Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
20 The Lord will answer you in times of trouble.
The name of the God of Jacob will protect you.
2 He will send you help from his holy place
and support you from Zion.
3 He will remember all your grain offerings
and look with favor on your burnt offerings. Selah
4 He will give you your heart’s desire
and carry out all your plans.
5 We will joyfully sing about your victory.
We will wave our flags in the name of our God.
The Lord will fulfill all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord will give victory to his anointed king.
He will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty deeds of his powerful hand.
7 Some ⌞rely⌟ on chariots and others on horses,
but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They will sink to their knees and fall,
but we will rise and stand firm.
9 Give victory to the king, O Lord.
Answer us when we call.
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
21 The king finds joy in your strength, O Lord.
What great joy he has in your victory!
2 You gave him his heart’s desire.
You did not refuse the prayer from his lips. Selah
3 You welcomed him with the blessings of good things
and set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life.
You gave him a long life, forever and ever.
5 Because of your victory his glory is great.
You place splendor and majesty on him.
6 Yes, you made him a blessing forever.
You made him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 Indeed, the king trusts the Lord,
and through the mercy of the Most High, he will not be moved.
8 Your hand will discover all your enemies.
Your powerful hand will find all who hate you.
9 When you appear, you will make them ⌞burn⌟ like a blazing furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his anger.
Fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their children from the earth
and their offspring from among Adam’s descendants.
11 Although they scheme and plan evil against you,
they will not succeed.
12 They turn their backs ⌞and flee⌟
because you aim your bow at their faces.
13 Arise, O Lord, in your strength.
We will sing and make music to praise your power.
A psalm by David.
110 The Lord said to my Lord,
“Take the honored position—the one next to me [God the Father] on the heavenly throne
until I put your enemies under your control.”[a]
2 The Lord will extend your powerful scepter from Zion.
Rule your enemies who surround you.
3 Your people will volunteer when you call up your army.
Your young people will come to you in holy splendor
like dew in the early morning.[b]
4 The Lord has taken an oath and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever, in the way Melchizedek was a priest.”
5 The Lord is at your right side.
He will crush kings on the day of his anger.
6 He will pass judgment on the nations
and fill them with dead bodies.
Throughout the earth he will crush ⌞their⌟ heads.
7 He will drink from the brook along the road.
He will hold his head high.
116 I love the Lord because he hears my voice, my pleas for mercy.
2 I will call on him as long as I live
because he turns his ear toward me.
3 The ropes of death became tangled around me.
The horrors of the grave took hold of me.
I experienced pain and agony.
4 But I kept calling on the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, rescue me!”
5 The Lord is merciful and righteous.
Our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord protects defenseless people.
When I was weak, he saved me.
7 Be at peace again, my soul,
because the Lord has been good to you.
8 You saved me from death.
You saved my eyes from tears ⌞and⌟ my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in the Lord’s presence in this world of the living.
10 I kept my faith even when I said,
“I am suffering terribly.”
11 I also said when I was panic-stricken,
“Everyone is undependable.”
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the good that he has done for me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will keep my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am indeed your servant.
I am your servant,
the son of your female servant.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will bring a song of thanksgiving to you as a sacrifice.
I will call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will keep my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
in the middle of Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
117 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Praise him, all you people of the world!
2 His mercy toward us is powerful.
The Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!
19 Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with anger toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face turned red. He ordered that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than normal. 20 He told some soldiers from his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego so that they could be thrown into the blazing furnace. 21 Then the three men were thrown into the blazing furnace. They were wearing their clothes, hats, and other clothing. 22 The king’s order was so urgent and the furnace was so extremely hot that the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed by the flames from the fire. 23 So these three men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—fell into the blazing furnace. They were still tied up.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar was startled. He sprang to his feet. He asked his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men into the fire?”
“That’s true, Your Majesty,” they answered.
25 The king replied, “But look, I see four men. They’re untied, walking in the middle of the fire, and unharmed. The fourth one looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the blazing furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—servants of the Most High God—come out here.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire. 27 The king’s satraps, governors, mayors, and advisers gathered around the three men. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies. The hair on their heads wasn’t singed, their clothes weren’t burned, and they didn’t smell of smoke.
28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He sent his angel and saved his servants, who trusted him. They disobeyed the king and risked their lives so that they would not have to honor or worship any god except their own God. 29 So I order that people from every province, nation, or language who say anything slanderous about the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb. Their houses will be turned into piles of rubble. No other god can rescue like this.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to higher positions in the province of Babylon.
Love One Another
11 The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other. 12 Don’t be like Cain. He was a child of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain murder his brother? Because the things Cain did were evil and the things his brother did had God’s approval. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love other believers. The person who doesn’t grow in love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates another believer is a murderer, and you know that a murderer doesn’t have eternal life.
16 We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers. 17 Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God’s love be in that person if he doesn’t bother to help the other believer? 18 Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.
The Devil Tempts Jesus(A)
4 Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit as he left the Jordan River. The Spirit led him while he was in the desert, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. During those days Jesus ate nothing, so when they were over, he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone.’ ” [a]
5 The devil took him to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. 6 The devil said to him, “I will give you all the power and glory of these kingdoms. All of it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 So if you will worship me, all this will be yours.”
8 Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”
9 Then the devil took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, jump from here! 10 Scripture says, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you to watch over you carefully. 11 They will carry you in their hands so that you never hit your foot against a rock.’ ”
12 Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘Never tempt the Lord your God.’ ” [b]
13 After the devil had finished tempting Jesus in every possible way, the devil left him until another time.
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