Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; a song; a psalm.
66 Shout happily to God, all the earth!
2 Make music to praise the glory of his name.
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God,
“How awe-inspiring are your deeds!
Your power is so great that your enemies will cringe in front of you.
4 The whole earth will worship you.
It will make music to praise you.
It will make music to praise your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done—
his awe-inspiring deeds for Adam’s descendants.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
They crossed the river on foot.
We rejoiced because of what he did there.
7 He rules forever with his might.
His eyes watch the nations.
Rebels will not be able to oppose him. Selah
8 Thank our God, you nations.
Make the sound of his praise heard.
9 He has kept us alive
and has not allowed us to fall.
10 You have tested us, O God.
You have refined us in the same way silver is refined.
11 You have trapped us in a net.
You have laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads.
We went through fire and water,
but then you brought us out and refreshed us.
13 I will come into your temple with burnt offerings.
I will keep my vows to you,
14 the vows made by my lips and spoken by my ⌞own⌟ mouth
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer you a sacrifice of fattened livestock for burnt offerings
with the smoke from rams.
I will offer cattle and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all who fear God,
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 With my mouth I cried out to him.
High praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had thought about doing anything sinful,
the Lord would not have listened ⌞to me⌟.
19 But God has heard me.
He has paid attention to my prayer.
20 Thanks be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or taken away his mercy from me.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a psalm; a song.
67 May God have pity on us and bless us!
May he smile on us. Selah
2 Then your ways will be known on earth,
your salvation throughout all nations.
3 Let everyone give thanks to you, O God.
Let everyone give thanks to you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing joyfully
because you judge everyone with justice
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 Let the people give thanks to you, O God.
Let all the people give thanks to you.
6 The earth has yielded its harvest.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth worship him.
116 I love the Lord because he hears my voice, my pleas for mercy.
2 I will call on him as long as I live
because he turns his ear toward me.
3 The ropes of death became tangled around me.
The horrors of the grave took hold of me.
I experienced pain and agony.
4 But I kept calling on the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, rescue me!”
5 The Lord is merciful and righteous.
Our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord protects defenseless people.
When I was weak, he saved me.
7 Be at peace again, my soul,
because the Lord has been good to you.
8 You saved me from death.
You saved my eyes from tears ⌞and⌟ my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in the Lord’s presence in this world of the living.
10 I kept my faith even when I said,
“I am suffering terribly.”
11 I also said when I was panic-stricken,
“Everyone is undependable.”
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the good that he has done for me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will keep my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am indeed your servant.
I am your servant,
the son of your female servant.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will bring a song of thanksgiving to you as a sacrifice.
I will call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will keep my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
in the middle of Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
117 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Praise him, all you people of the world!
2 His mercy toward us is powerful.
The Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Hannah prayed out loud,
“My heart finds joy in the Lord.
My head is lifted to the Lord.
My mouth mocks my enemies.
I rejoice because you saved ⌞me⌟.
2 There is no one holy like the Lord.
There is no one but you, O Lord.
There is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not boast
⌞or⌟ let arrogance come out of your mouth
because the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and he weighs ⌞our⌟ actions.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumble are armed with strength.
5 Those who were well-fed hire themselves out for a piece of bread,
but those who were hungry hunger no more.
Even the woman who was childless gives birth to seven children,
but the mother of many children grieves all alone.
6 “The Lord kills, and he gives life.
He makes ⌞people⌟ go down to the grave, and he raises them up ⌞again⌟.
7 The Lord causes poverty and grants wealth.
He humbles ⌞people⌟; he also promotes them.
8 He raises the poor from the dust.
He lifts the needy from the trash heap
in order to make them sit with nobles
and even to make them inherit a glorious throne.
“The pillars of the earth are the Lord’s.
He has set the world on them.
9 He safeguards the steps of his faithful ones,
but wicked people are silenced in darkness
because humans cannot succeed by their own strength.
10 “Those who oppose the Lord are broken into pieces.
He thunders at them from the heavens.
The Lord judges the ends of the earth.
He gives strength to his King
and lifts the head of his Messiah.” [a]
Guidelines for Christian Living
2 Tell believers to live the kind of life that goes along with accurate teachings. 2 Tell older men to be sober. Tell them to be men of good character, to use good judgment, and to be well-grounded in faith, love, and endurance.
3 Tell older women to live their lives in a way that shows they are dedicated to God. Tell them not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of virtue. 4 In this way they will teach young women to show love to their husbands and children, 5 to use good judgment, and to be morally pure. Also, tell them to teach young women to be homemakers, to be kind, and to place themselves under their husbands’ authority. Then no one can speak evil of God’s word.
6 Encourage young men to use good judgment. 7 Always set an example by doing good things. When you teach, be an example of moral purity and dignity. 8 Speak an accurate message that cannot be condemned. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed because they cannot say anything bad about us.
9 Tell slaves who are believers to place themselves under their masters’ authority in everything they do. Tell them to please their masters, not to argue with them 10 or steal from them. Instead, tell slaves to show their masters how good and completely loyal they can be. Then they will show the beauty of the teachings about God our Savior in everything they do.
The Angel Gabriel Comes to Mary
26 Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. 27 The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.”
29 She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.
30 The angel told her,
“Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor [a] with God.
31 You will become pregnant, give birth to a son,
and name him Jesus.
32 He will be a great man
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his ancestor David.
33 Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever,
and his kingdom will never end.”
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be? I’m a virgin.”
35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God.
36 “Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant with a son in her old age. People said she couldn’t have a child. 37 But nothing is impossible for God.”
38 Mary answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.”
Then the angel left her.
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