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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 102

(A prayer for someone who hurts and needs to ask the Lord for help.)

A Prayer in Time of Trouble

I pray to you, Lord!
    Please listen.
Don't hide from me
    in my time of trouble.
Pay attention to my prayer
    and quickly give an answer.

My days disappear like smoke,
and my bones are burning
    as though in a furnace.
I am wasting away like grass,
    and my appetite is gone.
My groaning never stops,
and my bones can be seen
    through my skin.
I am like a lonely owl
    in the desert
or a restless sparrow
    alone on a roof.

My enemies insult me all day,
and they use my name
    for a curse word.
Instead of food,
I have ashes to eat
    and tears to drink,
10 because you are furious
    and have thrown me aside.
11 My life fades like a shadow
at the end of day
    and withers like grass.

12 Our Lord, you are King forever
    and will always be famous.
13 You will show pity to Zion
    because the time has come.
14 We, your servants,
    love each stone in the city,
and we are sad to see them
    lying in the dirt.

15 Our Lord, the nations
    will honor you,
and all kings on earth
    will praise your glory.
16 You will rebuild
    the city of Zion.
Your glory will be seen,
17 and the prayers of the homeless
    will be answered.

18 Future generations must also
praise the Lord,
    so write this for them:
19 “From his holy temple,
the Lord looked down
    at the earth.
20 He listened to the groans
    of prisoners,
and he rescued everyone
    who was doomed to die.”

21 All Jerusalem should praise
    you, our Lord,
22 when people from every nation
    meet to worship you.

23 I should still be strong,
but you, Lord, have made
    an old person of me.
24 You will live forever!
Years mean nothing to you.
    Don't cut my life in half!

25 (A) In the beginning, Lord,
you laid the earth's foundation
    and created the heavens.
26 They will all disappear
    and wear out like clothes.
You change them,
as you would a coat,
    but you last forever.
27 You are always the same.
    You are God for all time.
28 Every generation of those
who serve you
    will live in your presence.

Psalm 142-143

(A special psalm and a prayer by David when he was in the cave.)

A Prayer for Help

(A) I pray to you, Lord.
    I beg for mercy.
I tell you all my worries
    and my troubles,
and whenever I feel low,
    you are there to guide me.

A trap has been hidden
    along my pathway.
Even if you look,
    you won't see anyone
who cares enough
    to walk beside me.
There is no place to hide,
    and no one who really cares.

I pray to you, Lord!
    You are my place of safety,
and you are my choice
    in the land of the living.
Please answer my prayer.
    I am completely helpless.

Help! They are chasing me,
    and they are too strong.
Rescue me from this prison,
    so I can praise your name.
And when your people notice
your wonderful kindness to me,
    they will rush to my side.

(A psalm by David.)

A Prayer in Time of Danger

Listen, Lord, as I pray!
You are faithful and honest
    and will answer my prayer.
(B) I am your servant.
    Don't try me in your court,
because no one is innocent
    by your standards.
My enemies are chasing me,
    crushing me in the ground.
I am in total darkness,
    like someone long dead.
I have given up hope,
    and I feel numb all over.

I remember to think about
the many things you did
    in years gone by.
Then I lift my hands in prayer,
because my soul is a desert,
    thirsty for water from you.

Please hurry, Lord,
and answer my prayer.
    I feel hopeless.
Don't turn away
    and leave me here to die.
Each morning let me learn
more about your love
    because I trust you.
I come to you in prayer,
    asking for your guidance.

Please rescue me
from my enemies, Lord!
    I come to you for safety.[a]
10 You are my God. Show me
    what you want me to do,
and let your gentle Spirit
    lead me in the right path.

11 Be true to your name, Lord,
    and keep my life safe.
Use your saving power
    to protect me from trouble.
12 I am your servant.
Show how much you love me
    by destroying my enemies.

Lamentations 2:10-18

10 Zion's leaders are silent.
    They just sit on the ground,
tossing dirt on their heads
    and wearing sackcloth.
Her young women can do nothing
    but stare at the ground.

11 My eyes are red from crying,
my stomach is in knots,
    and I feel sick all over.
My people are being wiped out,
and children lie helpless
    in the streets of the city.
12 A child begs its mother
    for food and drink,
then blacks out
like a wounded soldier
    lying in the street.
The child slowly dies
    in its mother's arms.

13 Zion, how can I comfort you?
    How great is your pain?[a]
Lovely city of Jerusalem,
how can I heal your wounds,
    gaping as wide as the sea?
14 Your prophets deceived you
with false visions
    and lying messages—
they should have warned you
to leave your sins
    and be saved from disaster.
15 Those who pass by
shake their heads and sneer
    as they make fun and shout,
“What a lovely city you were,
the happiest on earth,
    but look at you now!”

16 Zion, your enemies curse you
and snarl like wild animals,
    while shouting,
“This is the day
we've waited for!
    At last, we've got you!”

17 The Lord has done everything
that he had planned
    and threatened long ago.
He destroyed you without mercy
and let your enemies boast
    about their powerful forces.[b]

18 Zion, deep in your heart
    you cried out to the Lord.
Now let your tears overflow
    your walls day and night.
Don't ever lose hope
    or let your tears stop.

1 Corinthians 10:14-17

14 My friends, you must keep away from idols. 15 I am speaking to you as people who have enough sense to know what I am talking about. 16 (A) When we drink from the cup we ask God to bless, isn't that sharing in the blood of Christ? When we eat the bread we break, isn't that sharing in the body of Christ? 17 By sharing in the same loaf of bread, we become one body, even though there are many of us.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32

27 But if you eat the bread and drink the wine in a way that isn't worthy of the Lord, you sin against his body and blood. 28 This is why you must examine the way you eat and drink. 29 If you fail to understand that you are the body of the Lord, you will condemn yourselves by the way you eat and drink. 30 This is why many of you are sick and weak and why a lot of others have died. 31 If we carefully judge ourselves, we won't be punished. 32 But when the Lord judges and punishes us, he does it to keep us from being condemned with the rest of the world.

Mark 14:12-25

Jesus Eats with His Disciples

(Matthew 26.17-25; Luke 22.7-14,21-23; John 13.21-30)

12 It was the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, and the Passover lambs were being killed. Jesus' disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?”

13 Jesus said to two of the disciples, “Go into the city, where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water.[a] Follow him, 14 and when he goes into a house, say to the owner, ‘Our teacher wants to know if you have a room where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.’ 15 The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room furnished and ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there.”

16 The two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.

17-18 (A) While Jesus and the twelve disciples were eating together that evening, he said, “The one who will betray me is now eating with me.”

19 This made the disciples sad, and one after another they said to Jesus, “You surely don't mean me!”

20 He answered, “It is one of you twelve men who is eating from this dish with me. 21 The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But it is going to be terrible for the one who betrays me. That man would be better off if he had never been born.”

The Lord's Supper

(Matthew 26.26-30; Luke 22.14-23; 1 Corinthians 11.23-25)

22 During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this. It is my body.”

23 Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He gave it to his disciples, and they all drank some. 24 (B) Then he said, “This is my blood, which is poured out for many people, and with it God makes his agreement. 25 From now on I will not drink any wine, until I drink new wine in God's kingdom.”

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

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