Today's Scripture & Prayer

Daily Bible Reading & Praying with the Church

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Today's Scripture & Prayer

Daily Bible Reading & Praying with the Church


The congregation of Countryside is encouraged to not only read ahead in the texts we will be sharing and studying together during our services, but also to personally read the Scriptures together as a congregation. Here you will find Scripture for the day (a Psalm for each morning (always at least the first Psalm) and night, and selections from the Old Testament, New Testament and Gospels), as well as weekly and daily prayers. Together we read through the New Testament once a year, and the Old Testament every two years. The Scripture selections, and the prayers, are from common sources used by most Christians throughout the world.

The historic church found expression in the same rhythms of worship and devotion that were evident in the early church, and among the Hebrews, God's people, before that.  Our hope is that the regular reminder will be of encouragement to us all to join the people of God in reading the Scriptures and praying. Both are meant to go together with our daily prayer and communion service.

Reading for Wed, Nov 20

Psalm 105

Psalm 105(A)

1 Give praise to the Lord,(B) proclaim his name;(C)
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him,(D) sing praise to him;(E)
tell of all his wonderful acts.(F)
3 Glory in his holy name;(G)
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face(H) always.

5 Remember the wonders(I) he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,(J)
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,(K)
his chosen(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers his covenant(M) forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,(N)
the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it(O) to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:(P)
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan(Q)
as the portion you will inherit.”(R)

12 When they were but few in number,(S)
few indeed, and strangers in it,(T)
13 they wandered from nation to nation,(U)
from one kingdom to another.
14 He allowed no one to oppress(V) them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:(W)
15 “Do not touch(X) my anointed ones;
do my prophets(Y) no harm.”

16 He called down famine(Z) on the land
and destroyed all their supplies of food;
17 and he sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.(AA)
18 They bruised his feet with shackles,(AB)
his neck was put in irons,
19 till what he foretold(AC) came to pass,
till the word(AD) of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king sent and released him,
the ruler of peoples set him free.(AE)
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all he possessed,
22 to instruct his princes(AF) as he pleased
and teach his elders wisdom.(AG)

23 Then Israel entered Egypt;(AH)
Jacob resided(AI) as a foreigner in the land of Ham.(AJ)
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful;
he made them too numerous(AK) for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned(AL) to hate his people,
to conspire(AM) against his servants.
26 He sent Moses(AN) his servant,
and Aaron,(AO) whom he had chosen.(AP)
27 They performed(AQ) his signs(AR) among them,
his wonders(AS) in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness(AT) and made the land dark—
for had they not rebelled against(AU) his words?
29 He turned their waters into blood,(AV)
causing their fish to die.(AW)
30 Their land teemed with frogs,(AX)
which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke,(AY) and there came swarms of flies,(AZ)
and gnats(BA) throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,(BB)
with lightning throughout their land;
33 he struck down their vines(BC) and fig trees(BD)
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke,(BE) and the locusts came,(BF)
grasshoppers(BG) without number;(BH)
35 they ate up every green thing in their land,
ate up the produce of their soil.
36 Then he struck down all the firstborn(BI) in their land,
the firstfruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,(BJ)
and from among their tribes no one faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
because dread of Israel(BK) had fallen on them.

39 He spread out a cloud(BL) as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.(BM)
40 They asked,(BN) and he brought them quail;(BO)
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.(BP)
41 He opened the rock,(BQ) and water gushed out;
it flowed like a river in the desert.

42 For he remembered his holy promise(BR)
given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,(BS)
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,(BT)
and they fell heir to what others had toiled(BU) for—
45 that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.(BV)

Praise the Lord.[a](BW)

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 105:45 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

Cross references:

