A New Daily Office Lectionary

INTRODUCTION

 

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlast­ing life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.[1]

Across North America, orthodox Anglicans have been seeking new structures and tools to help them to be able to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”[2] Among these have been a series of new prayer books (e.g. those of the Reformed Epis­copal Church in 2003 and the Anglican Mission in the Americas in 2008). It is the expectation of many that this work will be furthered through The Common Cause Partnership and (hopefully) result in an edition that will be used widely throughout a new Anglican Province in North Amer­ica. With this new prayer book must come a new daily office lectionary.

We have strayed far from our roots. The most damning evi­dence is found in Arch­bishop Thomas Cranmer’s preface to the first English Prayer Book of 1549, which places the reading of the whole Bible at the forefront of his justification for the reformation of liturgy in 16th-century Eng­land:

The ancient fathers . . . so ordered the matter, that all the whole Bible (or the greatest part thereof) should be read over once in the year, intending thereby, that the Clergy, and especially such as were Min­is­ters of the congregation, should (by often reading, and medi­tation of God’s word) be stirred up to godliness them­selves, and be more able to exhort others by wholesome doctrine, and to confute them that were adver­saries to the truth. And further, that the people (by daily hear­ing of holy Scripture read in the Church) should continual­ly pro­fit more and more in the knowledge of God, and be the more inflamed with the love of his true religion. But these many years passed, this godly and decent order of the ancient fathers hath been so altered, broken, and neglected, by plant­­ing in uncertain stories, Leg­ends, Responds, Verses, vain repetitions, Commemora­tions, and Synodals, that com­mon­ly when any book of the Bible was begun, before three or four Chapters were read out, all the rest were unread. And in this sort the book of Isaiah was begun in Advent, and the book of Genesis in Septuagesima; but they were only begun, and never read through. After a like sort were other books of holy Scripture used.[3]

From the above we can glean three clear priorities for the daily office lectionary:

  • Read “the whole Bible (or the greatest part thereof)”
  • Read it “once in the year” (i.e. don’t take two or three years)
  • Read the books through as a whole (without breaks that would hinder compre­hen­sion)

THE LECTIONARY OF 1549 [4]

Old Testament

The first Anglican Prayer Book introduced the recitation of the whole Psalter in a 30-day pattern. Thus the Psalms are the one Old Testament book that was read through twelve times in the year. It must be noted, however, that this was actually a significant simplification of the long-held tra­di­tion in the church of reciting the whole Psalter once per week (a practice which continued in the Roman Catholic Church into the 20th century).[5]

Of the remaining Canonical books of the O.T., 29 are read in their entirety. The vast majority of four others are read (73% of Exodus[6], 75% of Numbers, 90% of Esther, and 98% of Genesis[7]). Two more are heavily curtailed (we read only 19% of Ezekiel, and 11% of Lev­iti­cus). And there are three books entirely omitted (1 & 2 Chronicles, and The Song of Sol­o­mon).

The pattern in the lectionary is to split the O.T. books between Morn­ing and Evening Prayer. For ex­ample: on January 2,[8] Genesis chap­ter 1 is read in the morning and chapter 2 in the evening—alternating back and forth until the whole book is completed at Morning Prayer on the 27th.

Apocrypha

Our early Anglican reformers were very fond of the Apocrypha. All told, about three quarters of the Apocrypha is assigned with the only significant omissions being 1 & 2 Maccabees and the additions to Esther.[9] Nearly two months in the year are devoted to the Apo­crypha (54 days or 108 readings count­ing both Morning and Even­ing Prayer).

New Testament

The Pattern of the New Testament is different than the Old in that it is sequential within each office. For example, the second reading of Morning Prayer is an unbroken sequence of the Four Gospels and Acts, repeated three times in the year. Evening Prayer likewise starts with Romans and continues through the Epistles in canonical order through Jude (also repeating three times in the year).

The glaring omission of the 1549 N.T. lectionary is that it includes only two readings from the book of Revelation: chapters 1 & 22 on the feast day of St. John the Evan­gelist (December 27). Put in per­centage terms, over the course of a year one reads 300% of the first 26 books of the N.T., yet only 9% of Revelation. One wonders, if Martin Luther had put together our New Testament lectionary, would he have skipped the book of James (reportedly his least favorite)? This omission, and that of the Song of Solomon in the O.T., set a dan­gerous precedent within Anglican­ism that only balloons as time pas­ses. The books and chapters which Cranmer terms “least edifying”[10] in 1549 change and expand with new generations and migrating mores (more on this subject below).

Holy Days

In the 1549 calendar, 11 days are given their own special set of readings which interrupt the conti­nuity of the lectionary. Thus Cran­mer adheres to his principle of greatly curtailing interruptions in the sequential read­­ing of the canonical books, while still setting the precedent that certain (few) days might be excepted from the rule.

THE PRESENT STANDARD (1871)

As the Prayer Book underwent revision, so did the lectionary. In fact, if you were to buy a “1662 Book of Common Prayer” today it is most likely that you would find it contained the lectionary ap­proved by the Church of England in 1871 within its covers.[11] My own copy of the 1662 Book, picked up while studying in England, contains the following note behind the title page:

This edition includes the various amendments to the Book of Com­mon Prayer of 1662 that are con­tained in the following Mea­sures:

Clergy (Ordination and

Mis­cel­­lan­eous Provisions)

Mea­­sure 1964

Prayer Book (Miscellaneous Pro­­vis­ions) Measure 1965

Prayer book (Further Pro­vis­ions) 1968.[12]

Hint: this is no longer the lection­ary of your Anglican forebears.

While the lectionary of 1871 bears a family resemblance to that of 1549, it greatly ex­pands the omis­sions, enters new realms of “polit­i­cal correctness” and also goes a long way toward undoing the sim­plicity that Cranmer et al sought to achieve in the 16th century.

Old Testament

While approximately 83% of the O.T. was read in the 1549, by 1871 that figure is down to 68%. And it’s not just genealogies and redundancies that are omitted. The only books of the O.T. that are read in their entirety (apart from the Psalms which are still read monthly) are the shortest books—Ruth, and eight of the Minor Prophets. The editing of many books is heavy. For example, all of The Book of Joshua is read in 1549, but less than half in 1879. Isaiah remains popular (89%), but Jeremiah has fallen out of favor (46%). Ezekiel’s stock is up (from 19% to 44%), but Exodus’ is down (from 73% to 45%). These are just a few samples.

Since a careful and exhaustive treatment of the migration of pri­or­ities would be book-length, a few anecdotes will have to serve: In 1549 all of Genesis is read except chapter 10 (as noted above). By 1879 there are fourteen slices taken out, some of them more than a chapter in length. For example, 19.1-11 and 19.31-38 are omitted (the first includes the men of Sodom desiring to rape Lot and the second includes Lot’s daughters sleeping with their father while he is drunk). It is hard to escape the idea that Victorian sensibilities have guided the edit­ing of this lectionary. With that in mind, it is no surprise that the Song of Solomon is the only book of the Old Testament to be com­pletely absent from this lectionary (a carry-over from 1549).[13]

A further anecdote reinforcing this point is the absurd omission of 2 Samuel 13.1-37 (The rape of Tamar and Amnon’s subsequent mur­der at the hands of his brother Absalom). Without this episode, the next seven chapters of 2 Sam­uel make no sense! Nor do we see the complete fulfillment of the judg­ment pronounced by Nathan the prophet in 12.6—and that’s just for starters! This is clearly a new generation grabbing hold of Cranmer’s exception and elimi­nat­ing passages that are “least edi­fying”—only there are apparently more unedifying scriptures by 1871 than there were in 1549. Any guesses as to how this trend continues into the present cen­tury?

