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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 50

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,(A)
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.(B)
From Zion,(C) perfect in beauty,(D)
    God shines forth.(E)
Our God comes(F)
    and will not be silent;(G)
a fire devours(H) before him,(I)
    and around him a tempest(J) rages.
He summons the heavens above,
    and the earth,(K) that he may judge his people:(L)
“Gather to me this consecrated people,(M)
    who made a covenant(N) with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim(O) his righteousness,
    for he is a God of justice.[a][b](P)

“Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify(Q) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.(R)
I bring no charges(S) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,(T) which are ever before me.
I have no need of a bull(U) from your stall
    or of goats(V) from your pens,(W)
10 for every animal of the forest(X) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.(Y)
11 I know every bird(Z) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields(AA) are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world(AB) is mine, and all that is in it.(AC)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

14 “Sacrifice thank offerings(AD) to God,
    fulfill your vows(AE) to the Most High,(AF)
15 and call(AG) on me in the day of trouble;(AH)
    I will deliver(AI) you, and you will honor(AJ) me.”

16 But to the wicked person, God says:

“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant(AK) on your lips?(AL)
17 You hate(AM) my instruction
    and cast my words behind(AN) you.
18 When you see a thief, you join(AO) with him;
    you throw in your lot with adulterers.(AP)
19 You use your mouth for evil
    and harness your tongue to deceit.(AQ)
20 You sit and testify against your brother(AR)
    and slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things and I kept silent,(AS)
    you thought I was exactly[c] like you.
But I now arraign(AT) you
    and set my accusations(AU) before you.

22 “Consider this, you who forget God,(AV)
    or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:(AW)
23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
    and to the blameless[d] I will show my salvation.(AX)

Psalm 59-60

Psalm 59[a]

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house(A) in order to kill him.

Deliver me from my enemies, O God;(B)
    be my fortress against those who are attacking me.(C)
Deliver me from evildoers(D)
    and save me from those who are after my blood.(E)

See how they lie in wait for me!
    Fierce men conspire(F) against me
    for no offense or sin of mine, Lord.
I have done no wrong,(G) yet they are ready to attack me.(H)
    Arise to help me; look on my plight!(I)
You, Lord God Almighty,
    you who are the God of Israel,(J)
rouse yourself(K) to punish all the nations;(L)
    show no mercy to wicked traitors.[c](M)

They return at evening,
    snarling like dogs,(N)
    and prowl about the city.
See what they spew from their mouths(O)
    the words from their lips are sharp as swords,(P)
    and they think, “Who can hear us?”(Q)
But you laugh at them, Lord;(R)
    you scoff at all those nations.(S)

You are my strength,(T) I watch for you;
    you, God, are my fortress,(U)
10     my God on whom I can rely.

God will go before me
    and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
11 But do not kill them, Lord our shield,[d](V)
    or my people will forget.(W)
In your might uproot them
    and bring them down.(X)
12 For the sins of their mouths,(Y)
    for the words of their lips,(Z)
    let them be caught in their pride.(AA)
For the curses and lies they utter,
13     consume them in your wrath,
    consume them till they are no more.(AB)
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
    that God rules over Jacob.(AC)

14 They return at evening,
    snarling like dogs,
    and prowl about the city.
15 They wander about for food(AD)
    and howl if not satisfied.
16 But I will sing(AE) of your strength,(AF)
    in the morning(AG) I will sing of your love;(AH)
for you are my fortress,(AI)
    my refuge in times of trouble.(AJ)

17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
    my God on whom I can rely.(AK)

Psalm 60[e](AL)

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam[f] of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim[g] and Aram Zobah,[h] and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(AM)

You have rejected us,(AN) God, and burst upon us;
    you have been angry(AO)—now restore us!(AP)
You have shaken the land(AQ) and torn it open;
    mend its fractures,(AR) for it is quaking.
You have shown your people desperate times;(AS)
    you have given us wine that makes us stagger.(AT)
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner(AU)
    to be unfurled against the bow.[i]

Save us and help us with your right hand,(AV)
    that those you love(AW) may be delivered.
God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    “In triumph I will parcel out Shechem(AX)
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.(AY)
Gilead(AZ) is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim(BA) is my helmet,
    Judah(BB) is my scepter.(BC)
Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.(BD)

Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
    and no longer go out with our armies?(BE)
11 Give us aid against the enemy,
    for human help is worthless.(BF)
12 With God we will gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.(BG)

Psalm 114-115

Psalm 114

When Israel came out of Egypt,(A)
    Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
Judah(B) became God’s sanctuary,(C)
    Israel his dominion.

The sea looked and fled,(D)
    the Jordan turned back;(E)
the mountains leaped(F) like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

Why was it, sea, that you fled?(G)
    Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

Tremble, earth,(H) at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool,
    the hard rock into springs of water.(I)

Psalm 115(J)

Not to us, Lord, not to us
    but to your name be the glory,(K)
    because of your love and faithfulness.(L)

Why do the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”(M)
Our God is in heaven;(N)
    he does whatever pleases him.(O)
But their idols are silver and gold,(P)
    made by human hands.(Q)
They have mouths, but cannot speak,(R)
    eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
    feet, but cannot walk,
    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

All you Israelites, trust(S) in the Lord
    he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron,(T) trust in the Lord
    he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him,(U) trust in the Lord
    he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers(V) us and will bless us:(W)
    He will bless his people Israel,
    he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear(X) the Lord
    small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,(Y)
    both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven(Z) and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,(AA)
    but the earth he has given(AB) to mankind.
17 It is not the dead(AC) who praise the Lord,
    those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,(AD)
    both now and forevermore.(AE)

Praise the Lord.[a](AF)

Exodus 34:1-17

The New Stone Tablets

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones,(A) and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets,(B) which you broke.(C) Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai.(D) Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain;(E) not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled(F) out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.(G) Then the Lord came down in the cloud(H) and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord.(I) And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate(J) and gracious God, slow to anger,(K) abounding in love(L) and faithfulness,(M) maintaining love to thousands,(N) and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.(O) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;(P) he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”(Q)

Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor(R) in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us.(S) Although this is a stiff-necked(T) people, forgive our wickedness and our sin,(U) and take us as your inheritance.”(V)

10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant(W) with you. Before all your people I will do wonders(X) never before done in any nation in all the world.(Y) The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command(Z) you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.(AA) 12 Be careful not to make a treaty(AB) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(AC) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](AD) 14 Do not worship any other god,(AE) for the Lord, whose name(AF) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(AG)

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(AH) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(AI) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(AJ) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(AK) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(AL) they will lead your sons to do the same.

17 “Do not make any idols.(AM)

1 Thessalonians 2:13-20

13 And we also thank God continually(A) because, when you received the word of God,(B) which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators(C) of God’s churches in Judea,(D) which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people(E) the same things those churches suffered from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus(F) and the prophets(G) and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles(H) so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit.(I) The wrath of God has come upon them at last.[a]

Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians

17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought),(J) out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.(K) 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan(L) blocked our way.(M) 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown(N) in which we will glory(O) in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?(P) Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory(Q) and joy.

Matthew 5:21-26

Murder(A)

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a](B) and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry(C) with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment.(D) Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court.(E) And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.(F)

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

New International Version (NIV)

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