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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 95

Psalm 95

Come,(A) let us sing for joy(B) to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud(C) to the Rock(D) of our salvation.
Let us come before him(E) with thanksgiving(F)
    and extol him with music(G) and song.

For the Lord is the great God,(H)
    the great King(I) above all gods.(J)
In his hand are the depths of the earth,(K)
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.(L)

Come, let us bow down(M) in worship,(N)
    let us kneel(O) before the Lord our Maker;(P)
for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,(Q)
    the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts(R) as you did at Meribah,[a](S)
    as you did that day at Massah[b] in the wilderness,(T)
where your ancestors tested(U) me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years(V) I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,(W)
    and they have not known my ways.’(X)
11 So I declared on oath(Y) in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”(Z)

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)

Genesis 47:1-26

47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan(A) and are now in Goshen.”(B) He chose five of his brothers and presented them(C) before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”(D)

“Your servants(E) are shepherds,(F)” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while,(G) because the famine is severe in Canaan(H) and your servants’ flocks have no pasture.(I) So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”(J)

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle(K) your father and your brothers in the best part of the land.(L) Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability,(M) put them in charge of my own livestock.(N)

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him(O) before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed[a] Pharaoh,(P) Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty.(Q) My years have been few and difficult,(R) and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.(S) 10 Then Jacob blessed[b] Pharaoh(T) and went out from his presence.

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land,(U) the district of Rameses,(V) as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.(W)

Joseph and the Famine

13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.(X) 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying,(Y) and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.(Z) 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone,(AA) all Egypt came to Joseph(AB) and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes?(AC) Our money is all gone.”

16 “Then bring your livestock,(AD)” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.(AE) 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses,(AF) their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys.(AG) And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone(AH) and our livestock belongs to you,(AI) there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes(AJ)—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food,(AK) and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh.(AL) Give us seed so that we may live and not die,(AM) and that the land may not become desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe(AN) for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[c](AO) from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests,(AP) because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment(AQ) Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed(AR) for you so you can plant the ground.(AS) 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth(AT) of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”

25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord;(AU) we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”(AV)

26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth(AW) of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.(AX)

1 Corinthians 9:16-27

16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach.(A) Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward;(B) if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.(C) 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge,(D) and so not make full use of my rights(E) as a preacher of the gospel.

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

19 Though I am free(F) and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,(G) to win as many as possible.(H) 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.(I) To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),(J) so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law(K) (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law),(L) so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.(M) I have become all things to all people(N) so that by all possible means I might save some.(O) 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

The Need for Self-Discipline

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?(P) Run(Q) in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown(R) that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.(S) 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;(T) I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.(U) 27 No, I strike a blow to my body(V) and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.(W)

Mark 6:47-56

47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost.(A) They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”(B) 51 Then he climbed into the boat(C) with them, and the wind died down.(D) They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.(E)

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.(F) 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak,(G) and all who touched it were healed.

New International Version (NIV)

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