Another snippet: There is only one passage of 1 Chronicles in the lectionary — 29.10-30 (in 1549 there were none) — one may wonder why? It turns out that this is substituted in place of 1 Kings 1.28-chapter 2. So we still read of David’s death and Solomon’s crown­ing, but we miss the messy details concerning Solomon’s ex­e­cu­tion of his political enemies.

A final tidbit to give you a picture of the kind of editing found in this lectionary is this fact: 25% of the book of Proverbs is omitted. How random is that? There is a whole school of devotion, widely prac­ticed today, that reads all of Pro­verbs every month. Can you find 25% of Proverbs that’s not worth reading?

Apocrypha

The Apocrypha is still read in the 1871 lectionary, but it has clearly fallen in priority. While most of the books of the Apocrypha were read in 1549 (accounting for 74% of the potential chapters), by 1871 only portions of three books are read—Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom & Baruch (22% of the total). The amount of time devoted to the Apocrypha is reduced from 54 days (108 read­ings) in 1549 to 21 days (42 read­ings) in 1871.

New Testament

There are a few significant changes to the New Testament portion of the lectionary—mostly, in my opin­ion, for the better. The first change is that rather than reading the Gospels and Acts only in Morning Prayer and Epistles in the Evening. The Bible is read from Matthew – Jude in both Morning and Evening Prayer. Also, most of the Book of Revelation is now included (but read only once compared to the other 26 books of the N.T. which are read twice).

There are three and a half chap­ters of the New Testament which are never read: Revelation 9, 13 & 17; and Matthew 1.1-17 (The Gen­e­alogy of Christ). Apparently Rev­ela­tion is now mostly, but not entirely, edifying; but the 17 verses which begin the New Testament (in Matthew’s Gospel) have somehow become too much to bear.

Holy Days

Here the 1871 lectionary makes a serious attempt to undo the good Cranmer and his allies did in sim­pli­fying the lectionary. From 11 Holy Days in 1549 we now have 22 interrupting the flow of readings. But that does not even count an additional 12 floating Holy Days as­sign­ed for Holy Week, Easter Week, Ascension & Whitsun Week. So not only are there 22 days in­serted in the cycle, but the addi­tional 12 actually bump the set read­ings so that they will not be read at all that year. This yields a total of more than a month of in­ter­ruptions in the 1871 lectionary.

It gets worse. There is also an en­tirely different schedule of “Les­sons Proper For Sundays.”[14] I’m not sure how commonly it was employed, but if this schedule is used as well, this would substitute for the Old Testament lesson for both Morning and Evening Prayer the first day of every week. It is no small leap from there to what we have in many of our modern lec­tion­aries — a completely different set of lessons for Sunday which seriously compromise the ability to read and comprehend Books of the Bible as a whole through the Daily Office.[15]

MODERN LECTIONARIES

The most damaging feature of many modern Anglican lection­aries is not the passages they omit (as egregious as those omissions are), but rather that they follow the liturgical year! The abandonment of the calendar-year lectionary was accomp­lished in the American church with the introduction of the 1928 Prayer Book (and con­tin­ues to this day). You will find there is a lot of company on this point among North American Anglicans. For example, the daily office lec­tion­ary in the new REC Prayer Book (2003) follows the liturgical year as well as that of the “tra­di­tional” Prayer Book of the Anglican Church of Canada (1962).

While many modern lectionaries continue (and expand upon) the practice of selective scripture omis­sion according to prevail­ing “theo­logical correctness” and mores[16], the liturgical year calen­dar makes it impossible to either read “the whole Bible (or the greatest part thereof) . . . once in the year”[17] or to avoid dropping entire books of the Bible in the middle never to return to them in the course of the year.

For an illustration, let’s look at the 1943 lectionary that is currently published in the American “1928 Prayer Book”. A calendar study of the first thirty-five years of the twenty-first century yielded the fol­lowing results regarding the fre­quency of certain weeks appearing:

Sundays After Epiphany
1st 100%
2nd 97%
3rd 77%
4th 57%
5th 34%
6th 3%

What scriptures do you assign to the fourth week after Epiphany (to be read only half the time); how about the 5th week (1/3 of the time) or the 6th (almost never)?

You have a similar result with the Sundays after Trinity (or Christ­mas). In addition to the uncer­tainty regarding weeks actually ap­pear­­ing in a particular calendar year, you have the jolt of reading one set of scriptures, then drop­ping them completely when a trans­i­tion is made from one season to another (Epiphany to pre-Lent; Trinity to pre-Advent, etc. . . .). We have returned to the state of affairs that Cranmer decried in 1549 when he wrote:

[T]hat commonly when any book of the Bible was begun, before three or four Chapters were read out, all the rest were unread. And in this sort the book of Isaiah was begun in Advent, and the book of Gen­e­sis in Septuagesima; but they were only begun, and never read through. After a like sort were other books of holy Scrip­ture used.[18]

In an effort to put together an effective liturgical-year lectionary, you might attempt to put “less important” books in the infre­quently occurring weeks (e.g. books of the Apocrypha), but you run out of regularly occurring weeks before you can even come close to covering the canonical scrip­tures in any complete or sen­sible fashion.

A LECTIONARY FOR A RENEWED NORTH AMERICAN ANGLICANISM

The Goal of this lectionary is to honor Cranmer’s original priorities without making arbitrary judg­ments as to which of the canonical scriptures are edifying and which are not. For according to God’s own word: “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equip­­ped for every good work.”[19]

The guiding principles in the orga­nization of this lectionary are as follows:

  • Read the whole Bible
  • Read the books in a some­what chronological order
  • Include separate readings for the major Holy Days of the Christian year
  • Provide flexibility for a one-year or two-year cycle

Old Testament

One or two Psalms are appointed for both Morning and Even­ing Prayer. The Psalter is recited through five times per year if both offices are read. However, they are spaced in such a way that even if you divide the lectionary into a two-year cycle (reading the lessons for Morning Prayer in year-1 and Evening Prayer in year-2) you will still read the entire Psalter each year—more than twice.

In a break from early Anglican lectionaries, the remaining books of the Old Testament are not split between Morning and Evening Prayer. For example, you will read the whole of Genesis in Morning Prayer alone, etc. . . . As a whole, the O.T. readings of Morning Prayer primarily consist of the Historical books, with the addition of a few of the smaller prophetic books later in the year.

The O.T. readings of evening Prayer are primarily from the Wisdom and Prophetic writings, although you will also find Deu­teronomy, 1 & 2 Chronicles as well as 1 Maccabees. This is in order to provide a portion of both the Law and the story of the Davidic king­dom in both offices for those who wish to divide the readings into a two-year cycle.

Apocrypha

This lectionary maintains the tra­dition of reading a portion of the Apocrypha (though not at the ex­pense of any of the canonical books of the Old Testament). Other than a few passages read on certain Holy Days (and February 29), the principle Apocryphal book included is the whole of 1 Mac­cabees. This is read at the end of the year in Evening Prayer (or year-2 of a two-year cycle) in order to provide an historical bridge be­tween the Old and New Test­a­ments.

New Testament

The entire New Testament is read in both offices. The readings are staggered so that, for the most part, when a Gospel is being read in one office, an Epistle is being read in the other.

Holy Days

23 days out of the year (24 in leap years) have lessons apart from the continuous reading of the Bible. This is to allow for special med­i­ta­tion on the chief Christian Holi­days of the year. They are:

  • The Epiphany (January 6th)
  • Ash Wednesday (anywhere from February 4 – March 10)
  • Holy Week (The Sunday – Saturday preceding Easter which can fall anywhere from March 22-April 25)
  • Easter Week (7 days cel­e­brating Jesus’ Resur­rec­tion)
  • The Ascension (anywhere from April 30 – June 3 depen­ding on the date of Easter)
  • The Feast of Pentecost and its Eve (Sat – Sun, 9 days after the Ascension)
  • Trinity Sunday (one week after Pentecost)
  • All Saints’ Day (November 1)
  • Christmas Eve and Day (December 24-25)

The Holy Days in italics above float from year to year. They are inclu­ded in the follow­ing lectionary on the average date of their occur­rence.

