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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
Version
Psalm 105

Psalm 105

God’s Faithfulness to His People

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.(A)
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell about all his wondrous works!(B)
Boast in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.(C)
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.(D)
Remember the wondrous works he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,[a](E)
you offspring of Abraham his servant,
Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.(F)

He is the Lord our God;
his judgments govern the whole earth.(G)
He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he ordained
for a thousand generations(H)
the covenant he made with Abraham,
swore[b] to Isaac,(I)
10 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree
and to Israel as a permanent covenant:(J)
11 “I will give the land of Canaan to you
as your inherited portion.”(K)

12 When they were few in number,
very few indeed,
and resident aliens in Canaan,(L)
13 wandering from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another,(M)
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their behalf:(N)
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,(O)
or harm my prophets.”(P)

16 He called down famine against the land
and destroyed the entire food supply.(Q)
17 He had sent a man ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.(R)
18 They hurt his feet with shackles;
his neck was put in an iron collar.(S)
19 Until the time his prediction came true,
the word of the Lord tested him.(T)
20 The king sent for him and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.(U)
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all his possessions(V)
22 binding[c] his officials at will
and instructing his elders.(W)

23 Then Israel went to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.[d](X)
24 The Lord[e] made his people very fruitful;
he made them more numerous than their foes,(Y)
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people
and to deal deceptively with his servants.(Z)
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.(AA)
27 They performed his miraculous signs among them
and wonders in the land of Ham.(AB)
28 He sent darkness, and it became dark—
for did they not defy his commands?(AC)
29 He turned their water into blood
and caused their fish to die.(AD)
30 Their land was overrun with frogs,
even in their royal chambers.(AE)
31 He spoke, and insects came(AF)
gnats throughout their country.(AG)
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and lightning throughout their land.(AH)
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their territory.(AI)
34 He spoke, and locusts came—
young locusts without number.
35 They devoured all the vegetation in their land
and consumed the produce of their land.(AJ)
36 He struck all the firstborn in their land,
all their first progeny.(AK)

37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,
and no one among his tribes stumbled.(AL)
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
for the dread of Israel[f] had fallen on them.(AM)
39 He spread a cloud as a covering
and gave a fire to light up the night.(AN)
40 They asked, and he brought quail
and satisfied them with bread from heaven.(AO)
41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a stream in the desert.(AP)
42 For he remembered his holy promise
to Abraham his servant.(AQ)
43 He brought his people out with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy.(AR)
44 He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited
what other peoples had worked for.(AS)

45 All this happened
so that they might keep his statutes
and obey his instructions.(AT)
Hallelujah!

Exodus 24

The Covenant Ceremony

24 Then he said to Moses, “Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders,(A) and bow in worship at a distance. Moses alone is to approach the Lord, but the others are not to approach, and the people are not to go up with him.”

Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”(B) And Moses wrote(C) down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he splattered on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.”

Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”(D)

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, 10 and they saw(E) the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.(F) 11 God did not harm[a] the Israelite nobles; they saw(G) him, and they ate and drank.

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets(H) with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God.(I) 14 He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.” 15 When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud(J) covered it. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud.(K) 17 The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire(L) on the mountaintop. 18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.(M)

Colossians 2:8-23

Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,(A) based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.(B) For the entire fullness(C) of God’s nature dwells bodily[a] in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head(D) over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,(E) in the circumcision of Christ,(F) 12 when you were buried with him(G) in baptism, in which you were also raised with him(H) through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(I) 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.(J) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.[b](K)

16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(L) you in regard to food and drink(M) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(N) or a Sabbath day.[c] 17 These are a shadow(O) of what was to come;(P) the substance is[d] Christ.(Q) 18 Let no one condemn[e] you(R) by delighting in ascetic practices(S) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated(T) by empty notions of their unspiritual[f] mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(U) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.

20 If you died with Christ(V) to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom(W) by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[g](X)

Matthew 4:12-17

Ministry in Galilee

12 When he heard that John had been arrested,(A) he withdrew into Galilee.(B) 13 He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum(C) by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles.
16 The people who live in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light has dawned.[a][b] (D)

17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven(E) has come near.”

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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