Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20[a]
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;(A)
may the name of the God of Jacob(B) protect you.(C)
2 May he send you help(D) from the sanctuary(E)
and grant you support(F) from Zion.(G)
3 May he remember(H) all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.[b](I)
4 May he give you the desire of your heart(J)
and make all your plans succeed.(K)
5 May we shout for joy(L) over your victory
and lift up our banners(M) in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.(N)
6 Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.(O)
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.(P)
7 Some trust in chariots(Q) and some in horses,(R)
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.(S)
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,(T)
but we rise up(U) and stand firm.(V)
9 Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us(W) when we call!
Psalm 21[c]
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
2 You have granted him his heart’s desire(Z)
and have not withheld the request of his lips.[d]
3 You came to greet him with rich blessings
and placed a crown of pure gold(AA) on his head.(AB)
4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
length of days, for ever and ever.(AC)
5 Through the victories(AD) you gave, his glory is great;
you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.(AE)
6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings
and made him glad with the joy(AF) of your presence.(AG)
7 For the king trusts in the Lord;(AH)
through the unfailing love(AI) of the Most High(AJ)
he will not be shaken.(AK)
8 Your hand will lay hold(AL) on all your enemies;
your right hand will seize your foes.
9 When you appear for battle,
you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
and his fire will consume them.(AM)
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
their posterity from mankind.(AN)
11 Though they plot evil(AO) against you
and devise wicked schemes,(AP) they cannot succeed.
12 You will make them turn their backs(AQ)
when you aim at them with drawn bow.
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter(D) from Zion,(E) saying,
“Rule(F) in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,(G)
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[b](H)
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord,(A) for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry(B) for mercy.(C)
2 Because he turned his ear(D) to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death(E) entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name(F) of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!(G)”
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;(H)
our God is full of compassion.(I)
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low,(J) he saved me.(K)
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me(N) from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord(O)
in the land of the living.(P)
10 I trusted(Q) in the Lord when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;(R)
11 in my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”(S)
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness(T) to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name(U) of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows(V) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight(W) of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.(X)
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;(Y)
I serve you just as my mother did;(Z)
you have freed me from my chains.(AA)
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering(AB) to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows(AC) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts(AD) of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.(AE)
Praise the Lord.[a]
Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord,(AF) all you nations;(AG)
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love(AH) toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord(AI) endures forever.
Praise the Lord.[b]
22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness;(A) and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets(B) and gave them to me.
23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders(C) came to me. 24 And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us(D) his glory and his majesty,(E) and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.(F) 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer.(G) 26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?(H) 27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says.(I) Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”(J)
28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.(K) 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me(L) and keep all my commands(M) always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!(N)
30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay here(O) with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.”
32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you;(P) do not turn aside to the right or to the left.(Q) 33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you,(R) so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days(S) in the land that you will possess.
Final Warnings
13 This will be my third visit to you.(A) “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”[a](B) 2 I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent:(C) On my return I will not spare(D) those who sinned earlier(E) or any of the others, 3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me.(F) He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness,(G) yet he lives by God’s power.(H) Likewise, we are weak(I) in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him(J) in our dealing with you.
5 Examine yourselves(K) to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.(L) Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you(M)—unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 We are glad whenever we are weak(N) but you are strong;(O) and our prayer is that you may be fully restored.(P) 10 This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh(Q) in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.(R)
Final Greetings
11 Finally, brothers and sisters,(S) rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.(T) And the God of love(U) and peace(V) will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.(W) 13 All God’s people here send their greetings.(X)
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,(Y) and the love of God,(Z) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit(AA) be with you all.
22 Many will say to me on that day,(A) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’(B) 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’(C)
The Wise and Foolish Builders(D)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice(E) is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things,(F) the crowds were amazed at his teaching,(G) 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
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