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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
World English Bible (WEB)
Version
Psalm 56-58

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

56 Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up.
    All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,
    for they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid,
    I will put my trust in you.
In God, I praise his word.
    In God, I put my trust.
I will not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?
All day long they twist my words.
    All their thoughts are against me for evil.
They conspire and lurk,
    watching my steps.
    They are eager to take my life.
Shall they escape by iniquity?
    In anger cast down the peoples, God.
You count my wanderings.
    You put my tears into your container.
    Aren’t they in your book?
Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call.
    I know this: that God is for me.
10 In God, I will praise his word.
    In Yahweh, I will praise his word.
11 I have put my trust in God.
    I will not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are on me, God.
    I will give thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    and prevented my feet from falling,
    that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

57 Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me,
    for my soul takes refuge in you.
Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge,
    until disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
He will send from heaven, and save me,
    he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah.
God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
My soul is among lions.
    I lie among those who are set on fire,
    even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    and their tongue a sharp sword.
Be exalted, God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be above all the earth!

They have prepared a net for my steps.
    My soul is bowed down.
They dig a pit before me.
    They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.
My heart is steadfast, God.
    My heart is steadfast.
    I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp!
    I will wake up the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples.
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens,
    and your truth to the skies.
11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens.
    Let your glory be over all the earth.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David.

58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones?
    Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
No, in your heart you plot injustice.
    You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
The wicked go astray from the womb.
    They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a snake,
    like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
    which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers,
    no matter how skillful the charmer may be.
Break their teeth, God, in their mouth.
    Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
Let them vanish like water that flows away.
    When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away,
    like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns,
    he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
    He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.
    Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

Psalm 64-65

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

64 Hear my voice, God, in my complaint.
    Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
    from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;
who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
    and aim their arrows, deadly words,
    to shoot innocent men from ambushes.
    They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
They encourage themselves in evil plans.
    They talk about laying snares secretly.
    They say, “Who will see them?”
They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!”
    Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
But God will shoot at them.
    They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
Their own tongues shall ruin them.
    All who see them will shake their heads.
All mankind shall be afraid.
    They shall declare the work of God,
    and shall wisely ponder what he has done.
10 The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh,
    and shall take refuge in him.
    All the upright in heart shall praise him!

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song.

65 Praise waits for you, God, in Zion.
    Vows shall be performed to you.
You who hear prayer,
    all men will come to you.
Sins overwhelmed me,
    but you atoned for our transgressions.
Blessed is the one whom you choose and cause to come near,
    that he may live in your courts.
    We will be filled with the goodness of your house,
    your holy temple.
By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us,
    God of our salvation.
You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth,
    of those who are far away on the sea.
By your power, you form the mountains,
    having armed yourself with strength.
You still the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your wonders.
    You call the morning’s dawn and the evening with songs of joy.
You visit the earth, and water it.
    You greatly enrich it.
The river of God is full of water.
    You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.
10 You drench its furrows.
    You level its ridges.
    You soften it with showers.
    You bless it with a crop.
11 You crown the year with your bounty.
    Your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The wilderness grasslands overflow.
    The hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The pastures are covered with flocks.
    The valleys also are clothed with grain.
They shout for joy!
    They also sing.

Job 40

40 Moreover Yahweh answered Job,

“Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty?
    He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Then Job answered Yahweh,

“Behold, I am of small account. What will I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
    Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind:

“Now brace yourself like a man.
    I will question you, and you will answer me.
Will you even annul my judgment?
    Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?
Or do you have an arm like God?
    Can you thunder with a voice like him?

10 “Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity.
    Array yourself with honor and majesty.
11 Pour out the fury of your anger.
    Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.
12 Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him.
    Crush the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together.
    Bind their faces in the hidden place.
14 Then I will also admit to you
    that your own right hand can save you.

15 “See now behemoth, which I made as well as you.
    He eats grass as an ox.
16 Look now, his strength is in his thighs.
    His force is in the muscles of his belly.
17 He moves his tail like a cedar.
    The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are like tubes of bronze.
    His limbs are like bars of iron.

19 He is the chief of the ways of God.
    He who made him gives him his sword.
20 Surely the mountains produce food for him,
    where all the animals of the field play.
21 He lies under the lotus trees,
    in the covert of the reed, and the marsh.
22 The lotuses cover him with their shade.
    The willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn’t tremble.
    He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth.
24 Shall any take him when he is on the watch,
    or pierce through his nose with a snare?

Acts 15:36-16:5

36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas planned to take John, who was called Mark, with them also. 38 But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them to do the work. 39 Then the contention grew so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and went out, being commended by the brothers to the grace of God. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the assemblies.

16 He came to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed, but his father was a Greek. The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him. Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

John 11:55-12:8

55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought for Jesus and spoke with one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that he isn’t coming to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.

12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there. Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Therefore Mary took a pound[a] of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.

Then Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said, “Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it.

But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept this for the day of my burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.”

World English Bible (WEB)

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