Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 93[a]
Glory of the Lord’s Kingdom
1 The Lord is King,[b] adorned in splendor;
the Lord has clothed and girded himself with strength.
[c]He has made the world firm,
never to be moved.
2 Your throne has stood firm from the beginning;
you have existed throughout eternity, O Lord.
3 The waters[d] have lifted up, O Lord;
the waters have lifted up their voice;
the waters have lifted up their roar.
4 More powerful than the roar of mighty waters,
more powerful than the crashing waves of the sea,
mighty on high is the Lord.[e]
5 Your decrees[f] are firmly established;
holiness adorns your house,
O Lord, throughout the ages.
Psalm 96[a]
God, Sovereign and Judge of the Universe
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;[b]
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
proclaim his salvation[c] day after day.
3 Declare his glory[d] among the nations,
his wondrous deeds to every people.
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of all praise;
he is more to be feared[e] than all other gods.
5 The gods of the nations are merely idols,
but it was the Lord who made the heavens.[f]
6 Majesty and splendor surround him;
power and beauty[g] are in his sanctuary.
7 Render to the Lord, you families of nations,
render to the Lord glory and power.[h]
8 Render to the Lord the glory due to his name;
bring an offering and enter his courts.[i]
9 Worship[j] the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is King.[k]
The world is firmly established, never to be moved.
He will judge the peoples fairly.”
11 Let the heavens exult and the earth be glad;
let the sea resound and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields rejoice and all that is in them;
let all the trees[l] of the forest shout for joy
13 before the Lord, for he is coming,
coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and the nations with equity.[m]
Psalm 148[a]
Song of the Universe
1 [b]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
offer praise to him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
offer praise to him, all his hosts![c]
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
offer praise to him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,[d]
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name[e] of the Lord,
for it was at his command that they were created.
6 He established them in place forever and ever;
he issued a law that will never pass away.[f]
7 [g]Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds,
storm winds that carry out his word,[h]
9 all mountains and hills,
all fruit trees and cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
creeping creatures and flying birds,[i]
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers on the earth,
12 young men and women,
the elderly, as well as children.[j]
13 [k]Let them all praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above the earth and the heavens.[l]
14 He has raised high a horn[m] for his people,
to the glory of all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Alleluia.
Psalm 150[a]
Harmonious Praise of God
1 Alleluia.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the firmament of his power.[b]
2 Praise him for his awesome acts,[c]
praise him for his immeasurable greatness.
3 [d]Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing,
praise him with strings and flutes.
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals,
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes
offer praise to the Lord.
Alleluia.[e]
21 “Take courage, my children; call out to God,
and he will deliver you from oppression
and from the hands of your enemies.
22 I place my trust in the Everlasting for your deliverance,
and joy has come to me from the Holy One,
because of the mercy that will soon come to you
from the Everlasting, your Savior.
23 With mourning and laments I watched you depart,
but God will give you back to me with everlasting joy and gladness.
24 For as the neighbors of Zion have witnessed your captivity,
they will soon behold your deliverance by your God,
which will come to you with the great glory and splendor of the Everlasting.
25 “My children, endure with patience the wrath
that has come upon you from God.
Your enemy has persecuted you,
but shortly you will witness his destruction
and trample upon his neck with your foot.
26 My delicate children have had to traverse rocky paths,
taken away like sheep carried off by the enemy.
27 Have courage, my children, and cry out to God;
he who has thus afflicted you will not forget you.
28 As the thought once came to you to go astray from God,
now you must increase your efforts tenfold to seek him.
29 He who afflicted you with these disasters
will bring you everlasting joy with your deliverance.”
15 The Promise of the Covenant. Brethren, allow me to give you an everyday example. Once a human will has been ratified, no one can make further additions to it or set it aside. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and his descendant. It does not say “and to your descendants,” as referring to many, but it says “and to your descendant,” that is, to one person, who is Christ.
17 This is what I am saying: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, cannot invalidate a covenant that had been previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 Obviously, if the inheritance comes from the Law, it no longer comes from the promise. However, God bestowed it on Abraham through a promise.
19 The Purpose of the Law. Why then? It was added because of transgressions[a] until the descendant appeared to whom the promise had been made, and it was promulgated by angels through an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary is not necessary when there is only one party, and God is one.
21 Is the Law then opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! If the Law that had been given had the power to bestow life, then righteousness would have come through the Law. 22 But according to Scripture all things have been confined under sin, so that through faith in Jesus Christ what was promised might be given to those who believe.
67 The Canticle of Zechariah.[a] Then the child’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
from the house of his servant David,
70 just as he proclaimed through the mouth of his holy prophets from age to age:
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us,
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remain mindful of his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
and to grant us that, 74 delivered from the power of our enemies,
without fear we might worship him 75 in holiness and righteousness
in his presence all our days.
76 “And you, my child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the dawn from on high will break upon us
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet along the path of peace.”
80 The Son of the Wilderness. The child grew and became strong in spirit. He lived in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Prologue: The Birth of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth[a]
Chapter 1
The Genealogy of Jesus.[b] 1 The account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,[c] the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, with Tamar[d] being their mother.
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, with Rahab being his mother.
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.
Obed was the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After the deportation to Babylon,
Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubabbel the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Christ.[e]
17 Therefore, in total there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, another fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and another fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ.
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