Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118[a]
118 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
3 Let the family[c] of Aaron say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
4 Let the loyal followers of the Lord[d] say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
5 In my distress[e] I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place.[f]
6 The Lord is on my side;[g] I am not afraid.
What can people do to me?[h]
7 The Lord is on my side[i] as my helper.[j]
I look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take shelter[k] in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me.[l]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord[m] I pushed them away.[n]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
12 They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly[o] as a fire among thorns.[p]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
13 “You aggressively attacked me[q] and tried to knock me down,[r]
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me;[s]
he has become my deliverer.”[t]
15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.[u]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.[v]
16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory;[w]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.[x]
18 The Lord severely[y] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.[z]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders discarded[aa]
has become the cornerstone.[ab]
23 This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing![ac]
24 This is the day the Lord has brought about.[ad]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
25 Please, Lord, deliver!
Please, Lord, grant us success![ae]
26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord[af] be blessed.
We will pronounce blessings on you[ag] in the Lord’s temple.[ah]
27 The Lord is God, and he has delivered us.[ai]
Tie the offering[aj] with ropes
to the horns of the altar.[ak]
28 You are my[al] God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God and I will praise you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures.[am]
Psalm 145[a]
A psalm of praise; by David.
145 I will extol you, my God, O King.
I will praise your name continually.[b]
2 Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name continually.[c]
3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise.
No one can fathom his greatness.[d]
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts.[e]
5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,
and your amazing deeds.[f]
6 They will proclaim[g] the power of your awesome acts.
I will declare your great deeds.
7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness,[h]
and sing about your justice.[i]
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient[j] and demonstrates great loyal love.[k]
9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made.[l]
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
12 so that mankind[m] might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,[n]
and your dominion endures through all generations.
14 [o] The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over.[p]
15 Everything looks to you in anticipation,[q]
and you provide them with food on a regular basis.[r]
16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food it desires.[s]
17 The Lord is just in all his actions,[t]
and exhibits love in all he does.[u]
18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,
all who cry out to him sincerely.[v]
19 He satisfies the desire[w] of his loyal followers;[x]
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
21 My mouth will praise the Lord.[y]
Let all who live[z] praise his holy name forever.
16 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies[a] says to the people of Jerusalem:[b]
“Do not listen to what
those prophets are saying to you.
They are filling you with false hopes.
They are reporting visions of their own imaginations,
not something the Lord has given them to say.[c]
17 They continually say[d] to those who reject what the Lord has said,[e]
‘Things will go well for you!’[f]
They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,
‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’
18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle[g]
so they[h] could see and hear what he has to say?[i]
Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?
19 But just watch![j] The wrath of the Lord
will come like a storm![k]
Like a raging storm it will rage down[l]
on the heads of those who are wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has fully carried out his intended purposes.[m]
In future days[n]
you people will come to understand this clearly.[o]
21 I did not send those prophets,
yet they were in a hurry to give their message.[p]
I did not tell them anything,
yet they prophesied anyway.
22 But if they had stood in my inner circle,[q]
they would have proclaimed my message to my people.
They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways
and stop doing the evil things they are doing.
23 Do you people think[r] that I am some local deity
and not the transcendent God?”[s] the Lord asks.[t]
24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks.[u]
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?”[v]
the Lord asks.[w]
25 The Lord says,[x] “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’[y] 26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds.[z] 27 How long will they go on plotting[aa] to make my people forget who I am[ab] through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors[ac] did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal.[ad] 28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain![ae] I, the Lord, affirm it![af] 29 My message is like a fire that purges dross.[ag] It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.[ah] I, the Lord, so affirm it![ai] 30 So I, the Lord, affirm[aj] that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me.[ak] 31 I, the Lord, affirm[al] that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares.’[am] 32 I, the Lord, affirm[an] that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies.[ao] I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all.[ap] I, the Lord, affirm it!”[aq]
19 For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.[a] 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law)[b] to gain those under the law. 21 To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law. 22 To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.
23 I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.
24 Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. 25 Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.
26 So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. 27 Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.
First Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
31 Then[a] Jesus[b] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer[c] many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law,[d] and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke openly about this. So[e] Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But after turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”[f]
Following Jesus
34 Then[g] Jesus[h] called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower,[i] he must deny[j] himself, take up his cross,[k] and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life[l] will lose it,[m] but whoever loses his life because of me and because of the gospel[n] will save it. 36 For what benefit is it for a person[o] to gain the whole world, yet[p] forfeit his life? 37 What can a person give in exchange for his life? 38 For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him[q] when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9 1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth,[r] there are some standing here who will not[s] experience[t] death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”[u]
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