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

July 14

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 9

1 I will praise Thee, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will show forth all Thy marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in Thee;
I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou Most High.
3 When mine enemies are turned back,
they shall fall and perish at Thy presence.
4 For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause;
Thou sittest on the throne judging right.
5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, Thou hast destroyed the wicked;
Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end:
and Thou hast destroyed their cities; their memorial is perished with them.

7 But the LORD shall endure for ever;
He hath prepared His throne for judgment.
8 And He shall judge the world with righteousness;
He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee;
for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.

11 Sing praises to the LORD who dwelleth in Zion!
Declare among the people His doings.
12 When He maketh inquisition for blood, He remembereth them;
He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD! Consider my trouble which I suffer from them that hate me,
Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may show forth all Thy praise at the gates of the daughter of Zion.
I will rejoice in Thy salvation.
15 The heathen have sunk down into the pit that they made;
in the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which He executeth;
the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

17 The wicked shall be turned into hell,
and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man prevail;
let the heathen be judged in Thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD;
that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

Luke 6:27-38

27 "But I say unto you that hear: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not back. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them that love you, what thanks have ye? For sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thanks have ye? For sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them from whom ye hope to receive, what thanks have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest; for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

37 "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete, therewith it shall be measured to you again."

Colossians 1:1-12

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, who are at Colossae:

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which ye have for all the saints, 5 for the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, of which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel, 6 which has come unto you, as it has in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. 7 Ye also learned of it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, 8 who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that ye might walk worthy of the Lord, in all pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. 

Job 10

1 "My soul is weary of my life;
I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto God: `Do not condemn me;
show me why Thou contendest with me.
3 Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress,
that Thou shouldest despise the work of Thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Hast Thou eyes of flesh,
or seest Thou as man seeth?
5 Are Thy days as the days of man?
Are Thy years as man's days,
6 that Thou inquirest after mine iniquity,
and searchest after my sin?
7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked,
and there is none that can deliver out of Thine hand.

8 "'Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about;
yet Thou dost destroy me.
9 Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast made me as the clay.
And wilt Thou bring me into dust again?

10 Hast Thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 
11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast protected me with bones and sinews. 
12 Thou hast granted me life and favor, 
and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 

13 "`And these things hast Thou hid in Thine heart; 
I know that this is with Thee:
14 If I sin, then Thou markest me, 
and Thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. 
15 If I be wicked, woe unto me! 
And if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. 
I am full of confusion; 
therefore see Thou mine affliction, 
16 for it increaseth. 
Thou huntest me as a fierce lion, 
and again Thou showest Thyself marvelous upon me. 
17 Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me, and increasest Thine indignation upon me; 
changes and war are against me.

18 Why then hast Thou brought me forth out of the womb?
Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few?
Cease then and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little
21 before I go whence I shall not return,
even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death--
22 a land of darkness, as darkness itself,
and of the shadow of death without any order, and where the light is as darkness.'"

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 11:9

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, 
and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth. 
And walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; 
but know thou that for all these things, God will bring thee into judgment.