◀ All Reading Plans / Book of Common Prayer / Ps. 37:1–18; Ps. 37:19–42; Deut. 4:32–40; 2 Cor. 3:1–18; Luke 16:1–9 (New American Bible (Revised Edition))

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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.

Duration: 861 days

Psalm 37

Psalm 37^[a]

The Fate of Sinners and the Reward of the Just

¹Of David.

Aleph

Do not be provoked by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.^(A)
²Like grass they wither quickly;
like green plants they wilt away.^(B)

Beth

³Trust in the Lord and do good
that you may dwell in the land^[b] and live secure.^(C)
⁴Find your delight in the Lord
who will give you your heart’s desire.^(D)

Gimel

⁵Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will act^(E)
⁶And make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like noonday.^(F)

Daleth

⁷Be still before the Lord;
wait for him.
Do not be provoked by the prosperous,
nor by malicious schemers.

He

⁸Refrain from anger; abandon wrath;
do not be provoked; it brings only harm.
⁹Those who do evil will be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the earth.^(G)

Waw

¹⁰Wait a little, and the wicked will be no more;
look for them and they will not be there.
¹¹But the poor will inherit the earth,^(H)
will delight in great prosperity.

Zayin

¹²The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
¹³But my Lord laughs at them,^(I)
because he sees that their day is coming.

Heth

¹⁴The wicked unsheath their swords;
    they string their bows
To fell the poor and oppressed,
    to slaughter those whose way is upright.^(J)
¹⁵Their swords will pierce their own hearts;
    their bows will be broken.

Teth

¹⁶Better the meagerness of the righteous one
than the plenty of the wicked.^(K)
¹⁷The arms of the wicked will be broken,
while the Lord will sustain the righteous.

Yodh

¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the blameless;
their heritage lasts forever.
¹⁹They will not be ashamed when times are bad;
in days of famine they will be satisfied.

Kaph

²⁰The wicked perish,
enemies of the Lord;
They shall be consumed like fattened lambs;
like smoke they disappear.^(L)

Lamedh

²¹The wicked one borrows but does not repay;
the righteous one is generous and gives.
²²For those blessed by the Lord will inherit the earth,
but those accursed will be cut off.

Mem

²³The valiant one whose steps are guided by the Lord,
who will delight in his way,^(M)
²⁴May stumble, but he will never fall,
for the Lord holds his hand.

Nun

²⁵Neither in my youth, nor now in old age
    have I seen the righteous one abandoned^(N)
    or his offspring begging for bread.
²⁶All day long he is gracious and lends,
    and his offspring become a blessing.

Samekh

²⁷Turn from evil and do good,
that you may be settled forever.^(O)
²⁸For the Lord loves justice
and does not abandon the faithful.

Ayin

When the unjust are destroyed,
and the offspring of the wicked cut off,
²⁹The righteous will inherit the earth
and dwell in it forever.^(P)

Pe

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;^(Q)
his tongue speaks what is right.
³¹God’s teaching is in his heart;^(R)
his steps do not falter.

Sadhe

³²The wicked spies on the righteous
and seeks to kill him.
³³But the Lord does not abandon him in his power,
nor let him be condemned when tried.

Qoph

³⁴Wait eagerly for the Lord,
and keep his way;^(S)
He will raise you up to inherit the earth;
you will see when the wicked are cut off.

Resh

³⁵I have seen a ruthless scoundrel,
spreading out like a green cedar.^(T)
³⁶When I passed by again, he was gone;
though I searched, he could not be found.

Shin

³⁷Observe the person of integrity and mark the upright;
Because there is a future for a man of peace.^(U)
³⁸Sinners will be destroyed together;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.

Taw

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
    their refuge in a time of distress.^(V)
⁴⁰The Lord helps and rescues them,
    rescues and saves them from the wicked,
    because they take refuge in him.

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

³²Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created humankind upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? ³³Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?^(A) ³⁴Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders,^(B) by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? ³⁵All this you were allowed to see that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other.^(C) ³⁶Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire. ³⁷For love of your ancestors he chose their descendants after them and by his presence and great power led you out of Egypt, ³⁸dispossessing before you nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to give their land to you as a heritage, as it is today. ³⁹This is why you must now acknowledge, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.^(D) ⁴⁰And you must keep his statutes and commandments which I command you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.^(E)

2 Corinthians 3

Chapter 3

¹^[a]^(A)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ²You are our letter,^[b] written on our hearts, known and read by all, ³^[c]^(B)shown to be a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

⁴^[d]Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. ⁵Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God,^(C) ⁶who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit;^(D) for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.^[e]

Contrast with the Old Covenant. ⁷^[f]Now if the ministry of death,^[g] carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the Israelites could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade,^(E) ⁸how much more^[h] will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? ⁹For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. ¹⁰Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.