  1. Psalm 105:1 : 105:1-15pp — 1Ch 16:8-22
  2. Psalm 105:1 : S 1Ch 16:34
  3. Psalm 105:1 : Ps 80:18; 99:6; 116:13; Joel 2:32; Ac 2:21
  4. Psalm 105:2 : Ps 30:4; 33:3; 96:1
  5. Psalm 105:2 : Ps 7:17; 18:49; 27:6; 59:17; 71:22; 146:2
  6. Psalm 105:2 : S Ps 75:1
  7. Psalm 105:3 : S Ps 89:16
  8. Psalm 105:4 : S Ps 24:6
  9. Psalm 105:5 : S Ps 40:5
  10. Psalm 105:5 : S Dt 7:18
  11. Psalm 105:6 : ver 42
  12. Psalm 105:6 : S Dt 10:15; Ps 106:5
  13. Psalm 105:8 : S Ge 9:15; Ps 106:45; 111:5; Eze 16:60; S Lk 1:72
  14. Psalm 105:9 : Ge 12:7; S 15:18; S 22:16-18; Lk 1:73; Gal 3:15-18
  15. Psalm 105:10 : Ge 28:13-15
  16. Psalm 105:10 : Isa 55:3
  17. Psalm 105:11 : S Ge 12:7
  18. Psalm 105:11 : S Nu 34:2
  19. Psalm 105:12 : Dt 7:7
  20. Psalm 105:12 : Ge 23:4; Heb 11:9
  21. Psalm 105:13 : Ge 15:13-16; Nu 32:13; 33:3-49
  22. Psalm 105:14 : Ge 35:5
  23. Psalm 105:14 : Ge 12:17-20; S 20:3; S Ps 9:5
  24. Psalm 105:15 : S Ge 26:11; S 1Sa 12:3
  25. Psalm 105:15 : S Ge 20:7
  26. Psalm 105:16 : S Ge 12:10; S Lev 26:26; Isa 3:1; Eze 4:16
  27. Psalm 105:17 : S Ge 37:28; Ac 7:9
  28. Psalm 105:18 : S Ge 40:15
  29. Psalm 105:19 : S Ge 12:10; 40:20-22
  30. Psalm 105:19 : Ge 41:40
  31. Psalm 105:20 : Ge 41:14
  32. Psalm 105:22 : Ge 41:43-44
  33. Psalm 105:22 : S Ge 41:40
  34. Psalm 105:23 : Ge 46:6; Ac 7:15; 13:17
  35. Psalm 105:23 : Ge 47:28
  36. Psalm 105:23 : S Ps 78:51
  37. Psalm 105:24 : Ex 1:7, 9; Ac 7:17
  38. Psalm 105:25 : S Ex 4:21
  39. Psalm 105:25 : Ex 1:6-10; Ac 7:19
  40. Psalm 105:26 : S Ex 3:10
  41. Psalm 105:26 : S Ex 4:16; S Nu 33:1
  42. Psalm 105:26 : S Nu 16:5; 17:5-8
  43. Psalm 105:27 : ver 28-37; Ex 7:8-12:51
  44. Psalm 105:27 : S Ex 4:17; S 10:1
  45. Psalm 105:27 : S Ex 3:20; Da 4:3
  46. Psalm 105:28 : S Ge 1:4; S Ex 10:22
  47. Psalm 105:28 : S Ex 7:22
  48. Psalm 105:29 : S Ps 78:44
  49. Psalm 105:29 : Ex 7:21
  50. Psalm 105:30 : S Ex 8:2, 6
  51. Psalm 105:31 : Ps 107:25; 148:8
  52. Psalm 105:31 : Ex 8:21-24; S Ps 78:45
  53. Psalm 105:31 : Ex 8:16-18
  54. Psalm 105:32 : Ex 9:22-25; S Job 38:22; S Ps 78:47
  55. Psalm 105:33 : Ps 78:47
  56. Psalm 105:33 : Ex 10:5, 12
  57. Psalm 105:34 : Ps 107:25
  58. Psalm 105:34 : S Ex 10:4, 12-15
  59. Psalm 105:34 : S 1Ki 8:37
  60. Psalm 105:34 : Joel 1:6
  61. Psalm 105:36 : S Ex 4:23; S 12:12
  62. Psalm 105:37 : S Ex 3:21, 22
  63. Psalm 105:38 : Ex 15:16
  64. Psalm 105:39 : S Ex 13:21; 1Co 10:1
  65. Psalm 105:39 : S Ps 78:14
  66. Psalm 105:40 : Ps 78:18, 24
  67. Psalm 105:40 : S Ex 16:13
  68. Psalm 105:40 : S Ex 16:4; Jn 6:31
  69. Psalm 105:41 : S Nu 20:11; 1Co 10:4
  70. Psalm 105:42 : Ge 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:13-16
  71. Psalm 105:43 : Ex 15:1-18; Ps 106:12
  72. Psalm 105:44 : Ex 32:13; Jos 11:16-23; 12:8; 13:6-7; Ps 111:6
  73. Psalm 105:44 : Dt 6:10-11; Ps 78:55
  74. Psalm 105:45 : S Dt 4:40; 6:21-24; Ps 78:5-7
  75. Psalm 105:45 : S Ps 104:35
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Malachi 2:1-16

Additional Warning to the Priests

2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.(A) 2 If you do not listen,(B) and if you do not resolve to honor(C) my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse(D) on you, and I will curse your blessings.(E) Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants[a]; I will smear on your faces the dung(F) from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.(G) 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi(H) may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant(I) of life and peace,(J) and I gave them to him; this called for reverence(K) and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction(L) was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked(M) with me in peace(N) and uprightness,(O) and turned many from sin.(P)

7 “For the lips of a priest(Q) ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger(R) of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.(S) 8 But you have turned from the way(T) and by your teaching have caused many to stumble;(U) you have violated the covenant(V) with Levi,”(W) says the Lord Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despised(X) and humiliated(Y) before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality(Z) in matters of the law.”(AA)

Breaking Covenant Through Divorce

10 Do we not all have one Father[b]?(AB) Did not one God create us?(AC) Why do we profane the covenant(AD) of our ancestors by being unfaithful(AE) to one another?

