Book of Common Prayer
33 He [a](A)changes rivers into a [b]wilderness
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
34 A (B)fruitful land into a (C)salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He [c](D)changes a [d]wilderness into a pool of water
And a dry land into springs of water;
36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell,
So that they may establish [e](E)an inhabited city,
37 And sow fields and (F)plant vineyards,
And [f]gather a fruitful harvest.
38 Also He blesses them and they (G)multiply greatly,
And He (H)does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they are (I)diminished and (J)bowed down
Through oppression, misery and sorrow,
40 He (K)pours contempt upon [g]princes
And (L)makes them wander (M)in a pathless waste.
41 But He (N)sets the needy [h]securely on high away from affliction,
And (O)makes his families like a flock.
42 The (P)upright see it and are glad;
But all (Q)unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
43 Who is (R)wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the (S)lovingkindnesses of the Lord.
God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 (T)My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my [i]soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your (U)lovingkindness is great (V)above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
5 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
6 (X)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
7 God has spoken in His [j]holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out Shechem
And measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 “Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the [k]helmet of My head;
(Y)Judah is My [l]scepter.
9 “Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Over Philistia I will shout aloud.”
10 (Z)Who will bring me into the besieged city?
Who [m]will lead me to Edom?
11 Have not You Yourself, O God, (AA)rejected us?
And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?
12 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (AB)deliverance [n]by man is in vain.
13 [o]Through God we will do valiantly,
And (AC)it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [d](AE)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [e]hoped in You.
Jacob Moves to Bethel
35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to (A)Bethel and [a]live there, and make an altar there to (B)God, who appeared to you (C)when you fled [b]from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his (D)household and to all who were with him, “Put away (E)the foreign gods which are among you, and (F)purify yourselves and change your garments; 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make (G)an altar there to God, (H)who answered me in the day of my distress and (I)has been with me [c]wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which [d]they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the [e]oak which was near Shechem.
5 As they journeyed, there was [f](J)a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to (K)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 (L)He built an altar there, and called the place [g]El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled [h]from his brother. 8 Now (M)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named [i]Allon-bacuth.
Jacob Is Named Israel
9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He (N)blessed him. 10 (O)God said to him,
“Your name is Jacob;
[j]You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”
Thus He called [k]him Israel. 11 God also said to him,
“I am [l](P)God Almighty;
(Q)Be fruitful and multiply;
A nation and a (R)company of nations shall [m]come from you,
And (S)kings shall [n]come forth from [o]you.
12 “(T)The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac,
I will give it to you,
And I will give the land to your [p]descendants after you.”
13 Then (U)God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. 14 Jacob set up (V)a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, [q](W)Bethel.
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to (X)Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she [r]suffered severe labor. 17 When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now (Y)you have another son.” 18 It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him [s]Ben-oni; but his father called him [t]Benjamin. 19 So (Z)Rachel died and was buried on the way to (AA)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the (AB)pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
11 (A)For this is the message (B)which you have heard from the beginning, (C)that we should love one another; 12 not as (D)Cain, who was of (E)the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because (F)his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if (G)the world hates you. 14 We know that we have (H)passed out of death into life, (I)because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who (J)hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that (K)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 We know love by this, that (L)He laid down His life for us; and (M)we ought to lay down our lives for the (N)brethren. 17 But (O)whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and (P)closes his [a]heart [b]against him, (Q)how does the love of God abide in him? 18 (R)Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and (S)truth.
The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus
11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of (A)Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister (B)Martha. 2 It was the Mary who (C)anointed (D)the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “(E)Lord, behold, (F)he whom You love is sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for (G)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” 5 Now Jesus loved (H)Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He *said to the disciples, “(I)Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples *said to Him, “(J)Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking (K)to stone You, and are You going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “(L)Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 This He said, and after that He *said to them, “Our (M)friend Lazarus (N)has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” 12 The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will [a]recover.” 13 Now (O)Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of [b]literal sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” 16 (P)Therefore Thomas, who is called [c](Q)Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.