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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)
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Psalm 78

Psalm 78

A maskil[a] of Asaph.

My people, hear my teaching;(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.(C)
We will not hide them from their descendants;(D)
    we will tell the next generation(E)
the praiseworthy deeds(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders(G) he has done.
He decreed statutes(H) for Jacob(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.(L)
They would not be like their ancestors(M)
    a stubborn(N) and rebellious(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;(Q)
10 they did not keep God’s covenant(R)
    and refused to live by his law.(S)
11 They forgot what he had done,(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,(V) in the region of Zoan.(W)
13 He divided the sea(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.(Y)
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.(Z)
15 He split the rocks(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.(AD)
19 They spoke against God;(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat(AG) for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
    or trust(AI) in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;(AJ)
24 he rained down manna(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds(AM) like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,(AO)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;(AQ)
    in spite of his wonders,(AR) they did not believe.(AS)
33 So he ended their days in futility(AT)
    and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek(AU) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,(AV)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.(AW)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,(AX)
    lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal(AY) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;(AZ)
    he forgave(BA) their iniquities(BB)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger(BC)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,(BD)
    a passing breeze(BE) that does not return.

40 How often they rebelled(BF) against him in the wilderness(BG)
    and grieved him(BH) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(BI)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(BJ)
42 They did not remember(BK) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(BL)
43 the day he displayed his signs(BM) in Egypt,
    his wonders(BN) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(BO)
    they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(BP) that devoured them,
    and frogs(BQ) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(BR)
    their produce to the locust.(BS)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(BT)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock(BU) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(BV)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.(BW)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(BX)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(BY)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(BZ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed(CA) their enemies.(CB)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand(CC) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(CD) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(CE)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56 But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors(CF) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.(CG)
58 They angered him(CH) with their high places;(CI)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(CJ)
59 When God heard(CK) them, he was furious;(CL)
    he rejected Israel(CM) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(CN)
    the tent he had set up among humans.(CO)
61 He sent the ark of his might(CP) into captivity,(CQ)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(CR)
    he was furious with his inheritance.(CS)
63 Fire consumed(CT) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;(CU)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(CV)
    and their widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(CW)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.(CX)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(CY)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(CZ)
    Mount Zion,(DA) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(DB) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(DC) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(DD) he brought him
    to be the shepherd(DE) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(DF)
    with skillful hands he led them.

Deuteronomy 8:11-20

11 Be careful that you do not forget(A) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,(B) 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget(C) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,(D) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes(E) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.(F) 16 He gave you manna(G) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,(H) to humble and test(I) you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself,(J) “My power and the strength of my hands(K) have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,(L) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods(M) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.(N) 20 Like the nations(O) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.(P)

James 1:16-27

16 Don’t be deceived,(A) my dear brothers and sisters.(B) 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above,(C) coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,(D) who does not change(E) like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth(F) through the word of truth,(G) that we might be a kind of firstfruits(H) of all he created.

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters,(I) take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak(J) and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger(K) does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of(L) all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you,(M) which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.(N) 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,(O) and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.(P)

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues(Q) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after(R) orphans and widows(S) in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.(T)

Luke 11:1-13

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer(A)(B)

11 One day Jesus was praying(C) in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord,(D) teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom(E) come.[b]
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c](F)
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”(G)

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.(H)

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you;(I) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

New International Version (NIV)

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