Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 75[a]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.
75 We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks.
You reveal your presence;[c]
people tell about your amazing deeds.
2 God says,[d]
“At the appointed times,[e]
I judge[f] fairly.
3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear,[g]
I make its pillars secure.”[h] (Selah)
4 [i] I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,”
and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory.[j]
5 Do not be so certain you have won.[k]
Do not speak with your head held so high.[l]
6 For victory does not come from the east or west,
or from the wilderness.[m]
7 For God is the judge.[n]
He brings one down and exalts another.[o]
8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices,[p]
and pours it out.[q]
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”[r]
9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done;[s]
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 God says,[t]
“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;
the godly will be victorious.”[u]
Psalm 76[v]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of Asaph, a song.
76 God has revealed himself in Judah;[w]
in Israel his reputation[x] is great.
2 He lives in Salem;[y]
he dwells in Zion.[z]
3 There he shattered the arrows,[aa]
the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war.[ab] (Selah)
4 You shine brightly and reveal your majesty,
as you descend from the hills where you killed your prey.[ac]
5 The bravehearted[ad] were plundered;[ae]
they “fell asleep.”[af]
All the warriors were helpless.[ag]
6 At the sound of your battle cry,[ah] O God of Jacob,
both rider[ai] and horse “fell asleep.”[aj]
7 You are awesome! Yes, you!
Who can withstand your intense anger?[ak]
8 From heaven you announced what their punishment would be.[al]
The earth[am] was afraid and silent
9 when God arose to execute judgment,
and to deliver all the oppressed of the earth. (Selah)
10 Certainly[an] your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise;[ao]
you reveal your anger in full measure.[ap]
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and repay them.
Let all those who surround him[aq] bring tribute to the awesome one.
12 He humbles princes;[ar]
the kings of the earth regard him as awesome.[as]
Psalm 23[a]
A psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd,[b]
I lack nothing.[c]
2 He takes me to lush pastures,[d]
he leads me to refreshing water.[e]
3 He restores my strength.[f]
He leads me down[g] the right paths[h]
for the sake of his reputation.[i]
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,[j]
I fear[k] no danger,[l]
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.[m]
5 You prepare a feast before me[n]
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh[o] my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.[p]
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness[q] will pursue[r] me all my days,[s]
and I will live in[t] the Lord’s house[u] for the rest of my life.[v]
Psalm 27[a]
By David.
27 The Lord is my light[b] and my salvation.
I fear no one.[c]
The Lord protects my life.
I am afraid of no one.[d]
2 When evil men attack me[e]
to devour my flesh,[f]
when my adversaries and enemies attack me,[g]
they stumble and fall.[h]
3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear.[i]
Even when war is imminent,[j]
I remain confident.[k]
4 I have asked the Lord for one thing—
this is what I desire!
I want to live[l] in the Lord’s house[m] all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor[n] of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
5 He will surely[o] give me shelter[p] in the day of danger;[q]
he will hide me in his home.[r]
He will place me[s] on an inaccessible rocky summit.[t]
6 Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me.[u]
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy.[v]
I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear me,[w] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
8 My heart tells me to pray to you,[x]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.[y]
9 Do not reject me.[z]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.[aa]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me,[ab]
the Lord would take me in.[ac]
11 Teach me how you want me to live,[ad] Lord;
lead me along a level path[ae] because of those who wait to ambush me.[af]
12 Do not turn me over to my enemies,[ag]
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.[ah]
13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?[ai]
14 Rely[aj] on the Lord!
Be strong and confident![ak]
Rely on the Lord!
20 “Proclaim[a] this message among the descendants of Jacob.[b]
Make it known throughout Judah.
21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,
you foolish people who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not discern,
who have ears but do not perceive:[c]
22 ‘You should fear me!’ says the Lord.
‘You should tremble in awe before me![d]
I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it can never cross.
Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.
They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.’[e]
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and gone their own way.[f]
24 They do not say to themselves,[g]
‘Let us revere the Lord our God.
It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.
It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.”[h]
25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming.[i]
Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’[j]
26 Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.
They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush.[k]
They set deadly traps[l] to catch people.
27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught,[m]
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit.[n]
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.[o]
28 That is how[p] they have grown fat and sleek.[q]
There is no limit to the evil things they do.[r]
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this![s]
30 Something horrible and shocking
is going on in the land of Judah:
31 The prophets prophesy lies.
The priests exercise power by their own authority.[t]
And my people love to have it this way.
But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes![u]
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under[a] the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him[b] by the works of the law,[c] for through the law comes[d] the knowledge of sin. 21 But now[e] apart from the law the righteousness of God (although it is attested by the law and the prophets)[f] has been disclosed— 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ[g] for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified[h] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed[i] him[j] at his death[k] as the mercy seat[l] accessible through faith.[m] This was to demonstrate[n] his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.[o] 26 This was[p] also to demonstrate[q] his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just[r] and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.[s]
27 Where, then, is boasting?[t] It is excluded! By what principle?[u] Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 28 For we consider that a person[v] is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.[w] 29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 30 Since God is one,[x] he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify[y] the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead[z] we uphold the law.
The Feast of Shelters
7 After this[a] Jesus traveled throughout Galilee.[b] He[c] stayed out of Judea[d] because the Jewish leaders[e] wanted[f] to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish Feast of Shelters[g] was near.[h] 3 So Jesus’ brothers[i] advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing.[j] 4 For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself[k] does anything in secret.[l] If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)[m]
6 So Jesus replied,[n] “My time[o] has not yet arrived,[p] but you are ready at any opportunity![q] 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil. 8 You go up[r] to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast[s] because my time[t] has not yet fully arrived.”[u] 9 When he had said this, he remained in Galilee.
10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus[v] himself also went up, not openly but in secret. 11 So the Jewish leaders[w] were looking for him at the feast, asking, “Where is he?”[x] 12 There was[y] a lot of grumbling[z] about him among the crowds.[aa] Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.”[ab] 13 However, no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jewish leaders.[ac]
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