11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable(AF) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves(AG) by marrying(AH) women who worship a foreign god.(AI) 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove(AJ) him from the tents of Jacob[c](AK)—even though he brings an offering(AL) to the Lord Almighty.

13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears.(AM) You weep and wail(AN) because he no longer looks with favor(AO) on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.(AP) 14 You ask,(AQ) “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness(AR) between you and the wife of your youth.(AS) You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.(AT)

15 Has not the one God made you?(AU) You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.[d](AV) So be on your guard,(AW) and do not be unfaithful(AX) to the wife of your youth.

16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,(AY)” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”[e](AZ) says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard,(BA) and do not be unfaithful.

Footnotes:

  1. Malachi 2:3 Or will blight your grain
  2. Malachi 2:10 Or father
  3. Malachi 2:12 Or 12 May the Lord remove from the tents of Jacob anyone who gives testimony in behalf of the man who does this
  4. Malachi 2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain.
  5. Malachi 2:16 Or “I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,”

Cross references:

  1. Malachi 2:1 : ver 7
  2. Malachi 2:2 : Jer 13:17
  3. Malachi 2:2 : Mt 15:7-9; Jn 5:23; 1Ti 6:16; Rev 5:12-13
  4. Malachi 2:2 : S Dt 11:26; S 28:20
  5. Malachi 2:2 : Nu 6:23-27
  6. Malachi 2:3 : S Ex 29:14; S Lev 4:11; S Job 9:31
  7. Malachi 2:3 : 1Ki 14:10
  8. Malachi 2:4 : S Nu 3:12
  9. Malachi 2:5 : Dt 33:9; Ps 25:10; 103:18; S Mt 26:28; S Lk 22:20; Heb 7:22
  10. Malachi 2:5 : S Nu 25:12
  11. Malachi 2:5 : S Dt 14:23; S 28:58; Ps 119:161; Heb 12:28
  12. Malachi 2:6 : S Dt 33:10
  13. Malachi 2:6 : S Ge 5:22
  14. Malachi 2:6 : Lk 2:14; S Jn 14:27; Gal 5:22
  15. Malachi 2:6 : S Ps 25:21
  16. Malachi 2:6 : S Ro 11:14; Jas 5:19-20
  17. Malachi 2:7 : S Jer 18:18
  18. Malachi 2:7 : S Nu 27:21; S 2Ch 36:15; Mt 11:10; Mk 1:2
  19. Malachi 2:7 : S Lev 10:11; S 2Ch 17:7
  20. Malachi 2:8 : S Ex 32:8; Jer 2:8
  21. Malachi 2:8 : S Jer 18:15
  22. Malachi 2:8 : Jer 33:21; S Eze 22:26
  23. Malachi 2:8 : S Hos 4:6
  24. Malachi 2:9 : S 1Sa 2:30; S Ps 22:6; S Jer 51:37
  25. Malachi 2:9 : S Ps 35:4; Jer 3:25; Ac 8:32-33
  26. Malachi 2:9 : S Ex 18:16; S Lev 19:15; Ac 10:34; Ro 2:11
  27. Malachi 2:9 : S 1Sa 2:17
  28. Malachi 2:10 : S Ex 4:22; Mt 5:16; 6:4, 18; Lk 11:2; 1Co 8:6
  29. Malachi 2:10 : S Job 4:17; Isa 43:1
  30. Malachi 2:10 : Ex 19:5; S 2Ki 17:15; Jer 31:32
  31. Malachi 2:10 : S Zep 3:3-4
  32. Malachi 2:11 : S Isa 1:13; S 48:8
  33. Malachi 2:11 : S Dt 4:37
  34. Malachi 2:11 : S Ne 13:23
  35. Malachi 2:11 : S Ex 34:16; Jer 3:7-9
  36. Malachi 2:12 : S 1Sa 2:30-33; S Eze 24:21
  37. Malachi 2:12 : S Nu 24:5; 2Sa 20:1
  38. Malachi 2:12 : S Mal 1:10
  39. Malachi 2:13 : S Jer 11:11
  40. Malachi 2:13 : Ps 39:12
  41. Malachi 2:13 : Ps 66:18; Jer 14:12
  42. Malachi 2:13 : Isa 58:2
  43. Malachi 2:14 : S Mal 1:2
  44. Malachi 2:14 : S Ge 21:30; S Jos 24:22
  45. Malachi 2:14 : S Pr 5:18
  46. Malachi 2:14 : S Eze 16:8; Heb 13:4
  47. Malachi 2:15 : S Ge 2:24; Mt 19:4-6
  48. Malachi 2:15 : S Dt 14:2; 1Co 7:14
  49. Malachi 2:15 : S Dt 4:15
  50. Malachi 2:15 : S Isa 54:6; 1Co 7:10; Heb 13:4
  51. Malachi 2:16 : S Dt 24:1; Mt 5:31-32; 19:4-9; Mk 10:4-5
  52. Malachi 2:16 : S Ge 6:11; 34:25; S Pr 4:17; S Isa 58:4
  53. Malachi 2:16 : Ps 51:10
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

