Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 103
The Forgiving God
Davidic.
1 My soul, praise Yahweh,
and all that is within me, praise His holy name.(A)
2 My soul, praise the Lord,
and do not forget all His benefits.(B)
3 He forgives all your sin;(C)
He heals all your diseases.(D)
4 He redeems your life from the Pit;(E)
He crowns you with faithful love and compassion.(F)
5 He satisfies you[a] with goodness;(G)
your youth is renewed like the eagle.(H)
6 The Lord executes acts of righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.(I)
7 He revealed His ways to Moses,(J)
His deeds to the people of Israel.(K)
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love.(L)
9 He will not always accuse us
or be angry forever.(M)
10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our offenses.(N)
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His faithful love
toward those who fear Him.(O)
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed
our transgressions from us.(P)
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.(Q)
14 For He knows what we are made of,
remembering that we are dust.(R)
15 As for man, his days are like grass—
he blooms like a flower of the field;(S)
16 when the wind passes over it, it vanishes,
and its place is no longer known.[b](T)
17 But from eternity to eternity
the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him,
and His righteousness toward the grandchildren(U)
18 of those who keep His covenant,
who remember to observe His precepts.(V)
19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
and His kingdom rules over all.(W)
The Life-Giving River
47 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the temple faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.(A) 2 Next he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate that faced east; there the water was trickling from the south side. 3 As the man went out east with a measuring line in his hand,(B) he measured off a third of a mile[a] and led me through the water. It came up to my ankles. 4 Then he measured off a third of a mile[b] and led me through the water. It came up to my knees. He measured off another third of a mile[c] and led me through the water. It came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured off a third of a mile[d], and it was a river that I could not cross on foot. For the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed on foot.
6 He asked me, “Do you see this, son of man?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I had returned, I saw a very large number of trees along both sides of the riverbank.(C) 8 He said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down to the Arabah. When it enters the sea, the sea of foul water,[e][f] the water of the sea becomes fresh.(D) 9 Every kind of living creature that swarms will live wherever the river flows,[g] and there will be a huge number of fish because this water goes there. Since the water will become fresh, there will be life everywhere the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedi to En-eglaim.[h] These will become places where nets are spread out to dry. Their fish will consist of many different kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.(E) 11 Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt. 12 All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail.(F) Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine.”(G)
The Dedication to Theophilus
1 Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled[a] among us,(A) 2 just as the original eyewitnesses(B) and servants of the word(C) handed them down to us. 3 It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable(D) Theophilus,(E) 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.[b](F)
Psalm 67
All Will Praise God
For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us;
look on us with favor(A)
2 so that Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all nations.(B)
Psalm 96(A)
King of the Earth
1 Sing a new song to the Lord;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.(B)
2 Sing to Yahweh, praise His name;
proclaim His salvation from day to day.(C)
3 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonderful works among all peoples.(D)
4 For the Lord is great and is highly praised;
He is feared above all gods.(E)
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.(F)
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.(G)
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.(H)
8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name;(I)
bring an offering and enter His courts.(J)
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness;(K)
tremble before Him, all the earth.(L)
10 Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns.(M)
The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.(N)
He judges the peoples fairly.”(O)
11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and all that fills it resound.(P)
12 Let the fields and everything in them exult.
Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy(Q)
13 before the Lord, for He is coming—
for He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with His faithfulness.(R)
Prologue
1 I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach(A) 2 until the day He was taken up, after He had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.(B) 3 After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.(C)
The Holy Spirit Promised
4 While He was together[a] with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise.(D) “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”(E)
6 So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.(F) 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends[b] of the earth.”(G)
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