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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 41

Psalm 41^[a]

Trust in God in Sickness and Misfortune

¹For the director.^[b] A psalm of David.

²^[c]Blessed is he who has concern for the weak;
    in time of trouble the Lord will deliver him.
³The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
    he will make him happy on earth
    and not abandon him to the will of his enemies.
⁴The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed
    and bring him back to health.
⁵Once I prayed, “O Lord, have mercy on me;
    heal me, for I have sinned^[d] against you.
⁶In their malice my enemies say of me,
    ‘When will he die and his name be forgotten?’
⁷When someone comes to visit me,
    he utters words without sincerity;
his heart^[e] harbors slander,
    and on departing he gives voice to it.
⁸“All my enemies whisper against me
    and conjure up the worst in my regard.
⁹‘He has a fatal disease,’ they say;
    ‘he will never rise up from his sickbed.’
¹⁰“Even my friend whom I trusted,
    the one who dined at my table,
    has risen up^[f] against me.
¹¹But you, O Lord, be merciful to me;
    make me well^[g] so that I may pay them back.”
¹²By this I know that you are pleased with me—
    that my enemy fails to triumph over me.
¹³Because of my innocence you uphold me
    and let me stand in your presence forever.
¹⁴Blessed^[h] be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    forever and forever.
    Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

Psalm 41:1 The psalmist is well aware that mercy is rarely given by human beings. In his illness, he received no mercy from others; instead his enemies gleefully engaged in malicious gossip about him and his coming death and even his friend betrayed him. However, the psalmist does not retaliate in kind; he turns to God for mercy, asking for a rich life with all his powers restored so that he can stand once again in the presence of the Lord.
In praying this psalm, we can recall that the entire psalm is applicable to Christ personally, with the exception of verse 5, which he can assume only in place of and in the role of his sinful members. Since Christ assures us of God’s complete solicitude, we can recite this supplication on our account amid our earthly trials.
Psalm 41:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation.
Psalm 41:2 The psalmist voices his confidence that the Lord will restore him to fullness of health and life because of the psalmist’s regard for the weak. Blessed . . . weak: other psalms use the same designation (“Blessed”) for those whom God favors (see Pss 32:1f; 34:9; 40:5; 65:5; see also note on Ps 1:1).
Psalm 41:5 Sinned: the psalmist acknowledges his sin and asks for forgiveness and healing—in keeping with the idea that sickness was a divine punishment for sin (see Ps 107:17; Job 32:3). In the cure of the man born blind, Jesus was to indicate that such was not the case (see Jn 9:2f).
Psalm 41:7 Heart: see note on Ps 4:8.
Psalm 41:10 This passage repeats a theme frequently developed (see Pss 31:12; 38:12; 55:15f; 88:9; Job 19:13; Jer 20:10; 38:22). It is cited by Jesus with reference to Judas (Jn 13:18) according to the sense of the Septuagint. Risen up: literally, “raised his heel.”
Psalm 41:11 Make me well: the fact that God heals the psalmist is in itself a judgment in his favor and against his adversaries, but paying them back is not part of God’s judgment.
Psalm 41:14 This doxology is not part of the psalm; it concludes the first of the five Books of the Psalter (see Pss 72:18f; 89:53; 106:48; 150). Blessed: see note on Ps 18:47.

Psalm 52

Psalm 52^[a]

Prayer for Help against Calumniators

¹For the director.^[b] A maskil of David. ²When Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”

³Why do you boast of your evil deeds,
    you champion of malice?^[c]
All day long ⁴you plot harm;
    your tongue is like a sharpened razor,
    you master of deceit.
⁵^[d]You love evil rather than good,
    and lies rather than truthful speech. Selah
⁶You wallow in destructive talk,
    you tongue of deceit.
⁷^[e]This is the reason why God will crush you
    and destroy you once and for all.
He will snatch you from your tent^[f]
    and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
⁸The righteous will see and be afraid;
    they will mock him:
⁹“This is the man
    who refused to accept God as his refuge.
Rather, he placed his trust in his abundant riches
    and gathered strength by his crimes.”
¹⁰^[g]But I am like a green olive tree^[h]
    in the house of God.
I place my trust forever and ever
    in the kindness of God.
¹¹I will praise you forever
    for what you have done,^[i]
and in the presence of the saints
    I will proclaim the goodness of your name.