As it is assumed that Christians will be worshipping in community on the major Feast and Fast Days of the year, the Holy Day readings in this lectionary are intended to supplement the primary readings for the day. The appendix which follows the lectionary indicates what are to be considered the chief readings for the day and should be substi­tuted for those in the lec­tion­ary if the reader is unable to attend public worship on any of those days.

 

JANUARY

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
               
1 1-2 Gen 1.1-2.3 Mark 1.1-20 3-4 Job 1-2.10 1 Thess 1
2 5 Gen 2.4-end Mark 1.21-end 6 Job 2.11-ch. 3 1 Thess 2.1-16
3 7 Gen 3 Mark 2.1-22 8 Job 4-5 1 Thess 2.17-ch. 3
4 9 Gen 4-5 Mark 2.23-3.12 10 Job 6-7 1 Thess 4
5 11-12 Gen 6-7 Mark 3.13-end 13-14 Job 8 1 Thess 5
Epiphany 46 Isa 52.7-10 Rom 15.8-21 29 Isa 49.1-7 Matt 12.15-21
7 15-16 Gen 8.1-9.17 Mark 4.1-20 17 Job 9-10 2 Thess 1
8 18 Gen 9.18-ch. 10 Mark 4.21-end 19 Job 11-12 2 Thess 2
9 20 Gen 11 Mark 5.1-20 21 Job 13-14 2 Thess 3
10 22 Gen 12-13 Mark 5.21-6.6 23 Job 15 Gal 1
11 24 Gen 14 Mark 6.7-29 25 Job 16-17 Gal 2
12 26 Gen 15-16 Mark 6.30-end 27 Job 18-19 Gal 3
13 28 Gen 17 Mark 7.1-23 29 Job 20 Gal 4
14 30 Gen 18 Mark 7.24-8.10 31 Job 21 Gal 5
15 32 Gen 19 Mark 8.11-9.1 33 Job 22 Gal 6
16 34 Gen 20.1-21.21 Mark 9.2-29 35 Job 23-24 1 Cor 1
17 36 Gen 21.22-ch. 22 Mark 9.30-end 37 Job 25-27 1 Cor 2
18 38 Gen 23 Mark 10.1-31 39 Job 28 1 Cor 3
19 40 Gen 24.1-28 Mark 10.32-end 41 Job 29-30 1 Cor 4
20 42 Gen 24.29-end Mark 11.1-26 43 Job 31 1 Cor 5
21 44 Gen 25 Mark 11.27-12.17 45 Job 32-33 1 Cor 6
22 46 Gen 26 Mark 12.18-end 47 Job 34-35 1 Cor 7.1-24
23 48 Gen 27 Mark 13 49 Job 36-37 1 Cor 7.25-end
24 50 Gen 28 Mark 14.1-31 51 Job 38 1 Cor 8
25 52 Gen 29 Mark 14.32-52 53-54 Job 39-40 1 Cor 9
26 55 Gen 30 Mark 14.53-15.15 56 Job 41-42 1 Cor 10
27 57 Gen 31 Mark 15.16-end 58 Prov 1 1 Cor 11
28 59 Gen 32-33 Mark 16 60 Prov 2.1-3.12 1 Cor 12
29 61 Gen 34 2 Cor 1.1-2.4 62 Prov 3.13-ch. 4 1 Cor 13
30 63 Gen 35 2 Cor 2.5-ch. 3 64 Prov 5.1-6.19 1 Cor 14
31 65 Gen 36 2 Cor 4 66-67 Prov 6.20-ch. 7 1 Cor 15.1-34

FEBRUARY

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 68 Gen 37 2 Cor 5.1-6.2 69 Prov 8 1 Cor 15.35-end
2 70 Gen 38 2 Cor 6.3-7.1 71 Prov 9-10 1 Cor 16
3 72 Gen 39 2 Cor 7.2-end 73 Prov 11 Luke 1.1-25
4 74 Gen 40 2 Cor 8 75 Prov 12-13 Luke 1.26-56
5 76 Gen 41 2 Cor 9 77 Prov 14 Luke 1.57-end
6 78.1-39 Gen 42 2 Cor 10 78.40-end Prov 15 Luke 2.1-21
7 79 Gen 43 2 Cor 11 80 Prov 16 Luke 2.22-end
8 81 Gen 44 2 Cor 12 82 Prov 17-18 Luke 3.1-22
9 83 Gen 45 2 Cor 13 84 Prov 19 Luke 3.23-4.13
10 85 Gen 46 Rom 1 86 Prov 20 Luke 4.14-37
11 87 Gen 47 Rom 2 88 Prov 21.1-22.16 Luke 4.38-5.16
12 89 Gen 48 Rom 3 90 Prov 22.17-ch. 23 Luke 5.17-end
13 91 Gen 49 Rom 4 92-93 Prov 24 Luke 6.1-19
14 94 Gen 50 Rom 5 95 Prov 25-26 Luke 6.20-end
15 96 Exod 1.1-2.10 Rom 6 97 Prov 27 Luke 7.1-17
16 98 Exod 2.11-ch. 3 Rom 7 99 Prov 28 Luke 7.18-35
17 100-101 Exod 4 Rom 8.1-17 102 Prov 29 Luke 7.36-end
18 103 Exod 5.1-6.13 Rom 8.18-end 104 Prov 30 Luke 8.1-25
19 105 Exod 6.14-ch. 7 Rom 9.1-29 106 Prov 31 Luke 8.26-end
20 107 Exod 8 Rom 9.30-ch. 10 108 Eccl 1-2 Luke 9.1-27
Ash Wed 6, 38 Isa 58 Heb 12.1-17 143 Jonah 3-4 Luke 15.11-end
22 109 Exod 9 Rom 11 110-111 Eccl 3-4 Luke 9.28-end
23 112-113 Exod 10-11 Rom 12 114-115 Eccl 5-6 Luke 10.1-24
24 116-117 Exod 12 Rom 13 118 Eccl 7-8 Luke 10.25-end
25 119.1-16 Exod 13 Rom 14 119.17-40 Eccl 9-10 Luke 11.1-28
26 119.41-64 Exod 14 Rom 15 119.65-88 Eccl 11-12 Luke 11.29-end
27 119.89-104 Exod 15 Rom 16 119.105-128 Song 1.1-2.7 Luke 12.1-21
28 119.129-152 Exod 16 Philem All 119.153-end Song 2.8-ch. 3 Luke 12.22-48
29 1 Wisd 13.1-9 Susanna 127 Pr. of Azariah Tobit 8.4-8

