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

March 16  

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 69:1-18

1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come in unto my soul.
2 I sink into deep mire where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying, my throat is dry;
mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head; they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty.
Then I was made to restore that which I took not away.
5 O God, Thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from Thee.

6 Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake,
let not those that seek Thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel,
7 because for Thy sake I have borne reproach;
shame hath covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger unto my brethren,
and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal for Thine house hath eaten me up,
and the reproaches of them that reproached Thee have fallen upon me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
that was turned to my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment,
and I became a proverb to them.
12 They that sit at the gate speak against me,
and I have become the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto Thee: O LORD, in an acceptable time, O God, in the multitude of Thy mercy hear me in the truth of Thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

16 Hear me, O LORD, for Thy lovingkindness is good;
turn unto me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies.
17 And hide not Thy face from Thy servant,
for I am in trouble; hear me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it;
deliver me because of mine enemies.

Matthew 22:23-33

23 The same day the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying, "Master, Moses said, 'If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother.' 25 Now there were with us seven brethren. And the first, when he had married a wife, died; and having no issue, he left his wife unto his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. 27 And last of all, the woman died also. 28 Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her." 29 Jesus answered and said unto them,

"Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine.

Romans 8:26-30

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover, whom He predestined, those He also called; and whom He called, those He also justified; and whom He justified, those He also glorified.

Deuteronomy 1:1-18

1 These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) 3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them, 4 after he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.

5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6 "The LORD our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: 'Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. 7 Turn you and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills and in the vale, and in the South and by the seaside, to the land of the Canaanites and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.'

9 "And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, `I am not able to bear you myself alone. 10 The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11 (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as He hath promised you!) 12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance and your burden and your strife? 13 Take you wise men of understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.' 14 And ye answered me and said, `The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.' 15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, `Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger who is with him. 17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it.' 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

Deuteronomy 3:23-29

23 "And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, 24 `O Lord GOD, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness and Thy mighty hand; for what God is there in heaven or in earth who can do according to Thy works and according to Thy might? 25 I pray Thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.' 26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me. And the LORD said unto me: `Let it suffice thee: speak no more unto Me of this matter. 27 Get thee up onto the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.' 29 So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 3:15

That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been; 
and God requireth that which is past.