Footnotes

Psalm 52:1 The psalmist indicates that a tragic end is reserved for arrogant cynicism and the perfidious tongue, while the righteous subsist, for they take refuge in God; they will have the happiness of living in the temple, i.e., in the presence of the Lord. This psalm constitutes one of the most violent indictments brought against wicked tongues; it resembles the wisdom psalms (see Pss 57:5; 59:8) and writings (Job 20).
In praying this psalm, we can dwell on the fact that Jesus teaches us to fear more than anything else those schemers who seek the death of our souls: the devil and the corruptive world, the givers of scandal (see 1 Jn 2:16; 1 Pet 5:8). The workers of evil know how to disguise themselves (see 2 Cor 11:15); by the power of Satan, they perform even lying works and use all the wicked deceptions of evil (see 2 Thes 2:9-12).
Psalm 52:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation. Maskil: see note on Ps 32:1a. For the event referred to, see 1 Sam 22:9f.
Psalm 52:3 You champion of malice: the translation follows the Greek. The Hebrew has: “the kindness of God lasts all day long.” The title is one of scorn; he is a champion only in his own mind, and God can easily put him in his place (see Isa 22:17).
Psalm 52:5 The values of the wicked are distorted. He loves to think, speak, and do evil whenever he can profit from it (see v. 5; Mic 3:2). His entire being reflects the evil that is associated with the tongue (see Ps 120:2; Jas 3:1-12).
Psalm 52:7 The wicked will be brought down by God while the righteous will subsist and mock them (see Ps 28:5; Job 18:14; Prov 2:22; Isa 22:17). The end of the wicked will be that of the foolish rich of Ps 49.
Psalm 52:7 Tent: the earthly dwelling (see Job 18:14).
Psalm 52:10 The godly or righteous stands in contrast to the “champion of malice” (v. 3). The latter relies on himself, does evil, and amasses ill-gotten riches and power; the Lord uproots him like a tree, turns him into a wanderer and destroys him like a building (v. 7). The godly relies on the Lord and is like a tree flourishing in the Lord’s house. The “champion” boasts of his abilities; the godly praises the Lord for his wondrous works.
Psalm 52:10 Like a green olive tree: symbol of a long and fruitful life inasmuch as it lives hundreds of years (see Pss 92:13-15; 128:3). Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
Psalm 52:11 I will praise you forever for what you have done: a vow to praise the Lord for his punishing the wicked and saving the righteous (see Pss 13:6; 22:32; 31:23; 57:4) in keeping with the Israelite belief that praise must follow deliverance. The praise involved thank offerings and celebrating God’s saving deed in the presence of others in the temple (see Ps 50:14f, 23). See also note on Ps 9:2. Saints: people of God who are and should be devoted to him (see note on Ps 4:4). Name: see note on Ps 5:12.

Psalm 44

Psalm 44^[a]

Past Glory and Present Need of God’s People

¹For the director.^[b] A maskil of the sons of Korah.

²^[c]O God, we have heard with our ears,
    our ancestors have told us,
of the deeds you performed in their days,
    in the days of old.
³To establish them in the land,
    you drove out the nations with your own hand;
you crushed the peoples
    so that our ancestors could flourish.
⁴It was not their own swords that won them the land,
    nor did their own arms make them victorious;
rather, it was your right hand and your arm
    and the light of your face,^[d]
    because you loved them.
⁵You are my^[e] King and my God,
    who bestowed victories upon Jacob.
⁶Through you we throw back our enemies;
    through your name^[f] we crush our assailants.
⁷It is not in my bow that I trust,
    nor can my sword ensure my victory.
⁸It is you who saved us from our enemies;
    you scattered in confusion those who hate us.
⁹In God we boast the whole day long,
    and we will praise your name forever. Selah
¹⁰^[g]But now you have rejected and humiliated us,
    and you no longer accompany our armies.^[h]
¹¹You have forced us to retreat^[i] before the enemy;
    those who hate us plunder us unceasingly.
¹²You have handed us over like sheep to be slaughtered
    and scattered us among the nations.
¹³You have sold your people for nothing,
    receiving no gain from their sale.
¹⁴You have subjected us to the contempt of our neighbors,
    to the mockery and scorn of all who are near.
¹⁵You have made us a byword to the nations;
    the peoples shake their heads^[j] at us.
¹⁶All day long I am confronted by my disgrace,
    and my face is covered with shame
¹⁷as I hear the shouts of taunting and abuse
    and see the hateful enemy seeking revenge.
¹⁸All this has happened to us
    even though we have not forgotten you
    or been false to your covenant.^[k]
¹⁹Our hearts^[l] have not turned back,
    nor have our feet wandered from your path.
²⁰Yet you have crushed us,
    forced us to live among the jackals,^[m]
    and covered us with darkness.
²¹If we had forgotten the name^[n] of our God
    or lifted up our hands to a foreign god,
²²would not God have discovered it,
    he who knows the secrets of the heart?
²³For your sake we are put to death all day long;
    we are treated like sheep destined to be slaughtered.^[o]
²⁴Awake, O Lord. Why^[p] do you sleep?
    Rise up, and do not abandon us forever.
²⁵Why do you hide your face^[q]
    and continue to ignore our misery and our sufferings?
²⁶We have been brought down to the dust;
    our bodies cling to the ground.^[r]
²⁷Rise up and come to our aid;
    redeem us for the sake of your kindness.^[s]