MARCH

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 120-121 Exod 17-18 Col 1.1-23 122-123 Song 4.1-5.1 Luke 12.49-13.9
2 124-125 Exod 19 Col 1.24-ch. 2 126-127 Song 5.2-ch. 6 Luke 13.10-end
3 128-129 Exod 20 Col 3.1-4.1 130-131 Song 7-8 Luke 14.1-24
4 132 Exod 21 Col 4.2-end 133-134 Jonah 1-2 Luke 14.25-15.10
5 135 Exod 22 Eph 1 136 Jonah 3-4 Luke 15.11-end
6 137 Exod 23 Eph 2 138 Amos 1-2 Luke 16.1-18
7 139 Exod 24.1-25.30 Eph 3 140 Amos 3-4 Luke 16.19-17.10
8 141 Exod 25.31-ch. 26 Eph 4 142 Amos 5 Luke 17.11-end
9 143 Exod 27 Eph 5 144 Amos 6 Luke 18.1-17
10 145 Exod 28 Eph 6 146 Amos 7-8 Luke 18.18-end
11 147 Exod 29 Phil 1 148 Amos 9 Luke 19.1-27
12 149-150 Exod 30 Phil 2 1-2 Hosea 1-2 Luke 19.28-end
13 3-4 Exod 31 Phil 3.1-4.1 5 Hosea 3-4 Luke 20.1-18
14 6 Exod 32 Phil 4.2-end 7 Hosea 5.1-6.10 Luke 20.19-end
15 8 Exod 33 1 Tim 1 9 Hosea 6.11-ch. 8 Luke 21.1-19
16 10 Exod 34 1 Tim 2 11-12 Hosea 9-10 Luke 21.20-end
17 13-14 Exod 35 1 Tim 3 15-16 Hosea 11-12 Luke 22.1-23
18 17 Exod 36 1 Tim 4 18 Hosea 13-14 Luke 22.24-38
19 19 Exod 37 1 Tim 5.1-6.2 20 Micah 1 Luke 22.39-end
20 21 Exod 38 1 Tim 6.3-end 22 Micah 2-3 Luke 23.1-25
21 23 Exod 39 2 Tim 1 24 Micah 4.1-5.6 Luke 23.26-end
22 25 Exod 40 2 Tim 2 26 Micah 5.7-ch. 6 Luke 24.1-35
23 27 Lev 1-2 2 Tim 3 28 Micah 7 Luke 24.36-end
24 29 Lev 3.1-4.21 2 Tim 4 30 Isaiah 1 Acts 1
25 31 Lev 4.22-ch. 5 Titus 1 32 Isaiah 2 Acts 2.1-21
26 33 Lev 6 Titus 2-3 34 Isaiah 3-4 Acts 2.22-end
27 35 Lev 7 Matt 1 36 Isaiah 5 Acts 3
28 37 Lev 8 Matt 2 38 Isaiah 6.1-7.9 Acts 4.1-31
29 39 Lev 9 Matt 3 40 Isaiah 7.10-ch. 8 Acts 4.32-5.11
30 41 Lev 10 Matt 4.1-17 42 Isaiah 9 Acts 5.12-end
31 43 Lev 11 Matt 4.18-5.12 44 Isaiah 10 Acts 6

APRIL

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENINGPRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
Palm Sun 24 Zech 9.9-12 Luke 19.29-40 77 Lam 1 John 14
Mon 71 Isa 42.1-7 Matt 21.12-end 42 Lam 2 John 15
Tue 12 Isa 49.1-7 Matt 22 94 Lam 3 John 16
Wed 55 Isa 50.4-end Matt 23 74 Lam 4 John 17
Maun Thur 102 Jer 31.31-34 Matt 26.1-25 142 Lam 5 Luke 22.14-30
Good Fri 54 Wisd 1.16-2.1; John 18 69 Zech 12.9-13.1, I Pet 2.11-end
      2.12-24       13.7-end  
Holy Sat 88 Pr. of Manasseh 1 Pet 3.17-21 27 Job 19.21-27a Rom 6.3-11
Easter Sun 149-150 Exod 12.1-14 Luke 24.1-12 113 Isa 51.9-11 Mark 16
Mon 98 Exod 13.3-16 Luke 24.13-49 66 Isa 12 John 20
Tue 103 Exod 15.1-21 Matt 28 111 Isa 30.18-21 John 21
Wed 97 Ezek 37.1-14 Acts 2.22-36 148 Isa 61 I Cor 15.1-11
Thur 146 Jer 31.10-14 Acts 3.12-4.12 147 Isa 25.1-9 1 Cor 15.12-34
Fri 136 Zeph 3.14-end Acts 13.26-41 114 Isa 65.17-end I Cor 15.35-end
Sat 145 Dan 12 Phil 3.7-end 104 Song 2.10-end Rev 5
15 45 Lev 12.1-13.28 Matt 5.13-32 46 Isaiah 11-12 Acts 7.1-43
16 47 Lev 13.29-end Matt 5.33-6.4 48 Isaiah 13 Acts 7.44-end
17 49 Lev 14.1-32 Matt 6.5-24 50 Isaiah 14 Acts 8.1-25
18 51 Lev 14.33-end Matt 6.25-7.14 52 Isaiah 15-16 Acts 8.26-end
19 53-54 Lev 15 Matt 7.15-8.4 55 Isaiah 17-18 Acts 9.1-22
20 56 Lev 16 Matt 8.5-end 57 Isaiah 19 Acts 9.23-end
21 58 Lev 17 Matt 9.1-17 59 Isaiah 20-21 Acts 10
22 60 Lev 18 Matt 9.18-end 61 Isaiah 22 Acts 11
23 62 Lev 19 Matt 10 63 Isaiah 23 Acts 12
24 64 Lev 20 Matt 11 65 Isaiah 24 Acts 13.1-12
25 66-67 Lev 21 Matt 12.1-21 68 Isaiah 25-26 Acts 13.13-end
26 69 Lev 22 Matt 12.22-end 70 Isaiah 27 Acts 14
27 71 Lev 23 Matt 13.1-23 72 Isaiah 28 Acts 15.1-35
28 73 Lev 24.1-25.7 Matt 13.24-43 74 Isaiah 29 Acts 15.36-16.15
29 75 Lev 25.8-end Matt 13.44-end 76 Isaiah 30 Acts 16.16-end
30 77 Lev 26 Matt 14 78.1-39 Isaiah 31-32 Acts 17.1-15

MAY

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 78.40-end Lev 27 Matt 15.1-31 79 Isaiah 33 Acts 17.16-end
2 80 Num 1 Matt 15.32-16.12 81 Isaiah 34-35 Acts 18
3 82 Num 2 Matt 16.13-end 83 Isaiah 36.1-37.13 Acts 19.1-20
4 84 Num 3 Matt 17 85 Isaiah 37.14-end Acts 19.21-end
5 86 Num 4 Matt 18.1-14 87 Isaiah 38-39 Acts 20.1-16
6 88 Num 5 Matt 18.15-end 89 Isaiah 40 Acts 20.17-end
7 90 Num 6 Matt 19 91 Isaiah 41 Acts 21.1-16
8 92-93 Num 7.1-41 Matt 20 94 Isaiah 42 Acts 21.17-36
9 95 Num 7.42-end Matt 21.1-22 96 Isaiah 43 Acts 21.37-22.29
10 97 Num 8 Matt 21.23-end 98 Isaiah 44 Acts 22.30-23.11
11 99 Num 9 Matt 22.1-22 100-101 Isaiah 45 Acts 23.12-end
12 102 Num 10 Matt 22.23-end 103 Isaiah 46 Acts 24
13 104 Num 11 Matt 23.1-36 105 Isaiah 47 Acts 25
14 106 Num 12-13 Matt 23.37-24.14 107 Isaiah 48 Acts 26
15 108 Num 14 Matt 24.15-end 109 Isaiah 49 Acts 27.1-12
16 110-111 Num 15 Matt 25.1-30 112-113 Isaiah 50 Acts 27.13-end
Ascension 8 Ezek 1 Eph 1.15-end 24 2 Kgs 2.1-15 Heb 4.14-5.10
18 114-115 Num 16 Matt 25.31-end 116-117 Isaiah 51 Acts 28.1-16
19 118 Num 17 Matt 26.1-35 119.1-16 Isaiah 52-53 Acts 28.17-end
20 119.17-40 Num 18 Matt 26.36-56 119.41-64 Isaiah 54 James 1
21 119.65-88 Num 19 Matt 26.57-end 119.89-104 Isaiah 55-56 James 2
22 119.105-128 Num 20 Matt 27.1-26 119.129-152 Isaiah 57 James 3
23 119.153-end Num 21 Matt 27.27-56 120-121 Isaiah 58 James 4
24 122-123 Num 22 Matt 27.57-ch. 28 124-125 Isaiah 59 James 5
25 126-127 Num 23 Heb 1 128-129 Isaiah 60 1 Pet 1
Eve 48 Joel 2.21-end Rom 8 33 Ezek 36.22-28 1 Jn 4.1-14
Pentecost 133 Ezek 47.1-12 John 7.37-39 145 Acts 10.34-end Gal 5.16-end
28 130-131 Num 24 Heb 2 132 Isaiah 61 1 Pet 2
29 133-134 Num 25.1-26.22 Heb 3 135 Isaiah 62 1 Pet 3
30 136 Num 26.23-end Heb 4.1-13 137 Isaiah 63.1-14 1 Pet 4
31 138 Num 27 Heb 4.14-5.10 139 Isaiah 63.15-ch. 64 1 Pet 5

