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Book of Common Prayer

Daily Old and New Testament readings based on the Book of Common Prayer.
Duration: 861 days
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Version
Psalm 80

(A psalm by Asaph for the music leader. To the tune “Lilies of the Agreement.”)

Help Our Nation

(A) Shepherd of Israel, you lead
    the descendants of Joseph,
and you sit on your throne
    above the winged creatures.[a]
Listen to our prayer
    and let your light shine
for the tribes of Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.
    Save us by your power.

Our God, make us strong again!
    Smile on us and save us.

Lord God All-Powerful,
    how much longer
will the prayers of your people
    make you angry?
You gave us tears for food,
and you made us drink them
    by the bowlful.
Because of you,
our enemies who live nearby
    laugh and joke about us.
Our God, make us strong again!
    Smile on us and save us.

We were like a grapevine
    you brought out of Egypt.
You chased other nations away
    and planted us here.
Then you cleared the ground,
and we put our roots deep,
    spreading over the land.
10 Shade from this vine covered
    the mountains.
Its branches climbed
the mighty cedars
11     and stretched to the sea;
its new growth reached
    to the river.[b]

12 Our Lord, why have you
torn down the wall
    from around the vineyard?
You let everyone who walks by
    pick the grapes.
13 Now the vine is gobbled up
by pigs from the forest
    and other wild animals.

14 God All-Powerful,
    please do something!
Look down from heaven
and see what's happening
    to this vine.
15 With your own hands
    you planted its roots,
and you raised it
    as your very own.

16 Enemies chopped the vine down
    and set it on fire.
Now show your anger
    and destroy them.
17 But help the one who sits
    at your right side,[c]
the one you raised
    to be your very own.
18 Then we will never turn away.
Put new life into us,
    and we will worship you.

19 Lord God All-Powerful,
make us strong again!
    Smile on us and save us.

Psalm 77

(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.)

In Times of Trouble God Is with His People

I pray to you, Lord God,
    and I beg you to listen.
In days filled with trouble,
    I search for you.
And at night I tirelessly
lift my hands in prayer,
    refusing comfort.
When I think of you,
    I feel restless and weak.

Because of you, Lord God,
    I can't sleep.
I am restless
    and can't even talk.
I think of times gone by,
    of those years long ago.
Each night my mind
    is flooded with questions:[a]
“Have you rejected me forever?
    Won't you be kind again?
Is this the end of your love
    and your promises?
Have you forgotten
    how to have pity?
Do you refuse to show mercy
    because of your anger?”
10 Then I said, “God Most High,
    what hurts me most
is that you no longer help us
    with your mighty arm.”

11 Our Lord, I will remember
the things you have done,
    your miracles of long ago.
12 I will think about each one
    of your mighty deeds.
13 Everything you do is right,
and no other god
    compares with you.
14 You alone work miracles,
and you have let nations
    see your mighty power.
15 With your own arm you rescued
your people, the descendants
    of Jacob and Joseph.

16 The ocean looked at you, God,
and it trembled deep down
    with fear.
17 Water flowed from the clouds.
    Thunder was heard above
as your arrows of lightning
    flashed about.
18 Your thunder roared
    like chariot wheels.
The world was made bright
by lightning,
    and all the earth trembled.

19 You walked through the water
    of the mighty sea,
but your footprints
    were never seen.
20 You guided your people
    like a flock of sheep,
and you chose Moses and Aaron
    to be their leaders.

Psalm 79

(A psalm by Asaph.)

Have Pity on Jerusalem

(A) Our God, foreign nations
    have taken your land,
    disgraced your temple,
    and left Jerusalem in ruins.
They have fed the bodies
of your servants
    to flesh-eating birds;
your loyal people are food
    for savage animals.
All Jerusalem is covered
    with their blood,
and there is no one left
    to bury them.
Every nation around us
    sneers and makes fun.

Our Lord, will you keep on
    being angry?
Will your angry feelings
    keep flaming up like fire?
Get angry with those nations
that don't know you
    and won't worship you!
They have gobbled up
Jacob's descendants
    and left the land in ruins.

