Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
2 Let Israel now say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron [the priesthood] now say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
4 Let those now who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
5 Out of my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free and in a large place.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?(A)
7 The Lord is on my side and takes my part, He is among those who help me; therefore shall I see my desire established upon those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations (the surrounding tribes) compassed me about, but in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!
11 They compassed me about, yes, they surrounded me on every side; but in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!
12 They swarmed about me like bees, they blaze up and are extinguished like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!(B)
13 You [my adversary] thrust sorely at me that I might fall, but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my Strength and Song; and He has become my Salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly and achieves strength!
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly and achieves strength!
17 I shall not die but live, and shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me sorely, but He has not given me over to death.(C)
19 Open to me the [temple] gates of righteousness; I will enter through them, and I will confess and praise the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord; the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall enter through it.(D)
21 I will confess, praise, and give thanks to You, for You have heard and answered me; and You have become my Salvation and Deliverer.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is from the Lord and is His doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.(E)
24 This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, we beseech You, O Lord; send now prosperity, O Lord, we beseech You, and give to us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the Lord [you who come into His sanctuary under His guardianship].(F)
27 The Lord is God, Who has shown and given us light [He has illuminated us with grace, freedom, and joy]. Decorate the festival with leafy boughs and bind the sacrifices to be offered with thick cords [all over the priest’s court, right up] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will confess, praise, and give thanks to You; You are my God, I will extol You.
29 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
Psalm 145
[A Psalm] of praise. Of David.
1 I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever [with grateful, affectionate praise].
2 Every day [with its new reasons] will I bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You]; yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable.(A)
4 One generation shall laud Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wondrous works I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your tremendous and terrible acts, and I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth [like a fountain] the fame of Your great and abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of Your rightness and justice.
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.
9 The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].
10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your loving ones shall bless You [affectionately and gratefully shall Your saints confess and praise You]!
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men God’s mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who are falling and raises up all those who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait for You [looking, watching, and expecting] and You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with favor.
17 The Lord is [rigidly] righteous in all His ways and gracious and merciful in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) His holy name forever and ever.
4 Yet I am the Lord your God from [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt, and you shall know or recognize no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.
5 I knew (recognized, understood, and had regard for) you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled [when they fed, they grew full], and their heart was lifted up; therefore have they forgotten Me.
7 Therefore I have become to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the way [to Assyria] and watch them.
8 I will meet them like a bear that is robbed of her cubs, and I will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness, as a wild beast would tear them.
9 It is your destruction, O Israel, that you have been against Me, for in Me is your help.
10 Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and princes?
11 I have given you a king in My anger, and I have taken him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim [not fully punished yet] is bound up [as in a bag]; his sin is laid up in store [for judgment and destruction].
13 The pains of a woman in childbirth are coming on for him [to be born]; but he is an unwise son, for now when it is time [to be born], he comes not to the place where [unborn] children break forth [he needs new birth but makes no effort to acquire it].
14 Should I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Should I redeem them from death? [a]O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Relenting and compassion are hidden from My eyes.(A)
6 Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a [higher] wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away.
7 But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God—[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].
8 None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [[a]who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].(A)
10 Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the [b]divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny].
11 For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man’s thoughts except the man’s own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.
13 And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].
14 But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
15 But the spiritual man tries all things [he [c]examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
16 For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.(B)
14 At that time Herod the governor heard the reports about Jesus,
2 And he said to his attendants, This is John the Baptist; He has been raised from the dead, and that is why the powers [a]of performing miracles are at work in Him.
3 For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison [to [b]stow him out of the way] on account and for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
4 For John had said to him, It is not lawful or right for you to have her.(A)
5 Although he wished to have him put to death, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst [before the company] and pleased and fascinated Herod,
7 And so he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 And she, being put forward and prompted by her mother, said, Give me the head of John the Baptist right here on a [c]platter.
9 And the king was distressed and sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered it to be given her;
10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
11 And his head was brought in on a [d]platter and given [e]to the little maid, and she brought it to her mother.
12 And John’s disciples came and took up the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
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