Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97
1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles and coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and darkness are round about Him [as at Sinai]; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.(A)
3 Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries round about.
4 His lightnings illumine the world; the earth sees and trembles.
5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.
7 Let all those be put to shame who serve graven images, who boast in idols. Fall prostrate before Him, all you gods.(B)
8 Zion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced [in relief] because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You, Lord, are high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil; He preserves the lives of His saints (the children of God), He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.(C)
11 Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you [consistently] righteous (upright and in right standing with God), and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
Psalm 99
1 The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble [with reverential fear]! He sits [enthroned] above the cherubim, let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them confess and praise Your great name, awesome and reverence inspiring! It is holy, and holy is He!(A)
4 The strength of the king who loves righteousness and equity You establish in uprightness; You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob (Israel).
5 Extol the Lord our God and worship at His footstool! Holy is He!
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His name; they called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept His testimonies and the statutes that He gave them.(B)
8 You answered them, O Lord our God; You were a forgiving God to them, although avenging their evildoing and wicked practices.
9 Extol the Lord our God and worship at His holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy!
Psalm 100
A Psalm of thanksgiving and for the thank offering.
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!
3 Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.(C)
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!
5 For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
Psalm 94
1 O Lord God, You to Whom vengeance belongs, O God, You to Whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render to the proud a fit compensation!
3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph and exult?
4 They pour out arrogant words, speaking hard things; all the evildoers boast loftily.(A)
5 They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the transient stranger and murder the unprotected orphan.
7 Yet they say, The Lord does not see, neither does the God of Jacob notice it.
8 Consider and understand, you stupid ones among the people! And you [self-confident] fools, when will you become wise?
9 He Who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He Who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He Who disciplines and instructs the nations, shall He not punish, He Who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vain (empty and futile—only a breath).(B)
12 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law,
13 That You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not cast off nor spurn His people, neither will He abandon His heritage.
15 For justice will return to the [uncompromisingly] righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help, I would soon have dwelt in [the land where there is] silence.
18 When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with You—they who frame and hide their unrighteous doings under [the sacred name of] law?
21 They band themselves together against the life of the [consistently] righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my High Tower and Defense, and my God the Rock of my refuge.
23 And He will turn back upon them their own iniquity and will wipe them out by means of their own wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].
7 For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,(C)
8 Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness,(D)
9 When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].
10 Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.
11 Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].(E)
16 The Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.
2 Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.
4 And Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, Have you come peaceably?
5 And he said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.
6 When they had come, he looked on Eliab [the eldest son] and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. But Samuel said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one.
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. Samuel said, Nor has the Lord chosen him.
10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these.
11 Then [he] said to Jesse, Are all your sons here? [Jesse] said, There is yet the youngest; he is tending the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send for him; for we will not sit down to eat until he is here.
12 Jesse sent and brought him. David had a healthy reddish complexion and beautiful eyes, and was fine-looking. The Lord said [to Samuel], Arise, anoint him; this is he.
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
14 For this reason [[a]seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].
16 May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].
17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,
18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];
19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, [b]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses [c]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] [d]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and [e]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
20 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—
21 To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).
18 Now Jesus, when He saw the great throngs around Him, gave orders to cross to the other side [of the lake].
19 And a scribe came up and said to Him, Master, I will accompany You wherever You go.
20 And Jesus replied to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have lodging places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.
21 Another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, let me first go and bury [[a]care for till death] my father.
22 But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and leave the dead [[b]in sin] to bury their own dead.
23 And after He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
24 And [c]suddenly, behold, there arose a violent storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered up by the waves; but He was sleeping.
25 And they went and awakened Him, saying, Lord, rescue and preserve us! We are perishing!
26 And He said to them, Why are you timid and afraid, O you of little faith? Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great and wonderful calm ([d]a perfect peaceableness).
27 And the men were stunned with bewildered wonder and marveled, saying, What kind of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!
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