Footnotes

Psalm 44:1 In the history of Israel, times of joy and defeat alternate with one another. This hymn transmits the strong feeling of the people about the triumphs of bygone days and the defeat at hand. But they do not believe God can forget forever the people that he loves.
As the true “remnant” and the elite of God’s servants, the Church very naturally uses this psalm of the remnant of Israel to beseech the Lord and Master to take pity on her in the severe trials that assail her. This national lamentation is a prayer for times when we feel overwhelmed by failure, uncertainty, and confusion.
Psalm 44:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation. Maskil: see note on Ps 32:1a. Sons of Korah: see note on Ps 42:1.
Psalm 44:2 The liturgy of the Old Testament transmits with gratitude the memory of the great hours of the conquest. Isn’t God the one who at that time was responsible for this people’s victory? A hymn recalls these wondrous deeds.
Psalm 44:4 The light of your face: see notes on Pss 4:7; 13:2.
Psalm 44:5 My: this psalm is sung in the name of all Israel.
Psalm 44:6 Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 44:10 Only a lament can evoke the situation of that moment; we are doubtless at the time of the Exile, after 587 B.C. This prayer could have been utilized and adapted at other times of national calamity; thus, verses 18-23 make us think of the Maccabean period when Israel is conscious of being the faithful community that did not deserve persecution (167–164 B.C.); the people suffer for their faith rather than for punishment of sin. For Paul, this lament (v. 23) reflects the condition of Christians (Rom 8:36).
Psalm 44:10 You no longer accompany our armies: as commander-in-chief (see Pss 60:12; 68:8; Ex 15:3; Jdg 5:4).
Psalm 44:11 You have forced us to retreat: God is responsible for the defeats as well as the victories (v. 5) of Israel.
Psalm 44:15 Since the People of God have been allowed by God to be conquered, plundered, scattered like sheep, and enslaved by their enemies, their name has been disgraced among the nations (see Deut 28:37; 1 Ki 9:7; Jer 24:10). Shake their heads: a gesture of scorn (see Ps 64:9).
Psalm 44:18 Israel’s present state is not the result of infidelity to God’s Covenant (see Ex 19–24).
Psalm 44:19 Hearts: see note on Ps 4:8. Your path: the path or way shown them by the Lord (see Ps 18:31).
Psalm 44:20 You have crushed us [and] forced us to live among the jackals: i.e., relegated Israel to a place unfit for human beings (see Isa 13:22; Jer 9:11; 10:22). Another translation proposed is: “you crushed us as you did the sea monster.” Darkness: they have been left without “light,” which symbolizes the fruits of God’s loving kindness (see note on Ps 36:10).
Psalm 44:21 Name: see note on Ps 5:12. Lifted up our hands: the usual posture for prayer (see Ex 9:29), with palms turned upward.
Psalm 44:23 In truth, Israel has suffered the hostility of the peoples because she has been the nation faithful to the Lord. Applying this verse to the Christian community (Rom 8:36), Paul is able to give it a positive slant because of Christ’s victory through his Passion and Resurrection (Rom 8:37-39).
Psalm 44:24 Why . . . ?: see note on Ps 6:4.
Psalm 44:25 Hide your face: see note on Ps 13:2.
Psalm 44:26 Our bodies cling to the ground: posture of those who are defeated, those at prayer, or those in affliction (see Pss 7:6; 119:25; Num 24:4; Deut 9:18).
Psalm 44:27 Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.

Genesis 37:1-11

Joseph, the Suffering Righteous One^[a]

Chapter 37

Hated by His Brothers.^[b] ¹Jacob dwelt in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.

²This is the story of the descendants of Jacob.

Joseph was seventeen years old and tended the flocks with his brothers. He was young and stayed with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father. Now Joseph told his father bad reports about them.

³Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons because he was the son of his old age, and he had a long tunic made for him. ⁴His brothers, seeing that their father loved him most of all his sons, hated him and could not speak peaceably with him.

⁵Now Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, which made them hate him all the more. ⁶He told them, “Listen to this dream that I had. ⁷We were tying sheaves of grain in the fields, and my sheaf rose up and stood straight, while your sheaves came around and bowed before mine.”

⁸His brothers said, “Would you like to reign over us and be our master?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and for what he had told them.

⁹He had another dream and told it to his brothers saying, “I had another dream; listen. The sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down before me.”

