41 Blessed is the one who has regard for the poor;
in the day of disaster, Yahweh delivers him.
Yahweh protects him and keeps him alive;
he is blessed in the land,
and you do not give him
into the will[b] of his enemies.
Yahweh sustains him on his sick bed.
In his illness, you restore to health.[c]
As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, be gracious to me.
Heal me,[d] for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies speak evil about me,
“When will he die and his name perish?”
And when one comes to see me, he speaks falsely;
his heart gathers disaster for itself.
He goes out to the street; he speaks.
All who hate me speak together against me.
Against me they assume the worst[e] for me:
“A ruinous thing is poured out on him,
and now that he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
Even my close friend,[f] whom I trusted,
who ate my bread,
has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and raise me up
that I may repay them.
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
because my enemy has not shouted in triumph over me.
12 As for me, you have upheld me in my integrity,
and you have set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

Psalm 52

God’s Judgment on the Wicked and Love for the Faithful

For the music director. A maskil of David.

When Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul.

And he said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”[a]

52 Why do you boast about evil, O mighty man?
The loyal love of God endures continually.[b]
Your tongue plans destruction,
like a sharp razor, working deceit.
You love evil more than good,
a lie more than speaking what is right.[c] Selah
You love all devouring words,
O deceitful tongue,
but God will pull you down forever.
He will snatch you and tear you away from your tent,
and he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
And the righteous will see and fear,
and will laugh at him, saying,
“Look, the man who would not make God his refuge,
but he trusted in the greatness of his wealth;
he took refuge in his destructiveness.”
But I am like an olive tree flourishing
in the house[d] of God.
I trust the loyal love of God forever and ever.
I will give thanks to you forever, because of what you have done,
and I will wait on your name, because it is good,
in the presence of your faithful ones.

Psalm 44

Present Defeat and Past Deliverance

For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A maskil.[a]

44 O God, we have heard with our ears;
our ancestors[b] have told us
of work you worked in their days,
in days of old.
You with your hand drove out the nations,
but them[c] you planted.
You harmed the peoples,
but them[d] you let spread out.
For not with their sword
did they possess the land,
and their arm did not give them victory.
Rather it was your right hand and your arm
and the light of your presence,
because you delighted in them.
You are my king, O God.
Command[e] victories for Jacob.
By you we push down our enemies;
by your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
For I do not trust my bow,
and my sword cannot give me victory.
Rather you have saved us from our enemies,[f]
and have humiliated those who hate us.
In God we boast all the day,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
Surely you have rejected and disgraced us,
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have caused us to pull back from the enemy,
and so those who hate us have plundered for themselves.
11 You have given us as sheep for food,
and among the nations you have scattered us.
12 You have sold your people cheaply,[g]
and did not profit by their price.
13 You have made us a taunt to our neighbors,
a derision and a scorn to those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All day long[h] my disgrace is before me,
and the shame of my face covers me,
16 because of the voice of the taunter and the reviler,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has befallen us, though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
and our steps have not turned aside from your way.
19 But you have crushed us in a place of jackals,
and have covered us with deep shadow.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
or had spread out our hands in prayer to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this,
for he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 Rather, on account of you we are killed all day long;[i]
we are accounted as sheep for slaughter.
23 Wake up! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Awake! Do not reject forever.
24 Why do you hide your face?
Have you forgotten our misery and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our body[j] clings to the ground.
26 Rise up! Be a help for us,
and redeem us for the sake of your loyal love.

Joshua 7:1-13

The Sin of Achan

But the Israelites[a] broke faith concerning the devoted things.[b] Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things;[c] and Yahweh’s anger was kindled[d] against the Israelites.[e]

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, “Go up and spy out Ai.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up and attack Ai; only two or three thousand men should go up because they[f] are few. Do not make all the people weary up there.” So about three thousand from the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai. The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, and they chased them from the gate up to Shebarim and killed them on the slope. And the hearts[g] of the people melted and became like water.

And Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.[h] And Joshua said, “Ah, my Lord! Why did you bring this people across the Jordan to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content and stayed beyond the Jordan. Please, my Lord! What can I say after Israel has fled from its enemies?[i] The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of this, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the land. What will you do, for your great name?”

10 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why[j] have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned and transgressed my covenant[k] that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things;[l] they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put them among their belongings. 12 The Israelites[m] were unable to stand before their enemies; they fled from their enemies[n] because they have become a thing devoted[o] for destruction. I will be with you no more[p] unless you destroy the devoted things[q] from among you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “There are devoted things[r] in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things[s] from your midst.”

Romans 13:8-14

Love Fulfills the Law

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves someone else has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,”[a] and if there is any other commandment, are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does not commit evil against a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 And do this because you[c] know the time, that it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we believed. 12 The night is far gone, and the day has drawn near. Therefore let us throw off[d] the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light. 13 Let us live decently, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and do not make provision for the desires of the flesh.

Matthew 26:36-46

The Prayer in Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and[a] pray.” 37 And taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be distressed and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 39 And going forward a little he fell down on his face, praying and saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”[b] 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, were you not able to stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!” 42 Again for the second time he went away and[c] prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will must be done.” 43 And he came again and[d] found them sleeping, for they could not keep their eyes open.[e] 44 And leaving them again, he went away and[f] prayed for the third time, saying the same thing again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us go! Behold, the one who is betraying me is approaching!”

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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