Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 93
God’s Eternal Reign
1 The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty;
The Lord is robed, enveloped in strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.(A)
2 Your throne has been established
from the beginning;[a]
You are from eternity.(B)
3 The floods have lifted up, Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their pounding waves.(C)
4 Greater than the roar of many waters—
the mighty breakers of the sea—
the Lord on high is majestic.(D)
Psalm 96(A)
King of the Earth
1 Sing a new song to the Lord;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.(B)
2 Sing to Yahweh, praise His name;
proclaim His salvation from day to day.(C)
3 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonderful works among all peoples.(D)
4 For the Lord is great and is highly praised;
He is feared above all gods.(E)
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.(F)
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.(G)
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.(H)
8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name;(I)
bring an offering and enter His courts.(J)
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness;(K)
tremble before Him, all the earth.(L)
10 Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns.(M)
The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.(N)
He judges the peoples fairly.”(O)
11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and all that fills it resound.(P)
12 Let the fields and everything in them exult.
Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy(Q)
13 before the Lord, for He is coming—
for He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with His faithfulness.(R)
Psalm 34
The Lord Delivers the Righteous
Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech,[a](A) who drove him out, and he departed.
1 I[b] will praise the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.(B)
2 I will boast in the Lord;(C)
the humble will hear and be glad.(D)
3 Proclaim Yahweh’s greatness with me;(E)
let us exalt His name together.(F)
4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.(G)
5 Those who look to Him are[c] radiant with joy;(H)
their faces will never be ashamed.(I)
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.(J)
7 The Angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear Him, and rescues them.(K)
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.(L)
How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!(M)
9 You who are His holy ones, fear Yahweh,
for those who fear Him lack nothing.(N)
10 Young lions[d] lack food and go hungry,(O)
but those who seek the Lord
will not lack any good thing.(P)
11 Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.(Q)
12 Who is the man who delights in life,
loving a long life to enjoy what is good?(R)
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceitful speech.(S)
14 Turn away from evil and do what is good;(T)
seek peace and pursue it.(U)
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry for help.(V)
16 The face of the Lord is set
against those who do what is evil,(W)
to erase[e] all memory of them from the earth.(X)
17 The righteous[f] cry out, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them from all their troubles.(Y)
18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
He saves those crushed in spirit.(Z)
19 Many adversities come to the one who is righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.(AA)
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.(AB)
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.(AC)
22 The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.(AD)
Sending Away Foreign Wives
10 While Ezra prayed and confessed, weeping and falling facedown(A) before the house of God, an extremely large assembly of Israelite men, women, and children gathered around him. The people also wept bitterly.(B) 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel,(C) an Elamite, responded to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the surrounding peoples,(D) but there is still hope for Israel in spite of this. 3 Let us therefore make a covenant before our God(E) to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God.(F) Let it be done according to the law. 4 Get up, for this matter is your responsibility,(G) and we support you. Be strong and take action!”(H)
5 Then Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said; so they took the oath.(I) 6 Ezra then went from the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night.[a] He did not eat food or drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.(J)
7 They circulated a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem. 8 Whoever did not come within three days would forfeit all his possessions,[b] according to the decision of the leaders and elders, and would be excluded(K) from the assembly of the exiles.
9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem within the three days. On the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God,(L) trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.(M) 11 Therefore, make a confession to Yahweh the God of your fathers and do His will. Separate yourselves from the surrounding peoples and your foreign wives.”
12 Then all the assembly responded with a loud voice: “Yes, we will do as you say! 13 But there are many people, and it is the rainy season. We don’t have the stamina to stay out in the open. This isn’t something that can be done in a day or two, for we have rebelled terribly in this matter. 14 Let our leaders represent the entire assembly. Then let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each town, in order to avert the fierce anger of our God(N) concerning[c] this matter.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah opposed this, with Meshullam(O) and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.
16 The exiles did what had been proposed. Ezra the priest selected men[d] who were family leaders, all identified by name, to represent[e] their ancestral houses. They convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter, 17 and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.
Paul’s Defense before Felix
10 When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me.(A) 11 You are able to determine that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.(B) 12 They didn’t find me disputing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple complex or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city.(C) 13 Neither can they provide evidence to you of what they now bring against me. 14 But I confess this to you: I worship my fathers’ God according to the Way,(D) which they call a sect, believing all the things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets.(E) 15 And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection,[a](F) both of the righteous and the unrighteous.(G) 16 I always do my best to have a clear conscience(H) toward God and men. 17 After many years, I came to bring charitable gifts and offerings to my nation,(I) 18 and while I was doing this, some Jews from Asia found me ritually purified in the temple, without a crowd and without any uproar.(J) 19 It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me. 20 Either let these men here state what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, 21 or about this one statement I cried out while standing among them, ‘Today I am being judged before you concerning the resurrection of the dead.’”
12 He also said to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13 On the contrary, when you host a banquet,(A) invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.(B) 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid(C) at the resurrection of the righteous.”(D)
The Parable of the Large Banquet
15 When(E) one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God(F) is blessed!”
16 Then He told him: “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17 At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’
18 “But without exception[a] they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’
20 “And another said, ‘I just got married,[b](G) and therefore I’m unable to come.’
21 “So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’(H)
22 “‘Master,’ the slave said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’
23 “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will enjoy my banquet!’”
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