Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97
The Majestic King
1 The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coasts and islands be glad.(A)
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.(B)
3 Fire goes before Him
and burns up His foes on every side.(C)
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.(D)
5 The mountains melt like wax
at the presence of the Lord—
at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.(E)
7 All who serve carved images,
those who boast in idols, will be put to shame.(H)
All the gods[a] must worship Him.(I)
Psalm 99
The King Is Holy
1 The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble.
He is enthroned above the cherubim.(A)
Let the earth quake.(B)
2 Yahweh is great in Zion;
He is exalted above all the peoples.(C)
3 Let them praise Your great
and awe-inspiring name.(D)
He is holy.(E)
4 The mighty King loves justice.
You have established fairness;
You have administered justice
and righteousness in Jacob.(F)
5 Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at His footstool.(G)
He is holy.(H)
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests;(I)
Samuel also was among those calling on His name.
They called to Yahweh and He answered them.(J)
7 He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud;(K)
they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them.
8 Lord our God, You answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,(L)
an avenger of their sinful actions.(M)
9 Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at His holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.(N)
Psalm 100
Be Thankful
A psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth.(O)
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.(P)
3 Acknowledge that Yahweh is God.
He made us, and we are His[a](Q) —
His people, the sheep of His pasture.(R)
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving(S)
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.(T)
5 For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal;
His faithfulness endures through all generations.
Psalm 94
The Just Judge
1 Lord, God of vengeance—
God of vengeance, appear.(A)
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth;
repay the proud what they deserve.(B)
3 Lord, how long will the wicked—
how long will the wicked gloat?(C)
4 They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.(D)
5 Lord, they crush Your people;
they afflict Your heritage.(E)
6 They kill the widow and the foreigner
and murder the fatherless.(F)
7 They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it.
The God of Jacob doesn’t pay attention.”(G)
8 Pay attention, you stupid people!
Fools, when will you be wise?(H)
9 Can the One who shaped the ear not hear,
the One who formed the eye not see?(I)
10 The One who instructs nations,
the One who teaches man knowledge—
does He not discipline?(J)
11 The Lord knows man’s thoughts;
they are meaningless.(K)
12 Lord, happy is the man You discipline
and teach from Your law(L)
13 to give him relief from troubled times
until a pit is dug for the wicked.(M)
14 The Lord will not forsake His people
or abandon His heritage,(N)
15 for justice will again be righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow[a] it.(O)
16 Who stands up for me against the wicked?
Who takes a stand for me against evildoers?(P)
17 If the Lord had not been my helper,
I would soon rest in the silence of death.(Q)
18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
Your faithful love will support me, Lord.(R)
19 When I am filled with cares,
Your comfort brings me joy.(S)
20 Can a corrupt throne—
one that creates trouble by law—
become Your ally?(T)
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.(U)
22 But the Lord is my refuge;
my God is the rock of my protection.(V)
23 He will pay them back for their sins
and destroy them for their evil.
The Lord our God will destroy them.(W)
Psalm 95
Worship and Warning
1 Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!(X)
2 Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to Him in song.(Y)
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.(Z)
4 The depths of the earth are in His hand,
and the mountain peaks are His.(AA)
5 The sea is His; He made it.
His hands formed the dry land.(AB)
6 Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.(AC)
7 For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture,
the sheep under His care.[b](AD)
Today, if you hear His voice:(AE)
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness(AF)
9 where your fathers tested Me;
they tried Me, though they had seen what I did.(AG)
10 For 40 years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know My ways.”(AH)
11 So I swore in My anger,
“They will not enter My rest.”(AI)
The Return of the Ark
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, 2 the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners(A) and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”
3 They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering.(B) You must send back a restitution offering to Him,(C) and you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”[a]
4 They asked, “What restitution offering should we send back to Him?”
And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice(D) corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers,(E) since there was one plague for both you[b] and your rulers. 5 Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God,(F) and perhaps He will stop oppressing you,[c](G) your gods, and your land.(H) 6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs?(I) When He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?(J)
7 “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked.(K) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box(L) beside the ark.(M) Send it off and let it go its way. 9 Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh,(N) it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished(O) us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”
10 The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11 Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh.(P) They stayed on that one highway,(Q) lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.(R) 15 The Levites(S) removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers(T) observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
27 After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked, 28 “Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name?(A) And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man’s blood on us!”(B)
29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus,(C) whom you had murdered by hanging Him on a tree.(D) 31 God exalted this man to His right hand as ruler and Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.(E) 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit(F) whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Gamaliel’s Advice
33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.(G) 34 A Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men[a] to be taken outside for a little while.(H) 35 He said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful about what you’re going to do to these men. 36 Not long ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about 400 men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his partisans were dispersed and came to nothing.(I) 37 After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following.[b] That man also perished, and all his partisans were scattered. 38 And now, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will be overthrown;(J) 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” So they were persuaded by him.(K) 40 After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.(L) 41 Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name.[c](M) 42 Every day in the temple complex, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
37 During(A) the day, He was teaching in the temple complex,(B) but in the evening He would go out and spend the night on what is called the Mount of Olives.(C) 38 Then all the people would come early in the morning to hear Him in the temple complex.(D)
The Plot to Kill Jesus
22 The(E) Festival of Unleavened Bread,(F) which is called Passover,(G) was drawing near. 2 The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Him to death,(H) because they were afraid of the people.(I)
3 Then(J) Satan entered Judas,(K) called Iscariot,(L) who was numbered among the Twelve. 4 He went away and discussed with the chief priests and temple police(M) how he could hand Him over(N) to them. 5 They were glad and agreed to give him silver.[a] 6 So he accepted the offer and started looking for a good opportunity to betray Him to them when the crowd was not present.
Preparation for Passover
7 Then(O) the Day of Unleavened Bread came when the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.(P) 8 Jesus sent Peter and John,(Q) saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us, so we can eat it.”
9 “Where do You want us to prepare it?” they asked Him.
10 “Listen,” He said to them, “when you’ve entered the city, a man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters. 11 Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished room upstairs.(R) Make the preparations there.”
13 So they went and found it just as He had told them,(S) and they prepared the Passover.
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