(B) Don't make us pay for the sins
    of our ancestors.
Have pity and come quickly!
    We are completely helpless.
Our God, you keep us safe.
    Now help us! Rescue us.
Forgive our sins
    and bring honor to yourself.

10 Why should nations ask us,
    “Where is your God?”
Let us and the other nations
    see you take revenge
for your servants who died
    a violent death.

11 Listen to the prisoners groan!
Let your mighty power save all
    who are sentenced to die.
12 Each of those nations sneered
    at you, our Lord.
Now let others sneer at them,
    seven times as much.
13 Then we, your people,
    will always thank you.
We are like sheep
    with you as our shepherd,
and all generations
    will hear us praise you.

Isaiah 58:1-12

True Religion

58 Shout the message!
    Don't hold back.
Say to my people Israel:
You've sinned! You've turned
    against the Lord.
Day after day, you worship him
and seem eager to learn
    his teachings.
You act like a nation
that wants to do right
    by obeying his laws.
You ask him about justice,
and say you enjoy
    worshiping the Lord.

You wonder why the Lord
    pays no attention
when you go without eating
    and act humble.
But on those same days
    that you give up eating,
you think only of yourselves[a]
    and abuse your workers.
You even get angry
    and ready to fight.
No wonder God won't listen
    to your prayers!

Do you think the Lord
    wants you to give up eating
and to act as humble
    as a bent-over bush?
Or to dress in sackcloth
    and sit in ashes?
Is this really what he wants
    on a day of worship?

I'll tell you
what it really means
    to worship the Lord.
Remove the chains of prisoners
    who are bound unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
(A) Share your food with everyone
    who is hungry;
share your home
    with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't turn away your relatives.

Then your light will shine
like the dawning sun, and you
    will quickly be healed.
Your honesty[b] will protect you
    as you advance,
and the glory of the Lord
    will defend you from behind.
When you beg the Lord for help,
    he will answer, “Here I am!”

Don't mistreat others
or falsely accuse them
    or say something cruel.
10 Give your food to the hungry
    and care for the homeless.
Then your light will shine
    in the dark;
your darkest hour will be
    like the noonday sun.

11 The Lord will always guide you
and provide good things to eat
    when you are in the desert.
He will make you healthy.
You will be like a garden
    that has plenty of water
or like a stream
    that never runs dry.
12 You will rebuild those houses
    left in ruins for years;
you will be known
as a builder and repairer
    of city walls and streets.

Galatians 6:11-18

Final Warnings

11 You can see what big letters I make when I write with my own hand.

12 Those people who are telling you to get circumcised are only trying to show how important they are. And they don't want to get into trouble for preaching about the cross of Christ. 13 They are circumcised, but they don't obey the Law of Moses. All they want is to brag about having you circumcised. 14 But I will never brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his cross, the world is dead as far as I am concerned, and I am dead as far as the world is concerned.

15 It doesn't matter if you are circumcised or not. All that matters is that you are a new person.

16 If you follow this rule, you will belong to God's true people. God will treat you with undeserved kindness and will bless you with peace.

17 (A) On my own body are scars that prove I belong to Christ Jesus. So I don't want anyone to bother me anymore.

18 My friends, I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you! Amen.

Mark 9:30-41

Jesus Again Speaks about His Death

(Matthew 17.22,23; Luke 9.43b-45)

30 Jesus left with his disciples and started through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know about it, 31 because he was teaching the disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to people who would kill him. But three days later he would rise to life. 32 The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask.

Who Is the Greatest?

(Matthew 18.1-5; Luke 9.46-48)

33 Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” 34 (A) They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer.

35 (B) After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, “If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!”

36 Then Jesus asked a child to stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, 37 (C) “When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.”

For or against Jesus

(Luke 9.49,50)

38 John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of people. But he wasn't one of us, and we told him to stop.”

39 Jesus said to his disciples:

Don't stop him! No one who works miracles in my name will soon turn and say something bad about me. 40 (D) Anyone who isn't against us is for us. 41 (E) And anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.