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

August 19

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
and He inclined unto me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.
3 And He hath put a new song in my mouth; even praise unto our God;
many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust,
and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done;
and Thy thoughts which are directed toward us, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee.
If I would declare and speak of them,
they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened;
burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required.

7 Then said I, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart."
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation;
lo, I have not restrained my lips, O LORD, Thou knowest.
10 I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation;
I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.

11 Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O LORD;
let Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about;
mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up.
They are more than the hairs of mine head;
therefore my heart faileth me.

13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me!
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it;
let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate as a reward for their shame, that say unto me, "Aha, aha!"

16 Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee;
let those that love Thy salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!"
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh of me.
Thou art my help and my deliverer; do not tarry, O my God!

Luke 14:25-35

25 And there went great multitudes with Him, and He turned and said unto them,

26 "If any man come to Me and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest it may happen, after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all who behold it begin to mock him, 30 saying, `This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an envoy and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.

34 "Salt is good; but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

1 Timothy 6:11-16

11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

13 In the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, I give thee this charge: 14 that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He in His times shall show -- He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. 

Isaiah 45:1-13, 22-25

1 "Thus saith the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him;
and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the twoleaved gates;
and the gates shall not be shut:
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places,
that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, who call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel Mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name;
I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me.
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else;
there is no God besides Me.
I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me,
6 that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none besides Me.
I am the LORD,
and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil;
I, the LORD, do all these things.

8 "Drop down, ye heavens, from above,
and let the skies pour down righteousness;
let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.
I, the LORD, have created it.

9 "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it,
'What makest thou?' or thy work, `He hath no hands'?
10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, `What begettest thou?'
or to the woman, `What hast thou brought forth?'

11 "Thus saith the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons,
and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me.
12 I have made the earth and created man upon it;
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness,
and I will direct all his ways;
he shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives,
not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts."

22 "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by Myself; the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return,
that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
24 Surely, shall one say, `In the LORD have I righteousness and strength.
Even to Him shall men come,
and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed.
25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.'"

Words of Wisdom - Wisdom of Solomon 5:14

For the hope of the ungodly is like dust that is blown away with the wind, 
like a thin froth that is driven away with the storm, 
as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, 
and passeth away as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day.