Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97[a]
97 The Lord reigns.
Let the earth be happy.
Let the many coastlands rejoice.
2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne.[b]
3 Fire goes before him;
on every side[c] it burns up his enemies.
4 His lightning bolts light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The sky declares his justice,
and all the nations see his splendor.
7 All who worship idols are ashamed,
those who boast about worthless idols.
All the gods bow down before him.[d]
8 Zion hears and rejoices,
the towns[e] of Judah are happy,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are the Most High[f] over the whole earth;
you are elevated high above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He protects[g] the lives of his faithful followers;
he delivers them from the power[h] of the wicked.
11 The godly bask in the light;
the morally upright experience joy.[i]
12 You godly ones, rejoice in the Lord.
Give thanks to his holy name.[j]
Psalm 99[a]
99 The Lord reigns!
The nations tremble.[b]
He sits enthroned above the cherubim;[c]
the earth shakes.[d]
2 The Lord is elevated[e] in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
He[f] is holy!
4 The king is strong;
he loves justice.[g]
You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly;[h]
you promote justice and equity in Jacob.
5 Praise[i] the Lord our God.
Worship[j] before his footstool.
He is holy!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;
Samuel was one of those who prayed to him.[k]
They[l] prayed to the Lord and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from a pillar of cloud;[m]
they obeyed his regulations and the ordinance he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them.
They found you to be a forgiving God,
but also one who punished their sinful deeds.[n]
9 Praise[o] the Lord our God!
Worship on his holy hill,
for the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 100[p]
A thanksgiving psalm.
100 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship[q] the Lord with joy.
Enter his presence with joyful singing.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us and we belong to him,[r]
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give him thanks.
Praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His loyal love endures,[s]
and he is faithful through all generations.[t]
Psalm 94[a]
94 O Lord, the God who avenges!
O God who avenges, reveal your splendor.[b]
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth.
Pay back the proud.
3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked celebrate?[c]
4 They spew out threats[d] and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast.[e]
5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you.[f]
6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner,
and they murder the fatherless.[g]
7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.”[h]
8 Take notice of this,[i] you ignorant people.[j]
You fools, when will you ever understand?
9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see?[k]
10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
11 The Lord knows that peoples’ thoughts
are morally bankrupt.[l]
12 How blessed is the one[m] whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
13 in order to protect him from times of trouble,[n]
until the wicked are destroyed.[o]
14 Certainly[p] the Lord does not forsake his people;
he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.[q]
15 For justice will prevail,[r]
and all the morally upright[s] will be vindicated.[t]
16 Who will rise up to defend me[u] against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?[v]
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.[w]
18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,[x]
your soothing touch makes me happy.[y]
20 Cruel rulers[z] are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws.[aa]
21 They conspire against[ab] the blameless,[ac]
and condemn to death the innocent.[ad]
22 But the Lord will protect me,[ae]
and my God will shelter me.[af]
23 He will pay them back for their sin.[ag]
He will destroy them because of[ah] their evil;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95[ai]
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.[aj]
2 Let us enter his presence[ak] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.[al]
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to[am] all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,[an]
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship.[ao]
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.
7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns.[ap]
Today, if only you would obey him.[aq]
8 He says,[ar] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,[as]
like they were that day at Massah[at] in the wilderness,[au]
9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,[av]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was continually disgusted[aw] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;[ax]
they do not obey my commands.’[ay]
11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”[az]
Habakkuk’s Vision of the Divine Warrior
3 This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet:[a]
2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did;[b]
I am awed,[c] Lord, by what you accomplished.[d]
In our time[e] repeat those deeds;[f]
in our time reveal them again.[g]
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy![h]
3 God comes[i] from Teman,[j]
the Holy One[k] from Mount Paran.[l] Selah.[m]
His splendor has covered the skies,[n]
the earth is full of his glory.[o]
4 His brightness will be as lightning;[p]
a two-pronged lightning bolt flashing from his hand.[q]
This is the outward display of his power.[r]
5 Plague will go[s] before him;
pestilence[t] will march[u] right behind him.[v]
6 He took his battle position[w] and shook[x] the earth;
with a mere look he frightened[y] the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrated;[z]
the primeval hills were flattened.
His are ancient roads.[aa]
7 I saw the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble;[ab]
the tent curtains of the land of Midian were[ac] shaking.[ad]
8 Was[ae] the Lord mad at the rivers?
Were you angry with the rivers?
Were you enraged at the sea?[af]
Such that[ag] you would climb into your horse-drawn chariots,[ah]
your victorious chariots?[ai]
9 Your bow is ready for action;[aj]
you commission your arrows.[ak] Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface.[al]
10 When the mountains see you, they shake.
The torrential downpour sweeps through.[am]
The great deep[an] shouts out;
it lifts its hands high.[ao]
11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses;[ap]
the flash of your arrows drives them away,[aq]
the bright light of your lightning-quick spear.[ar]
12 You furiously stomp on the earth;
you angrily trample down the nations.
13 You march out to deliver your people,
to deliver your special servant.[as]
You strike the leader of the wicked nation,[at]
laying him open from the lower body to the neck.[au] Selah.
14 You pierce the heads of his warriors[av] with a spear.[aw]
They storm forward to scatter us;[ax]
they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition.[ay]
15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,
on the surging, raging waters.[az]
Habakkuk Declares His Confidence
16 I listened and my stomach churned;[ba]
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying,[bb]
and I shook as I tried to walk.[bc]
I long[bd] for the day of distress
to come upon[be] the people who attack us.
17 When[bf] the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
when the olive trees do not produce[bg]
and the fields yield no crops;[bh]
when the sheep disappear[bi] from the pen
and there are no cattle in the stalls—
18 I will rejoice because of[bj] the Lord;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
The Power of the Tongue
3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters,[a] because you know that we will be judged more strictly.[b] 2 For we all stumble[c] in many ways. If someone does not stumble[d] in what he says,[e] he is a perfect individual,[f] able to control the entire body as well. 3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies.[g] 4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. 5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body,[h] yet it has great pretensions.[i] Think[j] how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents[k] the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It[l] pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence—and is set on fire by hell.[m]
7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature[n] is subdued and has been subdued by humankind.[o] 8 But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless[p] evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord[q] and Father, and with it we curse people[r] made in God’s image. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters.[s] 11 A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters,[t] or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.
Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service
17 Jesus[a] said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe[b] to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him to have a millstone[c] tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea[d] than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.[e] 3 Watch[f] yourselves! If[g] your brother[h] sins, rebuke him. If[i] he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive[j] him.”
5 The[k] apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”[l] 6 So[m] the Lord replied,[n] “If[o] you had faith the size of[p] a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry[q] tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’[r] and it would obey[s] you.
7 “Would any one of you say[t] to your slave[u] who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’?[v] 8 Won’t[w] the master[x] instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready[y] to serve me while[z] I eat and drink. Then[aa] you may eat and drink’? 9 He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told,[ab] will he?[ac] 10 So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise;[ad] we have only done what was our duty.’”[ae]
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