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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
New King James Version (NKJV)
Version
Psalm 45

The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride

To the Chief Musician. (A)Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A [b]Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

45 My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a [c]ready writer.

You are fairer than the sons of men;
(B)Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
[d]Gird Your (C)sword upon Your thigh, (D)O Mighty One,
With Your (E)glory and Your majesty.
(F)And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;
And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.
Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;
The peoples fall under You.

(G)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A (H)scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (I)anointed You
With the oil of (J)gladness more than Your companions.
All Your garments are (K)scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,
Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.
(L)Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;
(M)At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
(N)Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
(O)Because He is your Lord, worship Him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
(P)The rich among the people will seek your favor.

13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.
14 (Q)She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.
15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
They shall enter the King’s palace.

16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,
(R)Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.
17 (S)I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

Psalm 47-48

Praise to God, the Ruler of the Earth

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

47 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
For the Lord Most High is awesome;
He is a great (A)King over all the earth.
(B)He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
He will choose our (C)inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

(D)God has gone up with a shout,
The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
(E)For God is the King of all the earth;
(F)Sing praises with understanding.

(G)God reigns over the nations;
God (H)sits on His (I)holy throne.
The princes of the people have gathered together,
(J)The people of the God of Abraham.
(K)For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.

The Glory of God in Zion

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

48 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the (L)city of our God,
In His holy mountain.
(M)Beautiful in [a]elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.

For behold, (N)the kings assembled,
They passed by together.
They saw it, and so they marveled;
They were troubled, they hastened away.
Fear (O)took hold of them there,
And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,
As when You break the (P)ships of Tarshish
With an east wind.

As we have heard,
So we have seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will (Q)establish it forever. Selah

We have thought, O God, on (R)Your lovingkindness,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 According to (S)Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah be glad,
Because of Your judgments.

12 Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;
13 Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may (T)tell it to the generation following.
14 For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
(U)He will be our guide
[b]Even to death.

Isaiah 9:1-7

The Government of the Promised Son(A)

Nevertheless (B)the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at (C)first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And (D)afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
(E)The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation
And [a]increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice (F)when they divide the spoil.
For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of (G)Midian.
For every warrior’s [b]sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
(H)Will be used for burning and fuel [c]of fire.

(I)For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a (J)Son is given;
And (K)the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
(L)Wonderful, Counselor, (M)Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, (N)Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
(O)There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The (P)zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

2 Peter 1:12-21

Peter’s Approaching Death

12 For this reason (A)I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, (B)though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, (C)as long as I am in this [a]tent, (D)to stir you up by reminding you, 14 (E)knowing that shortly I must [b]put off my tent, just as (F)our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my [c]decease.

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word(G)

16 For we did not follow (H)cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the (I)power and (J)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were (K)eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: (L)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on (M)the holy mountain.

19 [d]And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a (N)light that shines in a dark place, (O)until (P)the day dawns and the morning star rises in your (Q)hearts; 20 knowing this first, that (R)no prophecy of Scripture is of any private [e]interpretation, 21 for (S)prophecy never came by the will of man, (T)but [f]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Luke 22:54-69

Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps Bitterly(A)

54 (B)Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. (C)But Peter followed at a distance. 55 (D)Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”

57 But he denied [a]Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”

58 (E)And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.”

But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”

59 (F)Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a (G)Galilean.”

60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!”

Immediately, while he was still speaking, [b]the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then (H)Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, (I)“Before the rooster [c]crows, you will deny Me three times.” 62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Mocked and Beaten(J)

63 (K)Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and (L)beat Him. 64 [d]And having blindfolded Him, they (M)struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?” 65 And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin(N)

66 (O)As soon as it was day, (P)the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, 67 (Q)“If You are the Christ, tell us.”

But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will (R)by no means believe. 68 And if I [e]also ask you, you will by no means answer [f]Me or let Me go. 69 (S)Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.”

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.