Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]
63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.[c]
My soul thirsts[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched[e] land where there is no water.
2 Yes,[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,[g]
and witnessed[h] your power and splendor.
3 Because[i] experiencing[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reason[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.[l]
5 As with choice meat[m] you satisfy my soul.[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,[o]
6 whenever[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;[q]
under your wings[r] I rejoice.
8 My soul[s] pursues you;[t]
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.[v]
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.[x]
11 But the king[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.[aa]
Psalm 98[a]
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,[b]
for he performs[c] amazing deeds.
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance.[d]
2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;[e]
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.[f]
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.[g]
4 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out in a joyful shout and sing!
5 Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,
accompanied by a harp and the sound of music.
6 With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,
shout out praises before the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,
along with the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
9 before the Lord.
For he comes to judge the earth.
He judges the world fairly,[h]
and the nations in a just manner.
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[k] and demonstrates great loyal love.[l]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[m]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[n]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[o]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[p] over his faithful followers.[q]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[r] is from the west,[s]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[t] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[u]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[v]
14 For he knows what we are made of;[w]
he realizes[x] we are made of clay.[y]
15 A person’s life is like grass.[z]
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16 but when the hot wind[aa] blows, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,[ab]
and is faithful to their descendants,[ac]
18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands.[ad]
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything.[ae]
20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees
and obey his orders.[af]
21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,[ag]
you servants of his who carry out his desires.[ah]
22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made,[ai]
in all the regions[aj] of his kingdom.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Reiteration of the Call to Obedience
11 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments[a] at all times. 2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking[b] to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments[c] of the Lord your God, which revealed[d] his greatness, strength, and power.[e] 3 They did not see[f] the awesome deeds he performed[g] in the midst of Egypt against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land, 4 or what he did to the army of Egypt, including their horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea[h] overwhelm them while they were pursuing you and he[i] annihilated them.[j] 5 They did not see[k] what he did to you in the wilderness before you reached this place, 6 or what he did to Dathan and Abiram,[l] sons of Eliab the Reubenite,[m] when the earth opened its mouth in the middle of the Israelite camp[n] and swallowed them, their families,[o] their tents, and all the property they brought with them.[p] 7 I am speaking to you[q] because you are the ones who saw with your own eyes all the great deeds of the Lord.
The Abundance of the Land of Promise
8 Now pay attention to all the commandments[r] I am giving[s] you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed,[t] 9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors[u] and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land where you are headed[v] is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand[w] like a vegetable garden. 11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy[x] is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains,[y] 12 a land the Lord your God looks after.[z] He is constantly attentive to it[aa] from the beginning to the end of the year.[ab]
The Angel with the Little Scroll
10 Then[a] I saw another powerful angel descending from heaven, wrapped[b] in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun and his legs were like pillars of fire.[c] 2 He held[d] in his hand a little scroll that was open, and he put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. 3 Then[e] he shouted in a loud voice like a lion roaring, and when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded their voices. 4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was preparing to write, but[f] just then[g] I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write it down.” 5 Then[h] the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will be no more delay![i] 7 But in the days[j] when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God is completed,[k] just as he has[l] proclaimed to his servants[m] the prophets.” 8 Then[n] the voice I had heard from heaven began to speak[o] to me[p] again,[q] “Go and take the open[r] scroll in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So[s] I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He[t] said to me, “Take the scroll[u] and eat it. It[v] will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” 10 So[w] I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it did taste[x] as sweet as honey in my mouth, but[y] when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 Then[z] they[aa] told me: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations,[ab] languages, and kings.”
Parables on the Kingdom of Heaven
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away. 49 It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace,[a] where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They replied, “Yes.” 52 Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law[b] who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”
Rejection at Nazareth
53 Now when[c] Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Then[d] he came to his hometown[e] and began to teach the people[f] in their synagogue.[g] They[h] were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers? 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary?[i] And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? So where did he get all this?” 57 And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
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