Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A song. A Psalm.
A Song of Praise
66 Shout praise to God all the earth!
2 Sing praise about the glory of his name.[a]
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your works!
Because of your great strength
your enemies cringe before you.”
4 The whole earth worships you.
They sing praise to you.
They sing praise to your name.
5 Come and see the awesome works of God
on behalf of human beings:
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
Israel[b] crossed the river on foot;
let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules by his power forever,
his eyes watching over the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
8 Bless our God, people,
and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He gives us life
and does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, tested us,
to purify us like fine silver.
11 You have led us into a trap[c]
and set burdens on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over us.[d]
You brought us through fire and water,
but you led us to abundance.
13 I will come to your house with burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you
14 that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat,
along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams.
I will offer bulls along with goats.
16 Come and listen, all of you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 I called aloud to him
and praised him with my tongue.
18 Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not listen to me.
19 Surely God has heard,
and he paid attention to my[e] prayers.
20 Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers
nor his gracious love from me.
To the Director of music: Accompanied by stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
A Call to Thanksgiving
67 May God show us favor and bless us;
may he truly show us his favor.[f]
2 Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth,
along with your deliverance.
3 Let the people thank you, God.
Let all the people thank you.
4 Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy,
because you judge people with fairness
and you govern the people of the earth.
5 Let the people thank you, God;
let all the people thank you.
6 May the earth yield its produce.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God truly bless us
so that all the peoples[g] of the earth will fear him.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
God’s Revelation in the Heavens
19 The heavens are declaring the glory of God,
and their expanse shows the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech,
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor are there words—
their voice is not heard—
4 yet their message[a] goes out into all the world,
and their words to the ends of the earth.
He has set up a tent for the sun in the heavens,[b]
5 which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
or like a champion who rejoices at the beginning of a race.
6 Its circuit is from one end of the sky to the other,
and nothing is hidden from its heat.
God’s Revelation in the Law
7 The Law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring life.
The testimony of the Lord is steadfast,
making foolish people wise.
8 The precepts of the Lord are upright,
making the heart rejoice.
The commandment of the Lord is pure,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean,
standing forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true;
they are altogether righteous.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even much fine gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the drippings from a honeycomb.
11 Moreover your servant is warned by them;
and there is great reward in keeping them.
12 Who can detect his own[c] mistake?
Cleanse me from hidden sin.
13 Preserve your servant from arrogant people;[d]
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be upright[e]
and acquitted of great wickedness.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah, to the tune of[a] “The Maidens”.
God is the Refuge of His People
46 God is our refuge and strength,
a great help in times of distress.
2 Therefore we will not be frightened
when the earth roars,
when the mountains shake in the depths of the seas,
3 when its waters roar and rage,
when the mountains tremble despite their pride.[b]
4 Look! There is a river
whose streams make the city of God rejoice,
even the Holy Place of the Most High.
5 Since God is in her midst,
she will not be shaken.
God will help her
at the break of dawn.
6 The nations roared;
the kingdoms were shaken.
His voice boomed;
the earth melts.
7 The Lord of the heavenly armies is with us;
our refuge is the God of Jacob.
8 Come, observe the mighty works of the Lord,
who causes desolation in the earth.
9 He causes wars to cease all over[c] the earth,
he causes the bow to break, the spear to snap,
the chariots to ignite and burn.
10 Be in awe and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted throughout the earth.
11 The Lord of the heavenly armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Amnon’s Rape of Tamar
13 Sometime after this, David’s son Amnon fell in love with David’s other[a] son Absalom’s beautiful sister Tamar. 2 Amnon became so emotionally distressed that he fell sick over his half-sister Tamar. She was a virgin, and Amnon found it difficult to do anything to her.
3 Meanwhile, Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Now Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 “Why are you so depressed these past few mornings,”[b] Jonadab[c] asked Amnon, “since you’re a son of the king? Why not tell me?”
Amnon replied, “I’m in love with my brother Absalom’s sister Tamar.”