¹²Therefore, since we have such hope,^[i] we act very boldly ¹³and not like Moses,^[j] who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not look intently at the cessation of what was fading. ¹⁴Rather, their thoughts were rendered dull, for to this present day^[k] the same veil remains unlifted when they read the old covenant, because through Christ it is taken away. ¹⁵To this day, in fact, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts,^(F) ¹⁶but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.^(G) ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit,^[l] and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸^[m]All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.^(H)

Footnotes

3:1 Paul seems to allude to certain preachers who pride themselves on their written credentials. Presumably they reproach him for not possessing similar credentials and compel him to spell out his own qualifications (2 Cor 4:2; 5:12; 6:4). The Corinthians themselves should have performed this function for Paul (2 Cor 5:12; cf. 2 Cor 12:11). Since he is forced to find something that can recommend him, he points to them: their very existence constitutes his letter of recommendation (2 Cor 3:1–2). Others who engage in self-commendation will also be mentioned in 2 Cor 10:12–18.
3:2–3 Mention of “letters of recommendation” generates a series of metaphors in which Paul plays on the word “letter”: (1) the community is Paul’s letter of recommendation (2 Cor 3:2a); (2) they are a letter engraved on his affections for all to see and read (2 Cor 3:2b); (3) they are a letter from Christ that Paul merely delivers (2 Cor 3:3a); (4) they are a letter written by the Spirit on the tablets of human hearts (2 Cor 3:3b). One image dissolves into another.
3:3 This verse contrasts Paul’s letter with those written…in ink (like the credentials of other preachers) and those written…on tablets of stone (like the law of Moses). These contrasts suggest that the other preachers may have claimed special relationship with Moses. If they were Judaizers zealous for the Mosaic law, that would explain the detailed contrast between the old and the new covenants (2 Cor 3:6; 4:7–6:10). If they were charismatics who claimed Moses as their model, that would explain the extended treatment of Moses himself and his glory (2 Cor 3:7–4:6). Hearts of flesh: cf. Ezekiel’s contrast between the heart of flesh that the Spirit gives and the heart of stone that it replaces (Ez 36:26); the context is covenant renewal and purification that makes observance of the law possible.
3:4–6 These verses resume 2 Cor 2:1–3:3. Paul’s confidence (2 Cor 3:4) is grounded in his sense of God-given mission (2 Cor 2:17), the specifics of which are described in 2 Cor 3:1–3. 2 Cor 3:5–6 return to the question of his qualifications (2 Cor 2:16), attributing them entirely to God. 2 Cor 3:6 further spells out the situation described in 2 Cor 3:3b and “names” it: Paul is living within a new covenant, characterized by the Spirit, which gives life. The usage of a new covenant is derived from Jer 31:31–33 a passage that also speaks of writing on the heart; cf. 2 Cor 3:2.
3:6 This verse serves as a topic sentence for 2 Cor 3:7–6:10. For the contrast between letter and spirit, cf. Rom 2:29; 7:5–6.
3:7–4:6 Paul now develops the contrast enunciated in 2 Cor 3:6b in terms of the relative glory of the two covenants, insisting on the greater glory of the new. His polemic seems directed against individuals who appeal to the glorious Moses and fail to perceive any comparable glory either in Paul’s life as an apostle or in the gospel he preaches. He asserts in response that Christians have a glory of their own that far surpasses that of Moses.
3:7 The ministry of death: from his very first words, Paul describes the Mosaic covenant and ministry from the viewpoint of their limitations. They lead to death rather than life (2 Cor 3:6–7; cf. 2 Cor 4:7–5:10), to condemnation rather than reconciliation (2 Cor 3:9; cf. 2 Cor 5:11–6:10). Was so glorious: the basic text to which Paul alludes is Ex 34:29–35 to which his opponents have undoubtedly laid claim. Going to fade: Paul concedes the glory of Moses’ covenant and ministry, but grants them only temporary significance.
3:8–11 How much more: the argument “from the less to the greater” is repeated three times (2 Cor 3:8, 9, 11). 2 Cor 3:10 expresses another point of view: the difference in glory is so great that only the new covenant and ministry can properly be called “glorious” at all.