¹⁰He told it to his father and brothers, and his father scolded him and said, “What type of dream is this? Must I and your mother and your brothers bow down to the ground in front of you?” ¹¹His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept these things in mind.

Footnotes

Genesis 37:1 Under the rule of the Hyksos, who had come from Asia Minor (ca. 1750–1560 B.C.), Semites who had immigrated with them into Lower Egypt would fill high offices. The events of Joseph’s life seem to fit better into a somewhat later period, at the beginning of the 18th dynasty (16th century B.C.), when it was still possible for Asiatics to hold high offices in Egypt. Joseph, who has been given the position of viceroy, finds himself charged with saving the people from famine and then with settling his own people in Goshen, a fertile region on the edges of the delta. The story, which belongs in the sapiential genre, combines contributions from the Yahwist and Elohist sources to bring to light the providential aspects hidden in the mystery of the suffering righteous man (Gen 45:4-13; 50:19-21).
It is evident that the Lord does not intervene openly but through the interplay of circumstances and the more or less upright behavior of individuals, but he does provide for the well-being of the vast human family by using the activity of those whom he has chosen; he even uses their sin to save them. The narrator has all the sons of Jacob going down into Egypt; as the ancestors of the twelve tribes they prepare the way, in a suitable environment, for the growth of the chosen people, which will, at the proper time, enter the Promised Land.
Genesis 37:1 The story brings out the three reasons that feed a growing hatred in Joseph’s brothers: his reporting of stories about them, their father’s predilection for him, and his dreams. The long tunic is a princely garment, quite different from the short coat worn by shepherds, and Jacob was seriously imprudent in thus differentiating among his sons. As for the dreams, the Bible warns that these are most often vain (Deut 13:2-4; Jer 29:8-9); sometimes God does use them to make himself known to human beings (Num 12:6), but he alone explains their meaning (Gen 40:8; 41:16). Joseph will later on show that he himself possesses this special prophetic charism.

1 Corinthians 1:1-19

Greetings and Thanksgiving

Chapter 1

Address to a Church.^[a] ¹Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes^[b] our brother, ²to the Church of God in Corinth,^[c] to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours. ³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I continually give thanks to my God for you because of his grace that has been granted to you in Christ Jesus. ⁵For through him you have been enriched in every way in all facets of speech and knowledge, ⁶as our testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you.

⁷Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will keep you steadfast until the very end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, and it is by him that you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church of Corinth^[d]

¹⁰The Existence of Factions. Brethren, I exhort you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be in full agreement with one another and not permit any divisions to arise among you. Be perfectly united in mind and purpose. ¹¹For I have heard reports from Chloe’s people, brethren, that there are quarrels among you.^[e]

¹²What I mean is that each of you is asserting, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,”^[f] or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³Has Christ now been divided? Did Paul die on the cross for you? Was it in Paul’s name that you were baptized?

¹⁴I am thankful that I never baptized any of you, aside from Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. ( ¹⁶I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Aside from those I do not know if I baptized anyone else.)

¹⁷The Message of the Cross and Human Wisdom.^[g] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel—and to do so without words of human wisdom lest the cross of Christ be devoid of its meaning. ¹⁸Indeed, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the understanding of the learned I will bring to naught.”^[h]

Mark 1:1-13

Preparation for the Mission of Jesus^[a]

Chapter 1

Beginning of the Good News.^[b] ¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²It is written in the prophet Isaiah:^[c]

“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
³The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ”

⁴Hence, John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵People from the entire Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him, and as they confessed their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁶John was clothed in a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food consisted of locusts and wild honey. ⁷And this was the message he proclaimed: “One who is far more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy even to stoop down and loosen the straps of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”^[d]

Jesus Is Baptized by John.^[e] ⁹At that time,^[f] Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰^[g]And as he was coming up out of the water, he beheld the heavens break open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

¹²Jesus Is Tempted in the Desert.^[h] The Spirit immediately drove him out into the desert. ¹³He remained there for forty days, during which time he was tempted by Satan. He lived there among the wild beasts, while the angels ministered to him.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 41[a]

Trust in God in Sickness and Misfortune

Footnotes

Psalm 52[a]

Prayer for Help against Calumniators

Footnotes

Psalm 44[a]

Past Glory and Present Need of God’s People

Footnotes

Joseph, the Suffering Righteous One[a]

Chapter 37

Footnotes

Greetings and Thanksgiving

Chapter 1

Divisions in the Church of Corinth[d]

Footnotes

Preparation for the Mission of Jesus[a]

Chapter 1

Footnotes

Psalm 41^[a]

Psalm 52^[a]

Psalm 44^[a]

Joseph, the Suffering Righteous One^[a]

Divisions in the Church of Corinth^[d]

Preparation for the Mission of Jesus^[a]