5 Jonadab advised him, “Lie down and pretend to be sick. When your father visits you, ask him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat that she prepares especially for me,[d] and after she makes dinner for me, let her feed it to me personally.’”[e]
6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to visit him, Amnon asked the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make some of her bread especially for me,[f] so she can feed it to me personally.”[g]
7 So David sent for Tamar back at the palace, telling her, “Please go to your brother Amnon’s home and prepare some food for him.” 8 Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s home, where he was lying down. She brought along some dough, kneaded it, prepared some cakes especially for him,[h] baked them, 9 and emptied the baking skillet just for him, but he refused to eat.
“Send everybody out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left the room. 10 Amnon told Tamar, “Bring the food into my private bedroom, so I can eat it with you personally.”[i] So Tamar took the cakes she had prepared and brought them into the private bedroom for her brother Amnon.
11 But as soon as she brought them near him to eat, he overpowered her and told her, “Come here and have sex with me, my sister!”
12 “No, my brother!” she kept telling him. “Don’t humiliate me like this! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this utterly foolish thing! 13 And what about me? Where will I go to escape[j] this disgrace? And as for you, you’ll be known as one of Israel’s greatest fools! So please talk to the king, because he won’t withhold me from you!”
14 But he was unwilling to listen to what she was saying. Since he was stronger than she was, he forced her into having sex with him. 15 Afterwards, though, Amnon hated her very intensely. As a result, his hatred for her exceeded the love that he had previously for her. So Amnon told her, “Get up! Leave!”
16 Even so, she tried to tell him, “No! After all, it’s more wrong to send me away than what you just did to me!”
But he was unwilling to listen to her. 17 So he called out to a young man who was serving him, and told him: “Send this woman away from me and lock the door after her.”
18 Now she was clothed in a long sleeved, multi-colored ornamental tunic, commonly worn by the king’s virgin daughters. When Amnon’s[k] servant threw her out and locked the door after her, 19 Tamar rubbed her head with ashes, tore her tunic that she was wearing, put her hand to her head, and ran off, crying aloud as she went away.
Absalom’s Plans Revenge
20 Later, her brother Absalom asked her, “Has Amnon, that brother of yours, raped[l] you? Then keep quiet about your half-brother for now, my sister. Stop taking this so personally.”[m] From that time on, Tamar lived in continuous desolation within her brother Absalom’s house. 21 When King David heard all about these developments, he flew into a rage over it. 22 But Absalom never said a word, either good or bad, to Amnon. Nevertheless, he hated Amnon because he had humiliated his sister Tamar.
Please Others, Not Yourselves
15 Now we who are strong ought to be patient with the weaknesses of those who are not strong and must stop pleasing ourselves. 2 Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building him up. 3 For even the Messiah[a] did not please himself. Instead, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”[b] 4 For everything that was written long ago was written to instruct us, so that we might have hope through the endurance and encouragement that the Scriptures give us.[c]
5 Now may God, the source of endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other as you follow the Messiah[d] Jesus,[e] 6 so that with one mind and one voice you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[f]
7 Therefore, accept one another, just as the Messiah[g] accepted you,[h] for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that the Messiah[i] became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors, 9 so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
10 Again he says,[l]
“Rejoice, you gentiles, with his people!”[m]
11 And again,
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“There will be a Root[q] from Jesse.
He will rise up to rule the gentiles,
and the gentiles will hope in him.”[r]
13 Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist Talks about Jesus
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. He spent some time there with them and began baptizing. 23 John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People[a] kept coming and were being baptized, 24 since John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then a controversy about ritual purification sprang up between a certain Jew[b] and John’s disciples, 26 so they went to John and told him, “Rabbi,[c] the man who was with you on the other side[d] of the Jordan, the one about whom you testified—look, he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. 28 You yourselves are my[e] witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,[f] but I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29 It is the bridegroom who gets the bride, yet the bridegroom’s friend, who merely[g] stands by and listens for him, is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That’s why this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must become more important, but I must become less important.”
The One who Comes from Above
31 The one who comes from above is superior to everything. The one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things.[h] The one who comes from heaven is superior to everything. 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 The person who has accepted his testimony has acknowledged that God is truthful.[i] 34 The one whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God[j] does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him.[k] 35 The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
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