JUNE

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 140 Num 28 Heb 5.11-ch. 6 141 Isaiah 65.1-16 2 Pet 1
2 142 Num 29 Heb 7 143 Isaiah 65.17-66.6 2 Pet 2
Trinity Sun 112 Gen 18.1-16 John 1.1-14, 100 Num 6.22-end Eph 3.14-end
        29-34        
4 144 Num 30 Heb 8 145 Isaiah 66.7-end 2 Pet 3
5 146 Num 31 Heb 9 147 Nah 1 Jude All
6 148 Num 32 Heb 10.1-18 149-150 Nah 2-3 John 1.1-28
7 1-2 Num 33 Heb 10.19-end 3-4 Zeph 1 John 1.29-end
8 5 Num 34 Heb 11.1-12.2 6 Zeph 2 John 2
9 7 Num 35 Heb 12.3-end 8 Zeph 3 John 3.1-21
10 9 Num 36 Heb 13 10 Deut 1 John 3.22-end
11 11-12 Josh 1 1 John 1.1-2.6 13-14 Deut 2 John 4.1-42
12 15-16 Josh 2 1 John 2.7-27 17 Deut 3 John 4.43-5.18
13 18 Josh 3 1 John 2.28-ch. 3 19 Deut 4.1-31 John 5.19-end
14 20 Josh 4.1-5.12 1 John 4 21 Deut 4.32-end John 6.1-21
15 22 Josh 5.13-ch. 6 1 John 5 23 Deut 5 John 6.22-end
16 24 Josh 7 2 John all 25 Deut 6 John 7.1-24
17 26 Josh 8 3 John all 27 Deut 7 John 7.25-end
18 28 Josh 9 Rev 1 29 Deut 8 John 8.1-30
19 30 Josh 10.1-28 Rev 2.1-17 31 Deut 9 John 8.31-end
20 32 Josh 10.29-ch. 11 Rev 2.18-3.6 33 Deut 10 John 9
21 34 Josh 12.1-13.7 Rev 3.7-end 35 Deut 11 John 10.1-21
22 36 Josh 13.8-ch. 14 Rev 4 37 Deut 12 John 10.22-end
23 38 Josh 15 Rev 5 39 Deut 13.1-14.21 John 11.1-44
24 40 Josh 16-17 Rev 6 41 Deut 14.22-ch. 15 John 11.45-12.11
25 42 Josh 18 Rev 7 43 Deut 16.1-17.7 John 12.12-36a
26 44 Josh 19 Rev 8 45 Deut 17.8-ch. 18 John 12.36b-end
27 46 Josh 20 Rev 9 47 Deut 19-20 John 13.1-20
28 48 Josh 21 Rev 10 49 Deut 21 John 13.21-end
29 50 Josh 22 Rev 11 51 Deut 22 John 14
30 52 Josh 23 Rev 12 53-54 Deut 23 John 15.1-17

JULY

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 55 Josh 24 Rev 13 56 Deut 24.1-25.10 John 15.18-16.15
2 57 Judg 1 Rev 14 58 Deut 25.11-ch. 26 John 16.16-end
3 59 Judg 2 Rev 15 60 Deut 27 John 17
4 61 Judg 3 Rev 16 62 Deut 28.1-35 John 18.1-27
5 63 Judg 4 Rev 17 64 Deut 28.36-end John 18.28-end
6 65 Judg 5 Rev 18 66-67 Deut 29 John 19.1-16a
7 68 Judg 6.1-35 Rev 19 69 Deut 30 John 19.16b-end
8 70 Judg 6.36-ch. 7 Rev 20 71 Deut 31.1-29 John 20.1-18
9 72 Judg 8 Rev 21 73 Deut 31.30-32.27 John 20.19-end
10 74 Judg 9.1-21 Rev 22 75 Deut 32.28-end John 21
11 76 Judg 9.22-end 1 Thess 1 77 Deut 33 Mark 1.1-20
12 78.1-39 Judg 10 1 Thess 2.1-16 78.40-end Deut 34 Mark 1.21-end
13 79 Judg 11 1 Thess 2.17-ch. 3 80 Hab 1.1-2.1 Mark 2.1-22
14 81 Judg 12 1 Thess 4 82 Hab 2.2-end Mark 2.23-3.12
15 83 Judg 13 1 Thess 5 84 Hab 3 Mark 3.13-end
16 85 Judg 14 2 Thess 1 86 Jer 1 Mark 4.1-20
17 87 Judg 15 2 Thess 2 88 Jer 2 Mark 4.21-end
18 89 Judg 16 2 Thess 3 90 Jer 3 Mark 5.1-20
19 91 Judg 17-18 Gal 1 92-93 Jer 4 Mark 5.21-6.6
20 94 Judg 19 Gal 2 95 Jer 5 Mark 6.7-29
21 96 Judg 20 Gal 3 97 Jer 6 Mark 6.30-end
22 98 Judg 21 Gal 4 99 Jer 7.1-8.3 Mark 7.1-23
23 100-101 Ruth 1 Gal 5 102 Jer 8.4-17 Mark 7.24-8.10
24 103 Ruth 2 Gal 6 104 Jer 8.18-ch. 9 Mark 8.11-9.1
25 105 Ruth 3-4 1 Cor 1 106 Jer 10 Mark 9.2-29
26 107 1 Sam 1.1-2.11 1 Cor 2 108 Jer 11 Mark 9.30-end
27 109 1 Sam 2.12-end 1 Cor 3 110-111 Jer 12 Mark 10.1-31
28 112-113 1 Sam 3 1 Cor 4 114-115 Jer 13 Mark 10.32-end
29 116-117 1 Sam 4-5 1 Cor 5 118 Jer 14 Mark 11.1-26
30 119.1-16 1 Sam 6-7.2 1 Cor 6 119.17-40 Jer 15 Mark 11.27-12.17
31 119.41-64 1 Sam 7.3-ch. 8 1 Cor 7.1-24 119.65-88 Jer 16 Mark 12.18-end

