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

August 3

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh,
they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army should encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war should rise against me,
even in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD;
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;
in the secret places of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me upon a rock.
6 And then shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me;
therefore I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy;
I will sing,
yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me and answer me.
8 When Thou saidst, "Seek ye My face,"
my heart said unto Thee, "Thy face, LORD, will I seek."
9 Hide not Thy face far from me;
put not Thy servant away in anger.
Thou hast been my help; leave me not,
neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
then the LORD will take me up.

11 Teach me Thy way, O LORD,
and lead me in a level path because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies;
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I would have fainted,
unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD;
be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. 40 But Martha was encumbered with much serving, and came to Him and said, "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her,

"Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, 2 that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as if from us that the Day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means, for that Day shall not come, unless there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sitteth as God in the temple of God, showing himself to be God. 5 Remember ye not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holdeth back will hold him back, until he is taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming-- 9 even him, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, 12 that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Isaiah 5:8-30

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place,
that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts: "In truth many houses shall be desolate,
even the great and fair, without inhabitant.
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah."
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may pursue strong drink;
that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12 And the harp and the viol, and the taboret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts;
but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of His hands.

13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge;
and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth beyond measure;
and their glory and their multitude and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
15 And the lowly man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled,
and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment,
and God who is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
17 Then shall the lambs feed according to their manner,
and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw along iniquity with cords of vanity,
and sin as it were with a cart rope;
19 who say, "Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it;
and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it."

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that count darkness as light, and light as darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink,
23 who justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff,
so their root shall be rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust;
because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts,
and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against His people,
and He hath stretched forth His hand against them, and hath smitten them;
and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets.
For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.

26 And He will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth;
and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep;
neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken;
28 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion;
they shall roar like young lions;
yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey,
and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea;
and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiasticus 28:17

The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh, 
but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones.