Book of Common Prayer
God Reigns
93 The Lord reigns! He is clothed in majesty;
the Lord is clothed,
and he is girded[a] with strength.
Indeed, the world is well established,
and cannot be shaken.
2 Your throne has been established since time immemorial;
you are king from eternity.
3 The rivers have flooded, Lord;
the rivers have spoken aloud,
the rivers have lifted up their crushing waves.
4 More than the sound of surging waters—
the majestic waves of the sea—
the Lord on high is majestic.
5 Your decrees are very trustworthy,
and holiness always befits your house, Lord.
Give Glory to the Lord
96 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord!
Bless his name!
Proclaim his deliverance every day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations
and his awesome deeds among all the peoples!
4 For the Lord is great,
and greatly to be praised;
he is awesome above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
might and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name,
bring an offering and enter his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Declare among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Indeed, he established the world so that it will not falter.
He will judge people fairly.
11 The heavens will be glad
and the earth will rejoice;
even the sea and everything that fills it will roar.[a]
12 The field and all that is in it will rejoice;
then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 in the Lord’s presence,
because he is coming;
indeed, he will come to judge the earth.
He will judge the world fairly
and its people reliably.
By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away. So David[a] left.
Learning about God’s Deliverance
34 [b]I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will be in my mouth continuously.
2 My soul will glorify the Lord;
the humble will hear about it and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me!
Let us lift up his name together!
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me;
he delivered me from all of my fears.
5 Look to him and be radiant;
and you[c] will not be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard
and delivered him from all of his distress.
7 The angel of the Lord surrounds those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good!
How blessed is the person who trusts in him!
9 Fear the Lord, you holy ones of his;
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions lack and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord will never lack any good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me,
and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who among you[d] desires life,
and wants long life in order to see good?
13 Then keep your tongue from doing evil
and your lips from spreading lies.
14 Avoid evil and do good!
Seek peace and pursue it!
15 The[e] Lord looks on the righteous,
and he listens to their cries.
16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil,
and he will remove people’s recollection of them from the earth.
17 The Lord hears those who cry out,
and he delivers them from all their distress.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he delivers those whose spirit has been crushed.
19 A righteous person will have many troubles,
but the Lord will deliver him from them all.
20 God[f] protects all his bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.
22 The Lord redeems the lives of his servants;
and none of those who trust in him will be held guilty.
The Hospitality of a Woman from Shunem
8 Some time later, Elisha went to Shunem,[a] where he met a prominent and wealthy[b] woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her. 9 So she had a talk with her husband. “Look here! I’ve learned that this is a holy and godly man[c] who comes by here on a regular basis. 10 Now then, let’s build a small upper room and put a bed in it for him there, along with a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. That way, when he comes to visit, he can rest[d] there.”
11 One day, Elisha[e] came by to visit and stopped in to rest in the upper chamber. 12 He told his attendant[f] Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite.” So when he had summoned her, she stood in front of him.
13 Elisha[g] told him, “Ask her, ‘Look how you’ve gone to all this trouble to care for us! What can I do for you? Do you wish to be mentioned to the king or to the head of the army?’”
She replied, “I’m at home[h] living among my own people.”
14 He responded, “What, then, is to be done on her behalf?”
Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son and her husband is growing old.”
15 “Call her,” Elisha[i] ordered. After he called her, she came and stood in the doorway, 16 and he told her, “About this time next year you will be embracing a son.”
“No, sir! Please, as a godly man,[j] don’t mislead your servant!” 17 But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.
Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son(A)
18 After the child had grown up a bit, one day he went out to visit his father, who was with the harvesters. 19 He told his father, “My head! My head!”
So his father ordered his servant, “Carry him over to his mother!” 20 So the servant carried him over to his mother, where he rested on her lap until mid-day,[k] and then he died. 21 The woman went upstairs, laid him on the bed belonging to the man of God, and shut the door, leaving him behind as she left.
22 Then she called to her husband and asked him, “Please send me one of the servants, along with one of the donkeys, so I can ride quickly to see that godly man.[l] I’ll be right back.”
23 He asked her, “What’s the point of visiting him today? It’s not a New Moon, and it isn’t the Sabbath!”
But she kept saying, “Things will go well.”[m]
24 So she saddled a donkey and told her servant, “Forward, driver! Don’t slow down on my account, unless I tell you!” 25 So out she went and eventually she arrived at Mount Carmel to visit the man of God.