AUGUST

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 119.89-104 1 Sam 9 1 Cor 7.25-end 119.105-128 Jer 17 Mark 13
2 119.129-152 1 Sam 10 1 Cor 8 119.153-end Jer 18 Mark 14.1-31
3 120-121 1 Sam 11 1 Cor 9 122-123 Jer 19 Mark 14.32-52
4 124-125 1 Sam 12 1 Cor 10 126-127 Jer 20-21 Mark 14.53-15.15
5 128-129 1 Sam 13 1 Cor 11 130-131 Jer 22 Mark 15.16-end
6 132 1 Sam 14.1-23 1 Cor 12 133-134 Jer 23 Mark 16
7 135 1 Sam 14.24-end 1 Cor 13 136 Jer 24 2 Cor 1.1-2.4
8 137 1 Sam 15 1 Cor 14 138 Jer 25 2 Cor 2.5-ch. 3
9 139 1 Sam 16 1 Cor 15.1-34 140 Jer 26 2 Cor 4
10 141 1 Sam 17.1-30 1 Cor 15.35-end 142 Jer 27-28 2 Cor 5.1-6.2
11 143 1 Sam 17.31-end 1 Cor 16 144 Jer 29 2 Cor 6.3-7.1
12 145 1 Sam 18 Luke 1.1-25 146 Jer 30 2 Cor 7.2-end
13 147 1 Sam 19 Luke 1.26-56 148 Jer 31 2 Cor 8
14 149-150 1 Sam 20 Luke 1.57-end 1-2 Jer 32 2 Cor 9
15 3-4 1 Sam 21-22 Luke 2.1-21 5 Jer 33 2 Cor 10
16 6 1 Sam 23 Luke 2.22-end 7 Jer 34 2 Cor 11
17 8 1 Sam 24 Luke 3.1-22 9 Jer 35 2 Cor 12
18 10 1 Sam 25 Luke 3.23-4.13 11-12 Jer 36 2 Cor 13
19 13-14 1 Sam 26-27 Luke 4.14-37 15-16 Jer 37 Rom 1
20 17 1 Sam 28 Luke 4.38-5.16 18 Jer 38 Rom 2
21 19 1 Sam 29.1-30.15 Luke 5.17-end 20 Jer 39.1-40.6 Rom 3
22 21 1 Sam 30.16-ch. 31 Luke 6.1-19 22 Jer 40.7-ch. 41 Rom 4
23 23 2 Sam 1 Luke 6.20-end 24 Jer 42-43 Rom 5
24 25 2 Sam 2 Luke 7.1-17 26 Jer 44 Rom 6
25 27 2 Sam 3 Luke 7.18-35 28 Jer 45-46 Rom 7
26 29 2 Sam 4.1-5.16 Luke 7.36-end 30 Jer 47-48.10 Rom 8.1-17
27 31 2 Sam 5.17-ch. 6 Luke 8.1-25 32 Jer 48.11-end Rom 8.18-end
28 33 2 Sam 7 Luke 8.26-end 34 Jer 49.1-22 Rom 9.1-29
29 35 2 Sam 8-9 Luke 9.1-27 36 Jer 49.23-end Rom 9.30-ch. 10
30 37 2 Sam 10 Luke 9.28-end 38 Jer 50.1-20 Rom 11
31 39 2 Sam 11 Luke 10.1-24 40 Jer 50.21-end Rom 12

SEPTEMBER

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 41 2 Sam 12 Luke 10.25-end 42 Jer 51.1-23 Rom 13
2 43 2 Sam 13 Luke 11.1-28 44 Jer 51.24-40 Rom 14
3 45 2 Sam 14 Luke 11.29-end 46 Jer 51.41-end Rom 15
4 47 2 Sam 15 Luke 12.1-21 48 Jer 52 Rom 16
5 49 2 Sam 16 Luke 12.22-48 50 Ob all Philem All
6 51 2 Sam 17 Luke 12.49-13.9 52 Ezek 1 Col 1.1-23
7 53-54 2 Sam 18.1-18 Luke 13.10-end 55 Ezek 2-3 Col 1.24-ch. 2
8 56 2 Sam 18.19-19.15 Luke 14.1-24 57 Ezek 4-5 Col 3.1-4.1
9 58 2 Sam 19.16-end Luke 14.25-15.10 59 Ezek 6-7 Col 4.2-end
10 60 2 Sam 20 Luke 15.11-end 61 Ezek 8-9 Eph 1
11 62 2 Sam 21 Luke 16.1-18 63 Ezek 10.1-11.13 Eph 2
12 64 2 Sam 22.1-20 Luke 16.19-17.10 65 Ezek 11.14-ch. 12 Eph 3
13 66-67 2 Sam 22.21-end Luke 17.11-end 68 Ezek 13 Eph 4
14 69 2 Sam 23 Luke 18.1-17 70 Ezek 14-15 Eph 5
15 71 2 Sam 24 Luke 18.18-end 72 Ezek 16 Eph 6
16 73 1 Kgs 1.1-27 Luke 19.1-27 74 Ezek 17 Phil 1
17 75 1 Kgs 1.28-2.12 Luke 19.28-end 76 Ezek 18 Phil 2
18 77 1 Kgs 2.13-end Luke 20.1-18 78.1-39 Ezek 19 Phil 3.1-4.1
19 78.40-end 1 Kgs 3 Luke 20.19-end 79 Ezek 20.1-32 Phil 4.2-end
20 80 1 Kgs 4 Luke 21.1-19 81 Ezek 20.33-end 1 Tim 1
21 82 1 Kgs 5 Luke 21.20-end 83 Ezek 21 1 Tim 2
22 84 1 Kgs 6 Luke 22.1-23 85 Ezek 22 1 Tim 3
23 86 1 Kgs 7.1-26 Luke 22.24-38 87 Ezek 23 1 Tim 4
24 88 1 Kgs 7.27-end Luke 22.39-end 89 Ezek 24 1 Tim 5.1-6.2
25 90 1 Kgs 8.1-21 Luke 23.1-25 91 Ezek 25-26 1 Tim 6.3-end
26 92-93 1 Kgs 8.22-end Luke 23.26-end 94 Ezek 27 2 Tim 1
27 95 1 Kgs 9 Luke 24.1-35 96 Ezek 28 2 Tim 2
28 97 1 Kgs 10 Luke 24.36-end 98 Ezek 29 2 Tim 3
29 99 1 Kgs 11 Acts 1 100-101 Ezek 30 2 Tim 4
30 102 1 Kgs 12 Acts 2.1-21 103 Ezek 31 Titus 1