3:12 Such hope: the glory is not yet an object of experience, but that does not lessen Paul’s confidence. Boldly: the term parrēsia expresses outspoken declaration of Christian conviction (cf. 2 Cor 4:1–2). Paul has nothing to hide and no reason for timidity.
3:13–14a Not like Moses: in Exodus Moses veiled his face to protect the Israelites from God’s reflected glory. Without impugning Moses’ sincerity, Paul attributes another effect to the veil. Since it lies between God’s glory and the Israelites, it explains how they could fail to notice the glory disappearing. Their thoughts were rendered dull: the problem lay with their understanding. This will be expressed in 2 Cor 3:14b–16 by a shift in the place of the veil: it is no longer over Moses’ face but over their perception.
3:14b–16 The parallelism in these verses makes it necessary to interpret corresponding parts in relation to one another. To this present day: this signals the shift of Paul’s attention to his contemporaries; his argument is typological, as in 1 Cor 10. The Israelites of Moses’ time typify the Jews of Paul’s time, and perhaps also Christians of Jewish origin or mentality who may not recognize the temporary character of Moses’ glory. When they read the old covenant: the lasting dullness prevents proper appraisal of Moses’ person and covenant. When his writings are read in the synagogue, a veil still impedes their understanding. Through Christ: i.e., in the new covenant. Whenever a person turns to the Lord: Moses in Exodus appeared before God without the veil and gazed on his face unprotected. Paul applies that passage to converts to Christianity: when they turn to the Lord fully and authentically, the impediment to their understanding is removed.
3:17 The Lord is the Spirit: the “Lord” to whom the Christian turns (2 Cor 3:16) is the Spirit of whom Paul has been speaking, the life-giving Spirit of the living God (2 Cor 3:6, 8), the inaugurator of the new covenant and ministry, who is also the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of the Lord: the Lord here is the living God (2 Cor 3:3), but there may also be an allusion to Christ as Lord (2 Cor 3:14, 16). Freedom: i.e., from the ministry of death (2 Cor 3:7) and the covenant that condemned (2 Cor 3:9).
3:18 Another application of the veil image. All of us…with unveiled face: Christians (Israelites from whom the veil has been removed) are like Moses, standing in God’s presence, beholding and reflecting his glory. Gazing: the verb may also be translated “contemplating as in a mirror”; 2 Cor 4:6 would suggest that the mirror is Christ himself. Are being transformed: elsewhere Paul speaks of transformation, conformity to Jesus, God’s image, as a reality of the end time, and even 2 Cor 3:12 speaks of the glory as an object of hope. But the life-giving Spirit, the distinctive gift of the new covenant, is already present in the community (cf. 2 Cor 1:22, the “first installment”), and the process of transformation has already begun. Into the same image: into the image of God, which is Christ (2 Cor 4:4).

Luke 16:1-9

Chapter 16

The Parable of the Dishonest Steward.^[a] ¹Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. ²He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ ³The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶^[b]He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ ⁷Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors^[c] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ ⁸And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

Application of the Parable.^[d] “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.^[e]^(A) ⁹I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,^[f] so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.^(B)

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 37^[a]

The Fate of Sinners and the Reward of the Just

Aleph

Beth

Gimel

Daleth

He

Waw

Zayin

Heth

Teth

Yodh

Kaph

Lamedh

Mem

Nun

Samekh

Ayin

Pe

Sadhe

Qoph

Resh

Shin

Taw

Footnotes

Cross references

Cross references

Chapter 3

Footnotes

Cross references

Chapter 16

Footnotes

Cross references

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 37[a]

The Fate of Sinners and the Reward of the Just

Aleph

Beth

Gimel

Daleth

He

Waw

Zayin

Heth

Teth

Yodh

Kaph

Lamedh

Mem

Nun

Samekh

Ayin

Pe

Sadhe

Qoph

Resh

Shin

Taw

Footnotes

Cross references

Cross references

Chapter 3

Footnotes

Cross references

Chapter 16

Footnotes

Cross references

Psalm 37^[a]