Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)regards the lowly,
But the (M)haughty He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not forsake the (U)works of Your hands.
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [e]when I sit down and [f]when I rise up;
You (X)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [g](Y)scrutinize my [h]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [i]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)enclosed me behind and before,
And (AB)laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [j]Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will [k]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AJ)darkness is not dark [l]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AK)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AL)formed my [m]inward parts;
You (AM)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [n]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(AN)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [o](AO)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the (AP)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AQ)eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in (AR)Your book were all written
The (AS)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your (AT)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (AU)outnumber the sand.
When (AV)I awake, I am still with You.
19 O that You would (AW)slay the wicked, O God;
(AX)Depart from me, therefore, (AY)men of bloodshed.
20 For they (AZ)speak [p]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [q](BA)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BB)hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not (BC)loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.
147 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
For (A)it is good to sing praises to our God;
For [c]it is pleasant and praise is (B)becoming.
2 The Lord (C)builds up Jerusalem;
He (D)gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the (E)brokenhearted
And (F)binds up their [d]wounds.
4 He (G)counts the number of the stars;
He [e](H)gives names to all of them.
5 (I)Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His (J)understanding is [f]infinite.
6 The Lord [g](K)supports the afflicted;
He brings down the wicked to the ground.
7 (L)Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God on the lyre,
8 Who (M)covers the heavens with clouds,
Who (N)provides rain for the earth,
Who (O)makes grass to [h]grow on the mountains.
9 He (P)gives to the beast its food,
And to the (Q)young ravens which cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the (R)horse;
He (S)does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord (T)favors those who fear Him,
(U)Those who wait for His lovingkindness.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the (V)bars of your gates;
He has (W)blessed your sons within you.
14 He (X)makes [i]peace in your borders;
He (Y)satisfies you with (Z)the [j]finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth His (AA)command to the earth;
His (AB)word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives (AC)snow like wool;
He scatters the (AD)frost like ashes.
17 He casts forth His (AE)ice as fragments;
Who can stand before His (AF)cold?
18 He (AG)sends forth His word and melts them;
He (AH)causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19 He (AI)declares His words to Jacob,
His (AJ)statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
20 He (AK)has not dealt thus with any nation;
And as for His ordinances, they have (AL)not known them.
[k]Praise [l]the Lord!
A Rebellious People
65 “I permitted Myself to be sought by (A)those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which (B)did not call on My name.
2 “(C)I have spread out My hands all day long to a (D)rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, [a]following their own (E)thoughts,
3 A people who continually (F)provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in (G)gardens and (H)burning incense on bricks;
4 Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who (I)eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
5 “Who say, ‘(J)Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My [b]nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6 “Behold, it is written before Me,
I will (K)not keep silent, but (L)I will repay;
I will even repay into their bosom,
7 Both [c]their own (M)iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says the Lord.
“Because they have (N)burned incense on the mountains
And (O)scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will (P)measure their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says the Lord,
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is [d]benefit in it,’
So I will act on behalf of My servants
In order (Q)not to destroy [e]all of them.
9 “I will bring forth (R)offspring from Jacob,
And an (S)heir of My mountains from Judah;
Even (T)My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And (U)My servants will dwell there.
Message to Sardis
3 “To the angel of the church in (A)Sardis write:
He who has (B)the seven Spirits of God and (C)the seven stars, says this: ‘(D)I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, [a]but you are (E)dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 So (F)remember [b]what you have received and heard; and keep it, and (G)repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, (H)I will come (I)like a thief, and you will not know at (J)what hour I will come to you. 4 But you have a few [c](K)people in (L)Sardis who have not (M)soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me (N)in white, for they are worthy. 5 (O)He who overcomes will thus be clothed in (P)white garments; and I will not (Q)erase his name from the book of life, and (R)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 (S)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Five Thousand Fed
6 After these things (A)Jesus went away to the other side of (B)the Sea of Galilee (or (C)Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the [a](D)signs which He was performing on those who were sick. 3 Then (E)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. 4 Now (F)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to (G)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6 This He was saying to (H)test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. 7 (I)Philip answered Him, “(J)Two hundred [b]denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” 8 One of His (K)disciples, (L)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two (M)fish, but what are these for so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people [c]sit down.” Now there was (N)much grass in the place. So the men [d]sat down, in number about (O)five thousand. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and (P)having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the (Q)fish as much as they wanted. 12 When they were filled, He *said to His (R)disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve (S)baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Therefore when the people saw the [e]sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the (T)Prophet who is to come into the world.”
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