OCTOBER

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 104 1 Kgs 13 Acts 2.22-end 105 Ezek 32 Titus 2-3
2 106 1 Kgs 14 Acts 3 107 Ezek 33 Matt 1
3 108 1 Kgs 15.1-32 Acts 4.1-31 109 Ezek 34 Matt 2
4 110-111 1 Kgs 15.33-16.28 Acts 4.32-5.11 112-113 Ezek 35.1-36.21 Matt 3
5 114-115 1 Kgs 16.29-ch. 17 Acts 5.12-end 116-117 Ezek 36.22-37.14 Matt 4.1-17
6 118 1 Kgs 18.1-40 Acts 6 119.1-16 Ezek 37.15-ch. 38 Matt 4.18-5.12
7 119.17-40 1 Kgs 18.41-ch. 19 Acts 7.1-43 119.41-64 Ezek 39 Matt 5.13-32
8 119.65-88 1 Kgs 20.1-25 Acts 7.44-end 119.89-104 Ezek 40.1-43 Matt 5.33-6.4
9 119.105-128 1 Kgs 20.26-end Acts 8.1-25 119.129-152 Ezek 40.44-ch. 41 Matt 6.5-24
10 119.153-end 1 Kgs 21 Acts 8.26-end 120-121 Ezek 42.1-43.12 Matt 6.25-7.14
11 122-123 1 Kgs 22.1-28 Acts 9.1-22 124-125 Ezek 43.13-44.14 Matt 7.15-8.4
12 126-127 1 Kgs 22.29-end Acts 9.23-end 128-129 Ezek 44.15-45.17 Matt 8.5-end
13 130-131 2 Kgs 1 Acts 10 132 Ezek 45.18-ch. 46 Matt 9.1-17
14 133-134 2 Kgs 2 Acts 11 135 Ezek 47 Matt 9.18-end
15 136 2 Kgs 3 Acts 12 137 Ezek 48 Matt 10
16 138 2 Kgs 4 Acts 13.1-12 139 1 Chr 1 Matt 11
17 140 2 Kgs 5 Acts 13.13-end 141 1 Chr 2 Matt 12.1-21
18 142 2 Kgs 6 Acts 14 143 1 Chr 3.1-4.23 Matt 12.22-end
19 144 2 Kgs 7 Acts 15.1-35 145 1 Chr 4-24-ch. 5 Matt 13.1-23
20 146 2 Kgs 8 Acts 15.36-16.15 147 1 Chr 6 Matt 13.24-43
21 148 2 Kgs 9 Acts 16.16-end 149-150 1 Chr 7 Matt 13.44-end
22 1-2 2 Kgs 10 Acts 17.1-15 3-4 1 Chr 8.1-9.34 Matt 14
23 5 2 Kgs 11 Acts 17.16-end 6 1 Chr 9.35-11.9 Matt 15.1-31
24 7 2 Kgs 12 Acts 18 8 1 Chr 11.10-end Matt 15.32-16.12
25 9 2 Kgs 13 Acts 19.1-20 10 1 Chr 12 Matt 16.13-end
26 11-12 2 Kgs 14 Acts 19.21-end 13-14 1 Chr 13-14 Matt 17
27 15-16 2 Kgs 15 Acts 20.1-16 17 1 Chr 15 Matt 18.1-14
28 18 2 Kgs 16.1-17.5 Acts 20.17-end 19 1 Chr 16 Matt 18.15-end
29 20 2 Kgs 17.6-end Acts 21.1-16 21 1 Chr 17 Matt 19
30 22 2 Kgs 18 Acts 21.17-36 23 1 Chr 18-19 Matt 20
31 24 2 Kgs 19 Acts 21.37-22.29 25 1 Chr 20.1-21.17 Matt 21.1-22

NOVEMBER

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
All Saints 15 Heb 11.1-12.2 Rev 19.1-10 34 Wisd 3.1-9 Rev 21.1-22.5
2 26 2 Kgs 20 Acts 22.30-23.11 27 1 Chr 21.18-ch. 22 Matt 21.23-end
3 28 2 Kgs 21 Acts 23.12-end 29 1 Chr 23 Matt 22.1-22
4 30 2 Kgs 22 Acts 24 31 1 Chr 24-25 Matt 22.23-end
5 32 2 Kgs 23.1-20 Acts 25 33 1 Chr 26 Matt 23.1-36
6 34 2 Kgs 23.21-35 Acts 26 35 1 Chr 27 Matt 23.37-24.14
7 36 2 Kgs 23.36-ch. 24 Acts 27.1-12 37 1 Chr 28 Matt 24.15-end
8 38 2 Kgs 25 Acts 27.13-end 39 1 Chr 29 Matt 25.1-30
9 40 Joel 1 Acts 28.1-16 41 2 Chr 1 Matt 25.31-end
10 42 Joel 2.1-27 Acts 28.17-end 43 2 Chr 2-3 Matt 26.1-35
11 44 Joel 2.28-ch. 3 James 1 45 2 Chr 4-5 Matt 26.36-56
12 46 Dan 1 James 2 47 2 Chr 6 Matt 26.57-end
13 48 Dan 2 James 3 49 2 Chr 7-8 Matt 27.1-26
14 50 Dan 3 James 4 51 2 Chr 9 Matt 27.27-56
15 52 Dan 4 James 5 53-54 2 Chr 10-11 Matt 27.57-ch. 28
16 55 Dan 5 1 Pet 1 56 2 Chr 12-13 Heb 1
17 57 Dan 6 1 Pet 2 58 2 Chr 14-15 Heb 2
18 59 Dan 7 1 Pet 3 60 2 Chr 16-17 Heb 3
19 61 Dan 8 1 Pet 4 62 2 Chr 18 Heb 4.1-13
20 63 Dan 9 1 Pet 5 64 2 Chr 19.1-20.23 Heb 4.14-5.10
21 65 Dan 10 2 Pet 1 66-67 2 Chr 20.24-ch. 21 Heb 5.11-ch. 6
22 68 Dan 11 2 Pet 2 69 2 Chr 22-23 Heb 7
23 70 Dan 12 2 Pet 3 71 2 Chr 24 Heb 8
24 72 Hag all Jude All 73 2 Chr 25 Heb 9
25 74 Zech 1-2 John 1.1-28 75 2 Chr 26-27 Heb 10.1-18
26 76 Zech 3-4 John 1.29-end 77 2 Chr 28 Heb 10.19-end
27 78.1-39 Zech 5-6 John 2 78.40-end 2 Chr 29 Heb 11.1-12.2
28 79 Zech 7-8 John 3.1-21 80 2 Chr 30 Heb 12.3-end
29 81 Zech 9-10 John 3.22-end 82 2 Chr 31 Heb 13
30 83 Zech 11-12 John 4.1-42 84 2 Chr 32 1 John 1.1-2.6

DECEMBER

    MORNING PRAYER   EVENING PRAYER  
    (or Year One)     (or Year Two)  
Psalm Old Testament New Testament Psalm Old Testament New Testament
1 85 Zech 13-14 John 4.43-5.18 86 2 Chr 33 1 John 2.7-27
2 87 Esther 1 John 5.19-end 88 2 Chr 34 1 John 2.28-ch. 3
3 89 Esther 2 John 6.1-21 90 2 Chr 35 1 John 4
4 91 Esther 3-4 John 6.22-end 92-93 2 Chr 36 1 John 5
5 94 Esther 5-6 John 7.1-24 95 1 Mac 1.1-40 2 John All
6 96 Esther 7-8 John 7.25-end 97 1 Mac 1.41-2.14 3 John All
7 98 Esther 9-10 John 8.1-30 99 1 Mac 2.15-end Rev 1
8 100-101 Ezra 1-2 John 8.31-end 102 1 Mac 3.1-37 Rev 2.1-17
9 103 Ezra 3.1-4.6 John 9 104 1 Mac 3.38-4.25 Rev 2.18-3.6
10 105 Ezra 4.7-ch. 5 John 10.1-21 106 1 Mac 4.26-end Rev 3.7-end
11 107 Ezra 6 John 10.22-end 108 1 Mac 5.1-36 Rev 4
12 109 Ezra 7 John 11.1-44 110-111 1 Mac 5.37-end Rev 5
13 112-113 Ezra 8 John 11.45-12.11 114-115 1 Mac 6.1-27 Rev 6
14 116-117 Ezra 9 John 12.12-36a 118 1 Mac 6.28-end Rev 7
15 119.1-16 Ezra 10 John 12.36b-end 119.17-40 1 Mac 7 Rev 8
16 119.41-64 Neh 1-2 John 13.1-20 119.65-88 1 Mac 8 Rev 9
17 119.89-104 Neh 3 John 13.21-end 119.105-128 1 Mac 9.1-22 Rev 10
18 119.129-152 Neh 4 John 14 119.153-end 1 Mac 9.23-end Rev 11
19 120-121 Neh 5 John 15.1-17 122-123 1 Mac 10.1-47 Rev 12
20 124-125 Neh 6.1-7.4 John 15.18-16.15 126-127 1 Mac 10.48-end Rev 13
21 128-129 Neh 7.5-end John 16.16-end 130-131 1 Mac 11.1-37 Rev 14
22 132 Neh 8 John 17 133-134 1 Mac 11.38-end Rev 15
23 135 Neh 9.1-37 John 18.1-27 136 1 Mac 12.1-23 Rev 16
Eve 85 Isa 7.10-17 Luke 1.26-56 89.1-29 Micah 4.1-5; Luke 1.67-79
              5.2-5a  
Christmas 45 Isa 11.1-10 Matt 1.18-end 132 Isa 59.15b-end Phil 2.5-11
26 137 Neh 9.38-ch. 10 John 18.28-end 138 1 Mac 12.24-end Rev 17
27 139 Neh 11 John 19.1-16a 140 1 Mac 13.1-42 Rev 18
28 141-142 Neh 12 John 19.16b-end 143 1 Mac 13.43-14.15 Rev 19
29 144 Neh 13 John 20.1-18 145 1 Mac 14.16-end Rev 20
30 146 Mal 1.1-2.16 John 20.19-end 147 1 Mac 15.1-36 Rev 21
31 148 Mal 2.17-ch. 4 John 21 149-150 1 Mac 15.37-ch. 16 Rev 22

