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

August 7

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 31:1-16

1 In Thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed;
deliver me in Thy righteousness.
2 Bow down Thine ear to me, deliver me speedily;
be Thou my strong rock, a house of defense to save me.
3 For Thou art my rock and my fortress;
therefore for the sake of Thy name, lead me and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me,
for Thou art my strength.
5 Into Thine hand I commit my spirit;
Thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

6 I have hated them that have regard for lying vanities;
but I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy,
for Thou hast considered my trouble. Thou hast known my soul in adversities,
8 And hast not delivered me into the hands of the enemy;
Thou hast set my feet in a large room.

9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble;
mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. 10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing;
my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11 I am a reproach among all mine enemies,
but especially among my neighbors,
and a fear to mine acquaintances;
they that see me in the streets flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the slander of many;
fear was on every side;
while they took counsel together against me,
they schemed to take away my life.

14 But I have trusted in Thee, O LORD;
I said, "Thou art my God."
15 My times are in Thy hand;
deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me.
16 Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant;
save me for Thy mercies' sake.

Luke 11:37-54

37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him. And He went in and sat down to meat. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord said unto him,

"Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40 Ye fools! Did not He that made that which is without, make that which is within also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you.

42 "But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God. These ought ye to have done, and not left the other undone. 43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the markets. 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them."

45 Then answered one of the lawyers and said unto Him, "Master, thus saying, thou reproachest us also." 46 And He said,

"Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye laden men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe unto you! For ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers.

49 "Therefore also said the wisdom of God: `I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute,' 50 that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple. Verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in, ye hindered."

53 And as He said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press Him vehemently and to provoke Him to speak of many things, 54 lying in wait for Him and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.

1 Timothy 1:1-11

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope, 

2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: 

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 

3 As I besought thee when I went into Macedonia to abide still at Ephesus, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which promote questions rather than godly edifying in the faith, so do!

5 Now the aim of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, with a good conscience and with faith unfeigned, 6 from which some have swerved and have turned aside unto vain jangling, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. 8 But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for whoremongers, for those who defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine 11 according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

Isaiah 9:13-21

13 For the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, 
neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. 
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, 
branch and rush, in one day. 
15 The ancient and honorable, he is the head; 
and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, 
and they that are led by them are destroyed. 
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, 
neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; 
for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, 
and every mouth speaketh folly. 
For all this His anger is not turned away, 
but His hand is stretched out still. 

18 For wickedness burneth as the fire; 
it shall devour the briers and thorns, 
and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, 
and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. 
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; 
no man shall spare his brother. 
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; 
they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. 
21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; 
and they together shall be against Judah. 
For all this His anger is not turned away, 
but His hand is stretched out still.

Words of Wisdom - Ezekiel 45:9

"'Thus saith the Lord GOD: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel. Remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice. Take away your exactions from My people, saith the Lord GOD.