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)
Judah’s King Hezekiah
29 Hezekiah was 25 years old(A) when he became king and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah[a] daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight(B) just as his ancestor David had done.
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them.(C)
Celebration of the Passover
30 Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel.(A) 2 For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the Lord in the second month,(B) 3 because they were not able to observe it at the appropriate time. Not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves(C) and the people hadn’t been gathered together in Jerusalem. 4 The proposal pleased the king and the congregation, 5 so they affirmed the proposal and spread the message throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan,(D) to come to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they hadn’t observed it often,[a] as prescribed.[b]
6 So the couriers(E) went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria.(F) 7 Don’t be like your fathers and your brothers who were unfaithful to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors(G) so that He made them an object of horror(H) as you yourselves see. 8 Don’t become obstinate[c](I) now like your fathers did. Give your allegiance[d] to Yahweh, and come to His sanctuary that He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that He may turn His burning anger away from you,(J) 9 for when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land.(K) For Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful;(L) He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
10 The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants[e] laughed at them and mocked them.(M) 11 But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.(N) 12 Also, the power of God was at work in Judah to unite them[f] to carry out the command of the king and his officials by the word of the Lord.
13 A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They proceeded to take away the altars that were in Jerusalem,(O) and they took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.(P) 15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb(Q) on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord’s temple. 16 They stood at their prescribed posts,(R) according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites, 17 for there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, and so the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the Lord.(S) 18 A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover(T) contrary to what was written.(U) But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of 19 whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God,(V) Yahweh, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” 20 So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.(W) 21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy,(X) and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments. 22 Then Hezekiah encouraged[g](Y) all the Levites who performed skillfully before the Lord. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.(Z)
23 The whole congregation decided to observe(AA) seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy, 24 for Hezekiah king of Judah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for the congregation. Also, the officials contributed 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep for the congregation,(AB) and many priests consecrated themselves.(AC) 25 Then the whole assembly of Judah with the priests and Levites, the whole assembly that came from Israel, the foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and those who were living in Judah, rejoiced. 26 There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this was known since the days of Solomon son of David, the king of Israel.(AD)
27 Then the priests and the Levites(AE) stood to bless the people,(AF) and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place(AG) in heaven.
32 I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please(A) the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord,(B) so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin,[a] if she is past marriageable age,[b] and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will(C)) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well. 38 So then he who marries[c] his virgin does well, but he who does not marry[d] will do better.
39 A wife is bound[e] as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.[f] 40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Do Not Judge
7 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.(A) 2 For with the judgment you use,[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,[b] it will be measured to you.(B) 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye?(C) 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs,(D) or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
Keep Asking, Searching, Knocking
7 “Keep asking,[c](E) and it will be given to you.(F) Keep searching,[d] and you will find. Keep knocking,[e] and the door[f] will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds,(G) and to the one who knocks, the door[g] will be opened. 9 What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil,(H) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets.[h](I)
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