APPENDIX

Principal Readings for Holy Days to be used in Public Worship

Day Psalm 1st Reading Epistle Gospel
Epiphany 72 Isaiah 60.1-9 Eph 3.1-12 Matt 2.1-12
Ash Wed. 51 Joel 2.12-17 2 Cor 5.20b-ch. 6 Matt 6.1-6, 16-21
Palm Sun. 118, 22 Isaiah 45.21-25 Phil 2.5-11 Matt 26.47-27.54

or Mark 14.43-15.39

or Luke 22.54-23.49

Maun Thur 78 Exod 12.1-14 1 Cor 11.23-32

& at the vigil:

John 13.1-15

Matt 26.30-46

Good Fri 22 Isaiah 52.13-53.12 Heb 10.1-25 John 19.1-37
Holy Sat 130 Job 14.1-14 I Pet 4.1-8 Matt 27.57-end

or John 19.38-42

Easter Eve

or Sunrise Service

33, 98

114

Gen 1.1-2.2

Exod 14.10-15.1

Ezek 36.24-28

Zeph 3.11-20

Rom 6.3-11 Matt 28.1-10
Easter Day 118 Acts 10.34-43 Col 3.1-4 John 20.1-10

or Mark 16.1-8

or Luke 24.1-10

Ascension 47 Dan 7.9-14 Acts 1.1-11 Luke 24.44-end
Pentecost 104.24-end Acts 2.1-11 1 Cor 12.4-13 John 20.19-23
Trinity Sun

or

or

150

93

29

Gen 1.1-2.3

Exod 3.1-6

Isaiah 6.1-8

2 Cor 13.5-14

Rom 8.12-17

Rev 4.1-11

Matt 28.16-20

John 3.1-16

John 6.5-15

All Saints’ 149 Sirach 44.1-10,13-14 Rev 7.2-4, 9-17 Matt 5.1-12
Christ. Eve

or

96

97

Isaiah 9.2-4, 6-7

Isaiah 62.6-7,10-12

Titus 2.11-14

Titus 3.4-7

Luke 2.1-20

” ”

Christ. Day 98 Isaiah 52.7-10 Heb 1.1-12 John 1.1-14

*This article first appeared in the Winter 2008 print edition of The North American Anglican.*

Notes:

  1. The Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent , The Book of Common Prayer (1662)
  2. Jude 3
  3. The Book of Common Prayer (New York: The Church Hymnal Corp., 1979), p. 866. Note – the spelling and punctuation were modernized in the 1979 book, but the meaning is unchanged from the original.
  4. The First and Second Prayer Books of Edward VI (London: J.M.Dent & Sons, 1957), pp. 8-20.
  5. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 2nd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1989), pp. 1140, 199.
  6. For the sake of simplicity, percentages are calculated here and elsewhere by the number of chapters read. If portions of chapters are read, an estimation is made (e.g. 25% or 50% of the chapter, etc.).
  7. In Genesis, chapter 10 alone is omitted: “The Descendants of Noah”
  8. January 1 is a Holy Day (The feast of the Circumcision) with its own special set of readings.
  9. It was unclear to me whether they would have read the Prayer of Azariah within Daniel 3; it is not assigned as a separate reading, while the other “additions to Daniel” are specifically included.
  10. The First and Second Prayer Books of Edward VI (London: J.M.Dent & Sons, 1957), p. 8.
  11. An Anglican Prayer Book (Swedesboro, NJ: Preservation Press, 2008), p. 172
  12. The Book of Common Prayer (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1986), p. 2
  13. The Book of Lamentations is also omitted from the main lectionary, but portions are picked up in the Proper Lessons for Holy Week.
  14. The Book of Common Prayer (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1986), p. 14
  15. See e.g. the American Prayer Books of 1928 and 1979
  16. One example—Romans 1.26-27 has disappeared from the 1979 lectionary:“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”Any guesses as to why our wise and benevolent scripture police did not want us to ever read that passage?
  17. Cranmer, op. cit.
  18. The Book of Common Prayer (New York: The Church Hymnal Corp., 1979), op. cit.
  19. 2 Timothy 3.16-17Reformation From Africa: The “Faith Delivered” to Saint Athanasius on the Incarnation (page 100)

 


Rev. Michael Fry

The Rev. Michael Fry is Rector of All Saints Anglican Church (CANA) in Peachtree City, GA. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Oxford University and Trinity School for Min­is­try in Ambridge, PA. He and his wife Elizabeth share their home with four child­ren, two dogs and various sci­­ence projects. In his “spare time” he coaches Little League, serves as a Cub Scout leader and dabbles in lectionary research.


'A New Daily Office Lectionary' have 6 comments

  1. July 18, 2022 @ 6:34 pm Paula W Heyes

    This is an excellent article, and an excellent contribution to Anglican worship. I have been using the American 1871 lectionary, found in the 1789 BCP, for historical reasons — even with the problems you mention, since it\’s based closely on the British 1871 lectionary, it\’s better than the 1943 lectionary used in the 1928 BCP — but I was aware that it was very much not what Cranmer had in mind. Up to this month, I had been ignoring the separate Sunday lectionary; now, I\’m adding that to the regular lessons for the day. Adding, rather than substituting. I hope that Anglicans who want to start observing the Daily Office using the 1662 BCP or one of its modern (slight) updates will take advantage of your suggested lectionary.

    Reply

    • July 21, 2022 @ 6:54 am Rhonda C. Merrick

      Bruh, I just listen to the podcast.

      Seriously though, this is a great article. It needs a follow-up to say whether and how the ACNA 2019 BCP matches up with this. Also, there are snippets of the Apocrypha that show up as Canticles after the Lessons, any comment on those?

      Reply

  2. July 19, 2022 @ 12:39 pm Seth Hedman

    I was quite confused about what there was no mention of the ACNA until I read the asterisk at the bottom, that this was written in 2008. It seems like this needs an update in light of the 2019 BCP as it seems like many of this principles did make it in.

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    • July 19, 2022 @ 3:20 pm Brandon Hughes

      I agree. The 2019 BCP Lectionary seems to do this very same thing but omits less while also giving options for shortened readings throughout. “Modern” it may be but it’s certainly in the spirit of Cranmer.

      I myself have adapted the 2019 to include the entire Apocrypha by moving all readings of the Penteteuch to Midday Prayer and to return to the 1549 way of continuous OT reading from Morning to Evening rather than making two separate OT reading tracks. I left the NT readings as is.

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  3. November 3, 2023 @ 7:35 am Edward

    I’m a little late to this but is the original 1549 lectionary available anywhere? I’ve got a BCP which calls itself the 1662 version but it does seem to have the Victorian-era lectionary, as this article suggests.

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