When the man of God noticed her from a distance, he told his attendant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the woman from Shunem! 26 Please run out quickly and greet her. Ask her, ‘Are things going well with you? Are things going well with your husband? Are things going well with your child?’”
She answered Gehazi,[n] “Things are going well.”
27 As she came near the man of God on the mountain, she grabbed his feet. When Gehazi intervened to push her away, the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is deeply troubled! The Lord has concealed the thing from me, and hasn’t informed me.”
28 Then she asked, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I beg you, ‘Don’t mislead me?’”
29 At this he told Gehazi, “Get ready to run![o] Take my staff in your hand, and get on the road. Don’t greet anyone you meet. If anyone greets you, don’t respond. Just go lay my staff on the youngster’s face.”
30 At this, the youngster’s mother replied, “As long as you and the Lord live, I’m not leaving you!” So he got up and followed her.
31 Meanwhile, Gehazi went on ahead of them and placed the staff on the youngster’s face, but when there was no sound or reaction, he returned, met Elisha,[p] and told him, “The youngster has shown no sign of awakening.”
32 When Elisha entered the house, there was the youngster, dead and laid out on Elisha’s[q] bed! 33 So he entered, shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he approached the child and lay down with his mouth near the child’s, with his eyes near those of the child, and taking the child’s hands in his. As Elisha[r] stretched himself on the child, the child’s flesh began to grow warm. 35 Then he went downstairs, walked around back and forth inside the house once, went back up to his upper chamber,[s] and stretched himself over the child again. The young man sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.
36 He called out to Gehazi, “Go get the Shunammite woman!” So he called her. When she came in to see Elisha,[t] he told her, “Take back your son!” 37 Then she approached him, fell at his feet, bowing low to the ground, took back her son, and went out.
10 Now in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called out to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 The Lord told him, “Get up, go to the street called Straight, and in the home of Judas look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. At this very moment he’s praying. 12 He has seen in a vision[a] a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so he would see again.”
13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard many people tell how much evil this man has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 He is here with authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord told him, “Go, because he’s my chosen instrument to carry my name to unbelievers,[b] to their kings, and to the descendants of Israel. 16 since I’m going to show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
Saul’s Sight is Restored
17 So Ananias left and went to that house. He laid his hands on Saul[c] and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were traveling, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 All at once something like scales fell from Saul’s[d] eyes, and he could see again.
He got up and was baptized, 19 and after eating some food, he felt strong again. For several days he stayed with the disciples in Damascus. 20 He immediately started to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This is the Son of God.”
21 Everyone who heard him was astonished and said, “This is the man who harassed those who were calling on Jesus’[e] name in Jerusalem, isn’t it? Didn’t he come here to bring them in chains to the high priests?” 22 But Saul grew more and more persuasive, and continued to confound the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this man was the Messiah.[f]
23 After several days had gone by, the Jewish leaders[g] plotted to murder Saul,[h] 24 but their plot became known to him.[i] They were even watching the gates day and night to murder him, 25 but his disciples took him one night and let him down through the city wall by lowering him in a basket.
26 When Saul[j] arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they all were afraid of him because they wouldn’t believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, introduced Saul[k] to the apostles, telling them how on the road Saul[l] had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus in Damascus. 28 So he freely circulated[m] among them in Jerusalem, speaking courageously in the name of the Lord. 29 He kept talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were bent on murdering him. 30 When the brothers found out about the plot,[n] they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace. As it continued to be built up and to live in the fear of the Lord, it kept increasing in numbers through the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
7 John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, “You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! Don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! 9 The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”
10 The crowds kept asking him, “What, then, should we do?”
11 He answered them, “The person who has two coats must share with the one who doesn’t have any, and the person who has food must do the same.”
12 Even some tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He told them, “Stop collecting more money than the amount you are told to collect.”
14 Even some soldiers were asking him, “And what should we do?”
He told them, “Never extort money from anyone by threats or blackmail, and be satisfied with your pay.”
15 Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah.[a] 16 John replied to all of them, “I’m baptizing you with[b] water, but one is coming who is more powerful than I, and I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is he who will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean up his threshing floor. He’ll gather the grain into his barn, but he’ll burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire.”
18 With many other exhortations John[d] continued to proclaim the good news to the people.
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