Print Page Options
Previous Prev Day Next DayNext

Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
American Standard Version (ASV)
Version
Psalm 69

A cry of distress, and imprecation on adversaries.

For the Chief Musician; set to [a]Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.

69 Save me, O God;
For the waters are come in unto my soul.
I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing:
I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried:
Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head:
They that would cut me off, being mine enemies [b]wrongfully, are mighty:
That which I took not away I have to restore.
O God, thou knowest my foolishness;
And my [c]sins are not hid from thee.
Let not them that wait for thee be put to shame through me, O Lord Jehovah of hosts:
Let not those that seek thee be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach;
Shame hath covered my face.
I am become a stranger unto my brethren,
And an alien unto my mother’s children.
For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up;
And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting,
That was to my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword unto them.
12 They that sit in the gate talk of me;
And I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time:
O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness,
Answer me in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink:
Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the waterflood overwhelm me,
Neither let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me.
16 Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy lovingkindness is good:
According to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn thou unto me.
17 And hide not thy face from thy servant;
For I am in distress; answer me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it:
Ransom me because of mine enemies.
19 Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor:
Mine adversaries are all before thee.
20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am [d]full of heaviness:
And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my food;
And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table before them become a snare;
And when they are in peace, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see;
And make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them,
And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them.
25 Let their [e]habitation be desolate;
Let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten;
And they tell of the [f]sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity;
And let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of [g]life,
And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and [h]sorrowful:
Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 And it will please Jehovah better than an ox,
Or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32 The meek have seen it, and are glad:
Ye that seek after God, let your heart live.
33 For Jehovah heareth the needy,
And despiseth not his prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
The seas, and everything that moveth therein.
35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah;
And they shall abide there, and have it in possession.
36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it;
And they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Psalm 73

Book III

The end of the wicked contrasted with that of the righteous.

A Psalm of Asaph.

[a]73 Surely God is good to Israel,
Even to such as are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the [b]arrogant,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pangs in their death;
But their strength is firm.
They are not [c]in trouble as other men;
Neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness:
[d]They have more than heart could wish.
They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:
They speak [e]loftily.
They have set their mouth [f]in the heavens,
And their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore [g]his people return hither:
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
13 Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,
And washed my hands in innocency;
14 For all the day long have I been plagued,
And [h]chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, I will speak thus;
Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
16 When I thought how I might know this,
It was [i]too painful for me;
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God,
And considered their latter end.
18 Surely thou settest them in slippery places:
Thou castest them down to [j]destruction.
19 How are they become a desolation in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awaketh,
So, O Lord, [k]when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
21 For my soul [l]was grieved,
And I was pricked in my [m]heart:
22 So brutish [n]was I, and ignorant;
I was as a beast [o]before thee.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
Thou hast holden my right hand.
24 Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,
And afterward receive me [p]to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire [q]besides thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth;
But God is the [r]strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:
Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.
28 But it is good for me to draw near unto God:
I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,
That I may tell of all thy works.

Judges 5:1-18

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless ye Jehovah.
Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;
I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah;
I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains [a]quaked at the presence of Jehovah,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, [b]the highways were unoccupied,
And the travellers walked through [c]byways.
[d]The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,
Until that I Deborah arose,
That I arose a mother in Israel.
They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
[e]That offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless ye Jehovah.
10 Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,
Ye that sit on rich carpets,
And ye that walk by the way.
11 [f]Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah,
Even the righteous acts [g]of his rule in Israel.
Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.

12 Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
13 [h]Then came down a remnant of the nobles [i]and the people;
Jehovah came down for me [j]against the mighty.
14 Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek;
After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;
Out of Machir came down [k]governors,
And out of Zebulun they that handle [l]the marshal’s staff.
15 And [m]the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Reuben
There were great resolves of heart.
16 Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds,
To hear the pipings for the flocks?
At the watercourses of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
17 Gilead abode beyond the Jordan:
And Dan, why did he remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the [n]haven of the sea,
And abode by his creeks.
18 Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death,
And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.

Acts 2:1-21

And when the day of Pentecost [a]was now come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues [b]parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilaeans? And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, 10 in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine.

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth unto them, saying, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear unto my words. 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third hour of the day; 16 but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 [c]And it shall be in the last days, saith God,
I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh:
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams:
18 Yea and on my [d]servants and on my [e]handmaidens in those days
Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heaven above,
And signs on the earth beneath;
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the day of the Lord come,
That great and notable day:
21 And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Matthew 28:1-10

28 Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place [a]where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and [b]worshipped him. 10 Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me.