Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16
Confidence in the Lord
A Davidic Miktam.(A)
1 Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.(B)
2 I[a] said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord;
I have nothing good besides You.”[b](C)
3 As for the holy people who are in the land,(D)
they are the noble ones.
All my delight is in them.
4 The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.(E)
5 Lord, You are my portion[c]
and my cup of blessing;
You hold my future.(F)
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me
in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.(G)
7 I will praise the Lord who counsels me(H)—
even at night my conscience instructs me.(I)
8 I keep the Lord in mind[d] always.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.(J)
9 Therefore my heart is glad
and my spirit rejoices;
my body also rests securely.(K)
10 For You will not abandon me to Sheol;(L)
You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay.(M)
11 You reveal the path of life to me;
in Your presence is abundant joy;(N)
in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.(O)
Psalm 17
A Prayer for Protection
A Davidic prayer.
1 Lord, hear a just cause;(P)
pay attention to my cry;
listen to my prayer—
from lips free of deceit.(Q)
2 Let my vindication come from You,
for You see what is right.(R)
3 You have tested my heart;(S)
You have examined me at night.
You have tried me and found nothing evil;(T)
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.[e]
4 Concerning what people do:
by the word of Your lips[f]
I have avoided the ways of the violent.(U)
5 My steps are on Your paths;
my feet have not slipped.(V)
6 I call on You, God,
because You will answer me;(W)
listen closely to me; hear what I say.
7 Display the wonders of Your faithful love,(X)
Savior of all who seek refuge(Y)
from those who rebel against Your right hand.[g]
8 Protect me as the pupil of Your eye;(Z)
hide me in the shadow of Your wings(AA)
9 from[h] the wicked who treat me violently,[i]
my deadly enemies who surround me.(AB)
10 They have become hardened;[j](AC)
their mouths speak arrogantly.(AD)
11 They advance against me;[k] now they surround me.(AE)
They are determined[l]
to throw me to the ground.(AF)
12 They are[m] like a lion eager to tear,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.(AG)
13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him; bring him down.(AH)
With Your sword, save me from the wicked.(AI)
14 With Your hand, Lord, save me from men,
from men of the world
whose portion is in this life:
You fill their bellies with what You have in store;
their sons are satisfied,
and they leave their surplus to their children.(AJ)
Psalm 134
Call to Evening Worship
A song of ascents.
1 Now praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord
who stand in the Lord’s house at night!(A)
2 Lift up your hands in the holy place
and praise the Lord!(B)
3 May the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.(C)
Psalm 135
Yahweh Is Great
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of Yahweh.
Give praise, you servants of Yahweh(D)
2 who stand in the house of Yahweh,
in the courts of the house of our God.(E)
3 Praise Yahweh, for Yahweh is good;
sing praise to His name, for it is delightful.(F)
4 For Yahweh has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His treasured possession.(G)
5 For I know that Yahweh is great;
our Lord is greater than all gods.(H)
6 Yahweh does whatever He pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.(I)
7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.(J)
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both man and beast.(K)
9 He sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his officials.(L)
10 He struck down many nations
and slaughtered mighty kings:(M)
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.(N)
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to His people Israel.(O)
13 Yahweh, Your name endures forever,
Your reputation, Yahweh,
through all generations.(P)
14 For Yahweh will vindicate His people
and have compassion on His servants.(Q)
Nebuchadnezzar’s Gold Statue
3 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue,(A) 90 feet high and nine feet wide.[a] He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.(B) 2 King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers(C) of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue the king had set up. Then they stood before the statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 A herald loudly proclaimed, “People of every nation and language, you are commanded: 5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,[b] lyre,[c] harp, drum,[d] and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship(D) the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 But whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.”(E)
7 Therefore, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and every kind of music, people of every nation and language fell down and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The Furnace of Blazing Fire
8 Some Chaldeans took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse[e](F) the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever. 10 You as king have issued a decree(G) that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue. 11 Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.(H) These men have ignored you,(I) the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
13 Then in a furious rage(J) Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue(K) I have set up? 15 Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”(L)
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. 17 If the God we serve exists,[f] then He can rescue(M) us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18 But even if He does not rescue us,[g] we want you as king to know that we will not serve(N) your gods(O) or worship the gold statue you set up.”
3 1 Look at how great a love[a] the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.(A) We know that when He appears, we will be like Him(B) because we will see Him as He is.(C) 3 And everyone who has this hope(D) in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.(E)
4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law;[b] sin is the breaking of law. 5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins,[c](F) and there is no sin in Him.(G) 6 Everyone who remains in Him(H) does not sin;[d](I) everyone who[e] sins has not seen Him or known Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who commits[f] sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God(J) was revealed(K) for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God(L) does not sin,[g] because His[h] seed(M) remains in him; he is not able to sin,[i] because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.
The Command to Love
Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.(N)
15 Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds[a] whether John might be the Messiah.(A) 16 John answered them all,(B) “I baptize you with[b] water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing shovel[d](C) is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.”(D) 18 Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch,(E) being rebuked by him about Herodias, his brother’s wife, and about all the evil things Herod had done,(F) 20 added this to everything else—he locked John up in prison.(G)
The Baptism of Jesus
21 When all the people were baptized,(H) Jesus also was baptized. As He was praying,(I) heaven opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:
You are My beloved Son.
I take delight in You!(J)
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