Book of Common Prayer
God Reigns
93 The Lord reigns! He is clothed in majesty;
the Lord is clothed,
and he is girded[a] with strength.
Indeed, the world is well established,
and cannot be shaken.
2 Your throne has been established since time immemorial;
you are king from eternity.
3 The rivers have flooded, Lord;
the rivers have spoken aloud,
the rivers have lifted up their crushing waves.
4 More than the sound of surging waters—
the majestic waves of the sea—
the Lord on high is majestic.
5 Your decrees are very trustworthy,
and holiness always befits your house, Lord.
Give Glory to the Lord
96 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord!
Bless his name!
Proclaim his deliverance every day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations
and his awesome deeds among all the peoples!
4 For the Lord is great,
and greatly to be praised;
he is awesome above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
might and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name,
bring an offering and enter his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Declare among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Indeed, he established the world so that it will not falter.
He will judge people fairly.
11 The heavens will be glad
and the earth will rejoice;
even the sea and everything that fills it will roar.[a]
12 The field and all that is in it will rejoice;
then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 in the Lord’s presence,
because he is coming;
indeed, he will come to judge the earth.
He will judge the world fairly
and its people reliably.
By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away. So David[a] left.
Learning about God’s Deliverance
34 [b]I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will be in my mouth continuously.
2 My soul will glorify the Lord;
the humble will hear about it and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me!
Let us lift up his name together!
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me;
he delivered me from all of my fears.
5 Look to him and be radiant;
and you[c] will not be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard
and delivered him from all of his distress.
7 The angel of the Lord surrounds those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good!
How blessed is the person who trusts in him!
9 Fear the Lord, you holy ones of his;
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions lack and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord will never lack any good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me,
and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who among you[d] desires life,
and wants long life in order to see good?
13 Then keep your tongue from doing evil
and your lips from spreading lies.
14 Avoid evil and do good!
Seek peace and pursue it!
15 The[e] Lord looks on the righteous,
and he listens to their cries.
16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil,
and he will remove people’s recollection of them from the earth.
17 The Lord hears those who cry out,
and he delivers them from all their distress.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he delivers those whose spirit has been crushed.
19 A righteous person will have many troubles,
but the Lord will deliver him from them all.
20 God[f] protects all his bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.
22 The Lord redeems the lives of his servants;
and none of those who trust in him will be held guilty.
The Birth of Samuel
1 A certain man lived in Ramathaim-zophim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim. He was Jeroham’s son Elkanah, the grandson of Elihu and grandson of Tohu, who was the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
7 Elkanah[a] would do this year after year, as often as Hannah[b] went up to the house of the Lord. Likewise, Peninnah[c] would provoke her, and Hannah[d] would cry and would not eat. 8 Elkanah her husband told her, “Hannah, why are you crying and why don’t you eat? Why are you upset?[e] Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9 Hannah got up after she had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the chair by the doorpost of the tent[f] of the Lord. 10 Deeply distressed, she prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 Hannah[g] made a vow: “Lord of the Heavenly Armies, if you just look at the misery of your maid servant, remember me, and don’t forget your maid servant. If you give your maid servant a son,[h] then I’ll give him to the Lord[i] for all the days of his life,[j] and a razor is never to touch[k] his head.”
12 As she continued to pray in the Lord’s presence, Eli was watching her mouth. 13 Hannah[l] was praying inwardly.[m] Her lips were quivering, and her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 Eli told her, “How long will you stay drunk? Put away your wine!”
15 “No, sir!”[n] Hannah replied. “I’m a deeply troubled[o] woman. I’ve drunk neither wine nor beer. I’ve been pouring out my soul in the Lord’s presence. 16 Don’t consider your maid servant a worthless woman. Rather, all this time I’ve been speaking because I’m very anxious and distressed.”
17 “Go in peace,” Eli answered. “May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “Let your servant[p] find favor in your eyes.” Then she[q] went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.[r]
19 They got up early the next morning and worshipped in the Lord’s presence, and then they returned and came to their house at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with[s] his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 By the time of the next year’s sacrifice,[t] Hannah had become pregnant and had borne a son. She named him Samuel[u] because she said,[v] “I asked the Lord for him.”
Hannah Dedicates Samuel to the Lord
21 Then Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the yearly sacrifice to the Lord and pay his vow. 22 Hannah did not go up because she had told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence and remain there[w] forever.”[x]
23 “Do what you want,”[y] Elkanah told her. “Stay until you have weaned him, only may the Lord bring about what you’ve said.”[z] So Hannah[aa] stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 Then, when she had weaned him, she brought him[ab] up with her to Shiloh,[ac] along with a three-year-old bull,[ad] an ephah[ae] of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and the boy[af] was young.[ag] 25 They slaughtered the bull and brought the boy[ah] to Eli.
26 Hannah[ai] said, “Sir,[aj] as surely as you are alive, I’m the woman who stood before you here praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this boy, and the Lord granted me the request I asked of him. 28 Now[ak] I’m dedicating[al] him to the Lord, and as long as he lives,[am] he will be dedicated[an] to the Lord.” Then they worshipped[ao] the Lord there.
The Messiah is Above All
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s[a] will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him[b] as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. 11 You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy 12 and might thank the Father, who has enabled us[c] to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 God[d] has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, 14 through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Centrality of Jesus
15 The Son[e] is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created,
things visible and invisible,
whether they are kings,[f] lords, rulers, or powers.
All things have been created through him and for him.
17 He himself existed before anything else did,
and he holds all things together.
18 He is also the head of the body,
which is the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he himself might have first place in everything.
19 For God[g] was pleased to have
all of his divine essence[h] inhabit him.
20 Through the Son,[i] God[j] also reconciled all things to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
thereby making peace
through the blood of his cross.
Jesus is Presented in the Temple
22 When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary[a] took Jesus[b] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, 23 as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn son is to be designated as holy to the Lord.”[c] 24 They also offered a sacrifice according to what is specified in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”[d]
25 Now a man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. This man was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the one who would comfort Israel,[e] and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die[f] until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.[g]
27 Led[h] by the Spirit, he went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the Law, 28 Simeon[i] took the infant[j] in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace
according to your promise,
30 because my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you prepared for all people to see—
32 a light that will reveal salvation[k] to unbelievers[l]
and bring glory to your people Israel.”
33 Jesus’[m] father and mother kept wondering at the things being said about him. 34 Then Simeon[n] blessed them and told Mary, his mother, “This infant is destined to cause many in Israel to fall and rise. Also, he will be a sign that will be opposed. 35 Indeed, a sword will pierce your own soul, too, so that the inner thoughts of many people might be revealed.”
36 Now Anna, a prophetess, was also there. She was a descendant of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow for 84 years. She never left the Temple, but continued to worship there night and day with times of fasting and prayer. 38 Just then she came forward and began to thank God and to speak about Jesus[o] to everyone who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The Return to Nazareth
39 After doing everything required by the Law of the Lord, Joseph and Mary[p] returned to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. 40 Meanwhile, the child continued to grow and to become strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor rested upon him.
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