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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 International Version (NIV)
Version
Psalm 88

Psalm 88[a]

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.[b] A maskil[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.

Lord, you are the God who saves me;(A)
    day and night I cry out(B) to you.
May my prayer come before you;
    turn your ear to my cry.

I am overwhelmed with troubles(C)
    and my life draws near to death.(D)
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;(E)
    I am like one without strength.(F)
I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off(G) from your care.

You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.(H)
Your wrath(I) lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d](J)
You have taken from me my closest friends(K)
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined(L) and cannot escape;(M)
    my eyes(N) are dim with grief.

I call(O) to you, Lord, every day;
    I spread out my hands(P) to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?(Q)
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness(R) in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

13 But I cry to you for help,(S) Lord;
    in the morning(T) my prayer comes before you.(U)
14 Why, Lord, do you reject(V) me
    and hide your face(W) from me?

15 From my youth(X) I have suffered(Y) and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors(Z) and am in despair.(AA)
16 Your wrath(AB) has swept over me;
    your terrors(AC) have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;(AD)
    they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend(AE) and neighbor—
    darkness is my closest friend.

Psalm 91-92

Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter(A) of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow(B) of the Almighty.[a]
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge(C) and my fortress,(D)
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare(E)
    and from the deadly pestilence.(F)
He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;(G)
    his faithfulness will be your shield(H) and rampart.
You will not fear(I) the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.(J)

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm(K) will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels(L) concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;(M)
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.(N)
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.(O)

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.(P)
16 With long life(Q) I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.(R)

Psalm 92[c]

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music(S) to your name,(T) O Most High,(U)
proclaiming your love in the morning(V)
    and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre(W)
    and the melody of the harp.(X)

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy(Y) at what your hands have done.(Z)
How great are your works,(AA) Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!(AB)
Senseless people(AC) do not know,
    fools do not understand,
that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.(AD)

But you, Lord, are forever exalted.

For surely your enemies(AE), Lord,
    surely your enemies will perish;
    all evildoers will be scattered.(AF)
10 You have exalted my horn[d](AG) like that of a wild ox;(AH)
    fine oils(AI) have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.(AJ)

12 The righteous will flourish(AK) like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;(AL)
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.(AM)
14 They will still bear fruit(AN) in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.(AO)

2 Kings 9:17-37

17 When the lookout(A) standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.”

“Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. “Send him to meet them and ask, ‘Do you come in peace?(B)’”

18 The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”

“What do you have to do with peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”

The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”

19 So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”

Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

20 The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like(C) that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.”

21 “Hitch up my chariot,” Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth(D) the Jezreelite. 22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”

“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel(E) abound?”

23 Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery,(F) Ahaziah!”

24 Then Jehu drew his bow(G) and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy(H) against him: 26 ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth(I) and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’[a] Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”(J)

27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan.[b] Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam,(K) but he escaped to Megiddo(L) and died there. 28 His servants took him by chariot(M) to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. 29 (In the eleventh(N) year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)

Jezebel Killed

30 Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup,(O) arranged her hair and looked out of a window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri,(P) you murderer of your master?”[c]

32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 33 “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.(Q)

34 Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.”(R) 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. 36 They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs(S) will devour Jezebel’s flesh.[d](T) 37 Jezebel’s body will be like dung(U) on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”

1 Corinthians 7:1-9

Concerning Married Life

Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”(A) But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife,(B) and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time,(C) so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan(D) will not tempt you(E) because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command.(F) I wish that all of you were as I am.(G) But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.(H)

Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.(I) But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,(J) for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Matthew 6:7-15

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling(A) like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.(B) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need(C) before you ask him.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father(D) in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom(E) come,
your will be done,(F)
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.(G)
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.(H)
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a](I)
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b](J)

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.(K) 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.(L)

New International Version (NIV)

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