James 4:13-5:6

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Now listen,(A) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(B) 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(C) 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,(D) we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.(E) 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.(F)

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Now listen,(G) you rich people,(H) weep and wail(I) because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.(J) 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.(K) 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers(L) who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries(M) of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.(N) 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves(O) in the day of slaughter.[a](P) 6 You have condemned and murdered(Q) the innocent one,(R) who was not opposing you.

Footnotes:

  1. James 5:5 Or yourselves as in a day of feasting

Cross references:

  1. James 4:13 : Jas 5:1
  2. James 4:13 : Pr 27:1; Lk 12:18-20
  3. James 4:14 : Job 7:7; Ps 39:5; 102:3; 144:4; Isa 2:22
  4. James 4:15 : S Ac 18:21
  5. James 4:16 : 1Co 5:6
  6. James 4:17 : Lk 12:47; Jn 9:41
  7. James 5:1 : Jas 4:13
  8. James 5:1 : Lk 6:24; 1Ti 6:9; Jas 2:2-6
  9. James 5:1 : Isa 13:6; Eze 30:2
  10. James 5:2 : Job 13:28; Ps 39:11; Isa 50:9; Mt 6:19, 20
  11. James 5:3 : ver 7, 8
  12. James 5:4 : Lev 19:13; Jer 22:13; Mal 3:5
  13. James 5:4 : Dt 24:15
  14. James 5:4 : Ro 9:29
  15. James 5:5 : Eze 16:49; Am 6:1; Lk 16:19
  16. James 5:5 : Jer 12:3; 25:34
  17. James 5:6 : Jas 4:2
  18. James 5:6 : Heb 10:38
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Luke 17:20-37

The Coming of the Kingdom of God(A)

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,(B) Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’(C) because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[a]

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man,(D) but you will not see it.(E) 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.(F) 24 For the Son of Man in his day[b] will be like the lightning,(G) which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things(H) and be rejected(I) by this generation.(J)

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah,(K) so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot.(L) People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.(M) 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.(N) 32 Remember Lot’s wife!(O) 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.(P) 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”(Q) [36] [c]

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”(R)

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 17:21 Or is within you
  2. Luke 17:24 Some manuscripts do not have in his day.
  3. Luke 17:36 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Matt. 24:40.

Cross references:

  1. Luke 17:20 : 17:26, 27pp — Mt 24:37-39
  2. Luke 17:20 : S Mt 3:2
  3. Luke 17:21 : ver 23
  4. Luke 17:22 : S Mt 8:20
  5. Luke 17:22 : S Lk 5:35
  6. Luke 17:23 : Mt 24:23; Lk 21:8
  7. Luke 17:24 : Mt 24:27
  8. Luke 17:25 : S Mt 16:21
  9. Luke 17:25 : Lk 9:22; 18:32
  10. Luke 17:25 : Mk 13:30; Lk 21:32
  11. Luke 17:26 : Ge 6:5-8; 7:6-24
  12. Luke 17:28 : Ge 19:1-28
  13. Luke 17:30 : Mt 10:23; S 16:27; 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 25:31; S 1Co 1:7; S 1Th 2:19; 2Th 1:7; 2:8; 2Pe 3:4; S Rev 1:7
  14. Luke 17:31 : Mt 24:17, 18
  15. Luke 17:32 : Ge 19:26
  16. Luke 17:33 : S Jn 12:25
  17. Luke 17:35 : Mt 24:41
  18. Luke 17:37 : Mt 24:28
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.