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

March 7

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 61

1 Hear my cry, O God;
attend unto my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee when my heart is overwhelmed;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For Thou hast been a shelter for me
and a strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Thy tabernacle for ever;
I will trust in the refuge of Thy wings.

5 For Thou, O God, hast heard my vows;
Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear Thy name.
6 Thou wilt prolong the king's life,
and his years shall be as many generations.
7 He shall abide before God for ever;
O prepare mercy and truth, that they may preserve him.
8 So will I sing praise unto Thy name for ever,
that I may daily perform my vows.

Matthew 20:17-28

17 And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart on the way and said unto them,

18 "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, 19 and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify Him. And the third day, He shall rise again."

20 Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping Him and desiring a certain thing of Him. 21 And He said unto her,

"What wilt thou?"

She said unto Him, "Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on the left in Thy Kingdom." 22 But Jesus answered and said,

"Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

They said unto Him, "We are able." 23 And He said unto them,

"Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by My Father."

24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. 25 But Jesus called them unto Him and said,

"Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Romans 4:13-25

13 For the promise that he should be the heir of the world came not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law worketh wrath; for where there is no law, there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be given by grace to the end that the promise might be made sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written: "I have made thee a father of many nations"), in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which are not, as though they were.

18 Abraham, against all hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So shall thy seed be." 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 And therefore "it was imputed to him for righteousness."

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.

Leviticus 26:1-22

1 "'Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image,
neither rear you up a standing image,
neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land to bow down unto it;
for I am the LORD your God.
2 Ye shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary:
I am the LORD.

3 "'If ye walk in My statutes
and keep My commandments and do them,
4 then I will give you rain in due season,
and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time;
and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 And I will give peace in the land,
and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid;
and I will rid evil beasts out of the land,
neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies,
and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight;
and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful and multiply you,
and establish My covenant with you.
10 And ye shall eat old store,
and bring forth the old because of the new.
11 And I will set My tabernacle among you,
and My soul shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk among you and will be your God,
and ye shall be My people.
13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen;
and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

14 "`But if ye will not hearken unto Me
and will not do all these commandments,
15 and if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments
so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My covenant,
16 I also will do this unto you:
I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart;
and ye shall sow your seed in vain,
for your enemies shall eat it.
17 And I will set My face against you,
and ye shall be slain before your enemies;
they that hate you shall reign over you,
and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto Me,
then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 And I will break the pride of your power;
and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass.
20 And your strength shall be spent in vain;
for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

21 "And if ye walk contrary unto Me and will not hearken unto Me,
I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattle
and make you few in number, and your highways shall be desolate.

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To every thing there is a season, 
and a time for every purpose under the heaven: 
a time to be born, and a time to die; 
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 
a time to kill, and a time to heal; 
a time to break down, and a time to build up; 
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; 
a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; 
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 
a time to get, and a time to lose; 
a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 
a time to rend, and a time to sew; 
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 
a time to love, and a time to hate; 
a time of war, and a time of peace.