Day 220 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Psalm 138 (139)

1 For the end, a Psalm of David. O Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising: thou understandest my thoughts long before. 3 Thou hast traced my path and my bed, and hast foreseen all my ways. 4 For there is no unrighteous word in my tongue: behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, 5 the last and the first: thou hast fashioned me, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 The knowledge of thee is too wonderful for me; it is very difficult, I cannot [attain] to it. 7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I should go up to heaven, thou art there: if I should go down to hell, thou art present. 9 If I should spread my wings [to fly] straight forward, and sojourn at the extremity of the sea, [it would be vain], 10 for even there thy hand would guide me, and thy right hand would hold me. 11 When I said, Surely the darkness will cover me; even the night [was] light in my luxury. 12 For darkness will not be darkness with thee; but night will be light as day: as its darkness, so shall its light [be to thee]. 13 For thou, O Lord, hast possessed my reins; thou hast helped me from my mother's womb. 14 I will give thee thanks; for thou art fearfully wondrous; wondrous are thy works; and my soul knows [it] well. 15 My bones which thou madest in secret were not hidden from thee, nor my substance, in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes saw my unwrought [substance], and all [men] shall be written in thy book; they shall be formed by day, though [there should for a time] be no one among them. 17 But thy friends, O God, have been greatly honoured by me; their rule has been greatly strengthened. 18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied beyond the sand; I awake, and am still with thee. 19 Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, ye men of blood. 20 For thou wilt say concerning [their] thought, [that] they shall take thy cities in vain. 21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hate thee? and wasted away because of thine enemies? 22 I have hated them with perfect hatred; they were counted my enemies. 23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart; examine me, and know my paths; 24 and see if [there is any] way of iniquity in me, and lead me in an everlasting way.

Psalm 139 (140)

1 For the end, a Psalm of David. 2 Rescue me, O Lord, from the evil man; deliver me from the unjust man. 3 Who have devised injustice in their hearts; all the day they prepared war. 4 They have sharpened their tongue as [the tongue] of a serpent; the poison of asps is under their lips. Pause. 5 Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner; rescue me from unjust men; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. 6 The proud have hid a snare for me, and have stretched out ropes [for] snares for my feet; they set a stumbling-block for me near the path. Pause. 7 I said to the Lord, Thou art my God; hearken, O Lord, to the voice of my supplication. 8 O Lord God, the strength of my salvation; thou hast screened my head in the day of battle. 9 Deliver me not, O Lord, to the sinner, according to my desire: they have devised [mischief] against me; forsake me not, lest they should be exalted. Pause. 10 [As for] the head of them that compass me, the mischief of their lips shall cover them. 11 Coals of fire shall fall upon them on the earth; and thou shalt cast them down in afflictions: they shall not bear up [under them]. 12 A talkative man shall not prosper on the earth: evils shall hunt the unrighteous man to destruction. 13 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the poor, and the right of the needy ones. 14 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

Psalm 140 (141)

1 A Psalm of David. O Lord, I have cried to thee; hear me: attend to the voice of my supplication, when I cry to thee. 2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; the lifting up of my hands [as] an evening sacrifice. 3 Set a watch, O Lord, on my mouth, and a strong door about my lips. 4 Incline not my heart to evil things, to employ pretexts for sins, with men who work iniquity: and let me not unite with their choice ones. 5 The righteous shall chasten me with mercy, and reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner anoint my head: for yet shall my prayer also be in their pleasures. 6 Their mighty ones have been swallowed up near the rock: they shall hear my words, for they are sweet. 7 As a lump of earth is crushed upon the ground, our bones have been scattered by the [mouth of] the grave. 8 For mine eyes are to thee, O Lord God: I have hoped in thee; take not away my life. 9 Keep me from the snare which they have set for me, and from the stumbling-blocks of them that work iniquity. 10 Sinners shall fall by their own net: I am alone until I shall escape.

1 Corinthians 3

1 Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now, 3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly? 5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? 6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14 If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire. 16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are. 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.” 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.