Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: To the tune of[a] “Do not Destroy!”
A psalm of Asaph. A song.
Praise to God for Justice
75 We praise you, God!
We praise you[b]—your presence[c] draws near—
as we declare your wonderful deeds.
2 “At the time that I choose
I will judge the righteous.[d]
3 While the earth and all its inhabitants melt away,
it is I who keep its pillars firm.”
4 I will say to the proud, “Don’t brag,”
and to the wicked,
“Don’t vaunt your strength.[e]
5 Don’t use your strength to fight heaven[f]
or speak from stubborn arrogance.”[g]
6 For exaltation comes not from the east,
the west, or the wilderness,
7 since God is the judge.
This one he will debase or that one he will exalt.
8 For there is a cup in the hand of the Lord,
foaming with well-mixed wine
that he will pour out, leaving only the dregs,
from which all the wicked of the earth will drink.
9 But as for me, I will declare forever,
singing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut down the strength[h] of the wicked,
but the strength[i] of the righteous will be lifted up.
To the Director: With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.
The Awesome God
76 God is known in Judah;
in Israel his reputation is great.
2 His abode is in Salem,[j]
his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he shattered sharp arrows,
shields, swords, and weapons of[k] war.
4 You are enveloped by light;
more majestic than mountains filled with game.
5 Brave men were plundered
while they slumbered in their sleep.
All the men of the army were immobilized.
6 At the sound of your battle cry, God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot rider fell into deep sleep.
7 You are awesome!
who can stand in your presence when you’re angry?
8 From heaven you declared judgment.
The earth stands in awe and is quiet
9 when God arose to execute justice
and to deliver all the afflicted of the earth.
10 Even human anger praises you;
you will wear the survivors of your wrath as an ornament.[l]
A Davidic Psalm.
The Lord Shepherds His People
23 The Lord is the one who is shepherding me;
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass;
he guides me beside quiet waters.
3 He revives my life;
he leads me in pathways that are righteous
for the sake of his name.[a]
4 Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness,[b]
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me,
even in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will remain in[c] the Lord’s Temple forever.[d]
Davidic
Confidence in the Lord
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom will I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom will I be afraid?
2 When those who practice evil, my enemies, and my oppressors
come near me to devour my flesh,
they stumble and fall.
3 If an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear.
If a war is launched against me,
I will even trust in that situation.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I really seek:
that I may remain in the Lord’s Temple
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord;
and to inquire in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter on the day of evil;
He will hide me in a secluded chamber within his tent;
He will place me on a high rock.
6 Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies,
even those who surround me.
I will sacrifice in his tent with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melodies to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice, Lord, when I cry out!
Be gracious to me and answer me.
8 My mind recalls your word,[a]
“Seek my face,”
so your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn away in anger from your servant.
You have been my help,
therefore do not abandon or forsake me,
God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother abandoned me,
the Lord gathers me up.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
12 Do not hand me over to the desires of my enemies;
for false witnesses have risen up against me;
even the one who breathes out violence.
13 I believe that I will see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord.
Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart.
Wait on the Lord!
28 The young woman then ran ahead and informed her mother’s household what had happened.
Rebekah’s Brother Laban
29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to the man and met him[a] at the spring. 30 And so it was, as soon as he saw the nose ring and bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and as soon as he heard what his sister Rebekah was saying about what the man had spoken to her,[b] he went out to the man who was still standing by the camels at the spring! 31 “Come on,” Laban[c] said. “The Lord has blessed you! So why are you standing out here when I’ve prepared some space in the house and a place for the camels?”
32 So the servant went to the house and unbridled the camels. They provided straw and feed for the camels and water for washing his feet and those of the men with him. 33 But when they had prepared a meal and set it in front of him, he said, “I’m not eating until I’ve spoken.”
“Speak up!” Laban[d] exclaimed.
The Servant Relates His Adventures
34 “I’m Abraham’s servant,” he said. 35 “The Lord has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become wealthy. He has provided him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah gave birth to my master’s son in her old age, and Abraham[e] has given him everything that belongs to him. 37 My master made me swear this oath: ‘You are not to select a wife for my son from among the daughters of the Canaanites in this land where I live. 38 Instead, you are to go to my father’s household, to my relatives, and choose a wife for my son there.’
49 So now, if you wish to show gracious love and truth toward my master, tell me so. But if not, tell me, so that I may go elsewhere.”[a]
Laban and Bethuel Acquiesce
50 “Since this has come from the Lord,” Laban and Bethuel both replied, “we cannot speak one way or another.[b] 51 So here’s Rebekah—she’s right in front of you. Take her and go, so she can become a wife for your master’s son, just as the Lord has decreed.”
Live as God’s People
12 Therefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees, 13 and straighten the paths of your life,[a] so that your lameness may not become worse, but instead may be healed.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up and causes you trouble, or many of you will become defiled. 16 No one should be immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterwards, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected because he could not find any opportunity to repent, even though he begged to repent[b] with tears.
18 You have not come to something[c] that can be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, 19 to a trumpet’s blast, or to a voice that made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the command that was given: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[d] 21 Indeed, the sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[e] 22 Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together, 23 to the assembly[f] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect, 24 to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s.
25 See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearers[g] did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape[h] if we turn away from the one who is from heaven! 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”[i] 27 The expression “once more”[j] signifies the removal of what can be shaken, that is, what he has made, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and worship God in reverence and fear in a way that pleases him. 29 For “our God is an all-consuming fire.”[k]
Jesus Openly Declares His Authority
14 Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began teaching. 15 The Jewish leaders[a] were astonished and remarked, “How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?”
16 Jesus replied to them, “My teaching is not mine but comes from the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he’ll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I’m speaking on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there’s nothing false in him. 19 Moses gave you the Law, didn’t he? Yet none of you is keeping the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one action, and all of you are astonished. 22 Moses gave you circumcision—not that it is from Moses, but from the Patriarchs—and so you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment!”
Is This the Messiah?
25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem began saying, “This is the man they are trying to kill, isn’t it? 26 And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?[b] 27 We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah[c] comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 At this point Jesus, still teaching in the Temple, shouted, “So you know me and know where I’ve come from? I haven’t come on my own accord. But the one who sent me is true, and he’s the one you don’t know. 29 I know him because I’ve come from him, and he sent me.”
30 Because of this, the Jewish leaders[d] kept trying to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 However, many in the crowd believed in him. They kept saying, “When the Messiah[e] comes, he won’t do more signs than this man has done, will he?”
Officers are Sent to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus.[f]
33 Then Jesus said, “I’ll be with you only a little while longer, and then I’m going back to the one who sent me. 34 You’ll look for me but won’t find me.[g] And where I am, you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jewish leaders[h] asked one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we won’t be able to find him? Surely he’s not going to the Dispersion[i] among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 36 What does this statement mean that he said, ‘You’ll look for me but won’t find me,’ and, ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
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