Scripture Reading for the
Common Calendar Year
(beginning January 1st)

April 9

Text taken from the
Third Millennium Bible^® (TMB^®)
(New Authorized Version^TM NAV^TM)

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 89:1-18

1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever;
with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up for ever;
Thy faithfulness shalt Thou establish in the very heavens."

3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen,
I have sworn unto David My servant:
4 'Thy Seed will I establish for ever,
and build up thy throne to all generations.'"

5 And the heavens shall praise Thy wonders, O LORD,
Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
and to be held in reverence by all them that are about Him.

8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto Thee?
Or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?
9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea;
when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.
10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain;
Thou hast scattered Thine enemies with Thy strong arm.
11 The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine;
as for the world and the fullness thereof, Thou hast founded them.
12 The north and the south, Thou hast created them;
Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name.
13 Thou hast a mighty arm;
strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand.
14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne;
mercy and truth shall go before Thy face.

15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound!
They shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance.
16 In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day,
and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For Thou art the glory of their strength,
and in Thy favor our horn shall be exalted.
18 For the LORD is our defense,
and the Holy One of Israel is our King.

Matthew 27:55-66

55 And many women were there beholding afar off, who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

57 When the evening had come, there came a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who himself also was Jesus' disciple. 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the sepulcher.

62 Now the next day, that following the Day of the Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 saying, "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, `After three days I will rise again.' 64 Command therefore that the sepulcher be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, `He is risen from the dead,' so that the last error shall be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said unto them, "Ye have a watch. Go your way, make it as secure as ye can." 66 So they went and made the sepulcher secure, sealing the stone and setting up a watch.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 

9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to keep company with fornicators-- 10 yet not meaning altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters, for to do so ye would need to go out of the world. 11 But I now have written unto you not to keep company with any man who is called a brother if he is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. With such a one you are not even to eat. 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do not ye judge those who are within? 13 But those who are outside, God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Joshua 23

1 And it came to pass, a long time after the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. 2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, "I am old and stricken in age. 3 And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He that hath fought for you. 4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the Great Sea westward. 5 And the LORD your God, He shall expel them from before you and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you. 6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; 7 that ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause any to swear by them, neither serve them nor bow yourselves unto them. 8 But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. 9 For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong; but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand; for the LORD your God, He it is that fighteth for you, as He hath promised you. 11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. 12 Or else, if ye do in any wise go back and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them and go in unto them and they to you, 13 know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you, but they shall be snares and traps unto you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

14 "And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you: all have come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 15 Therefore it shall come to pass that, as all good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things until He have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you: 16 when ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods and bowed yourselves to them, then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which He hath given unto you."

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it, 
for He hath no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou hast vowed. 
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, 
than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.