Book of Common Prayer
33 He (A)turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 (B)a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He (C)turns a desert into pools of water,
(D)a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish (E)a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
38 (F)By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 (G)he pours contempt on princes
and (H)makes them wander (I)in trackless wastes;
41 but (J)he raises up the needy out of affliction
and (K)makes their families like flocks.
42 (L)The upright see it and are glad,
and (M)all wickedness shuts its mouth.
43 (N)Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
With God We Shall Do Valiantly
A Song. A Psalm of David.
108 (O)My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being![a]
2 Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is great (P)above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 (Q)That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer me!
7 God has promised in his holiness:[b]
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
(R)over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 Oh grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
33 (A)Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
(B)Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
make melody to him with (D)the harp of (E)ten strings!
3 Sing to him (F)a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in (G)faithfulness.
5 He (H)loves righteousness and justice;
(I)the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By (J)the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by (K)the breath of his mouth all (L)their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as (M)a heap;
he (N)puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For (O)he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord (P)brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 (Q)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 (R)Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has (S)chosen as his heritage!
13 The Lord (T)looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from (U)where he sits enthroned he (V)looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 (W)The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 (X)The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
The Humble and Contrite in Spirit
66 (A)Thus says the Lord:
(B)“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 (C)All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
(D)But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
3 (E)“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers (F)pig's blood;
he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
(G)These have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations;
4 (H)I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and bring (I)their fears upon them,
(J)because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, they did not listen;
(K)but they did what was evil in my eyes
and chose that in which I did not delight.”
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, (L)‘Let the Lord be glorified,
that we may see your joy’;
but it is they who shall be put to shame.
6 “The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
(M)rendering recompense to his enemies!
6 But (A)godliness (B)with contentment is great gain, 7 for (C)we brought nothing into the world, and[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But (D)if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But (E)those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, (F)into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that (G)plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of (H)all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Fight the Good Fight of Faith
11 But as for you, (I)O man of God, (J)flee these things. (K)Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 (L)Fight the good fight of the faith. (M)Take hold of the eternal life (N)to which you were called and about which you made (O)the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 (P)I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, (Q)who in his testimony before[b] Pontius Pilate made (R)the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until (S)the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display (T)at the proper time—he who is (U)the blessed and only Sovereign, (V)the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 (W)who alone has immortality, (X)who dwells in (Y)unapproachable light, (Z)whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
17 As for the rich in (AA)this present age, charge them (AB)not to be haughty, nor (AC)to set their hopes on (AD)the uncertainty of riches, but on God, (AE)who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, (AF)to be rich in good works, to be generous and (AG)ready to share, 19 thus (AH)storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may (AI)take hold of (AJ)that which is truly life.
20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. (AK)Avoid the (AL)irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Whose Son Is the Christ?
35 (A)And as (B)Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that (C)the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, (D)in the Holy Spirit, declared,
37 David himself calls him Lord. So (G)how is he his son?” And the great throng (H)heard him gladly.
Beware of the Scribes
38 (I)And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and (J)the places of honor at feasts, 40 (K)who devour widows' houses and (L)for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Widow's Offering
41 (M)And he sat down opposite (N)the treasury and watched the people (O)putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two (P)small copper coins, which make a penny.[a] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, (Q)this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her (R)poverty has put in everything she had, all (S)she had to live on.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.