Book of Common Prayer
The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David, [a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, (A)You are my God; I shall seek You [b]earnestly;
My soul (B)thirsts for You, my flesh [c]yearns for You,
In a (C)dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Thus I have (D)seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your (E)lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You (F)as long as I live;
I will (G)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is (H)satisfied as with [d]marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers (I)praises with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You (J)on my bed,
I meditate on You in the (K)night watches,
7 For (L)You have been my help,
And in the (M)shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul (N)clings [e]to You;
Your (O)right hand upholds me.
9 But those who (P)seek my [f]life to destroy it,
Will go into the [g](Q)depths of the earth.
10 [h]They will be [i](R)delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a [j](S)prey for foxes.
11 But the (T)king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who (U)swears by Him will glory,
For the (V)mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.
A Psalm.
98 O sing to the Lord a (A)new song,
For He has done (B)wonderful things,
His (C)right hand and His (D)holy arm have [a]gained the victory for Him.
2 (E)The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has (F)revealed His [b]righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has (G)remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(H)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His (B)holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And (C)forget none of His benefits;
3 Who (D)pardons all your iniquities,
Who (E)heals all your diseases;
4 Who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
Who (G)crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who (H)satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is (I)renewed like the eagle.
6 The Lord (J)performs [b]righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are (K)oppressed.
7 He (L)made known His ways to Moses,
His (M)acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is (N)compassionate and gracious,
(O)Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He (P)will not always strive with us,
Nor will He (Q)keep His anger forever.
10 He has (R)not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high (S)as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (T)removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just (U)as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him.
14 For (V)He Himself knows [e]our frame;
He (W)is mindful that we are but (X)dust.
15 As for man, his days are (Y)like grass;
As a (Z)flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the (AA)wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its (AB)place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the (AC)lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [f]fear Him,
And His [g]righteousness (AD)to children’s children,
18 To (AE)those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The Lord has established His (AF)throne in the heavens,
And His [h](AG)sovereignty rules over [i]all.
20 Bless the Lord, you (AH)His angels,
(AI)Mighty in strength, who (AJ)perform His word,
(AK)Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you (AL)His hosts,
You (AM)who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, (AN)all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
God’s Gracious Dealings
8 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you (A)may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 (B)You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has (C)led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, (D)testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you [a]understand that (E)man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 (F)Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 (G)Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to [b]fear Him. 7 For (H)the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When (I)you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
17 (A)For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, (B)not in [a]cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
The Wisdom of God
18 For the word of the cross is (C)foolishness to (D)those who [b]are perishing, but to us who [c]are being saved it is (E)the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“(F)I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
20 (G)Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of (H)this age? Has not God (I)made foolish the wisdom of (J)the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God (K)the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, (L)God was well-pleased through the (M)foolishness of the [d]message preached to (N)save those who believe. 22 For indeed (O)Jews ask for [e]signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach [f](P)Christ crucified, (Q)to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles (R)foolishness, 24 but to those who are (S)the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (T)the power of God and (U)the wisdom of God. 25 Because the (V)foolishness of God is wiser than men, and (W)the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For [g]consider your (X)calling, brethren, that there were (Y)not many wise according to [h]the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but (Z)God has chosen the foolish things of (AA)the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of (AB)the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of (AC)the world and the despised God has chosen, (AD)the things that are not, so that He may (AE)nullify the things that are, 29 so that (AF)no [i]man may boast before God. 30 But [j]by His doing you are in (AG)Christ Jesus, who became to us (AH)wisdom from God, [k]and (AI)righteousness and (AJ)sanctification, and (AK)redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “(AL)Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
18 (A)John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, [a]the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the (B)days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
21 “No one sews [b]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise [c]the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22 No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
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