Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 93[a]
Glory of the Lord’s Kingdom
1 The Lord is King,[b] adorned in splendor;
the Lord has clothed and girded himself with strength.
[c]He has made the world firm,
never to be moved.
2 Your throne has stood firm from the beginning;
you have existed throughout eternity, O Lord.
3 The waters[d] have lifted up, O Lord;
the waters have lifted up their voice;
the waters have lifted up their roar.
4 More powerful than the roar of mighty waters,
more powerful than the crashing waves of the sea,
mighty on high is the Lord.[e]
5 Your decrees[f] are firmly established;
holiness adorns your house,
O Lord, throughout the ages.
Psalm 96[a]
God, Sovereign and Judge of the Universe
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;[b]
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
proclaim his salvation[c] day after day.
3 Declare his glory[d] among the nations,
his wondrous deeds to every people.
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of all praise;
he is more to be feared[e] than all other gods.
5 The gods of the nations are merely idols,
but it was the Lord who made the heavens.[f]
6 Majesty and splendor surround him;
power and beauty[g] are in his sanctuary.
7 Render to the Lord, you families of nations,
render to the Lord glory and power.[h]
8 Render to the Lord the glory due to his name;
bring an offering and enter his courts.[i]
9 Worship[j] the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is King.[k]
The world is firmly established, never to be moved.
He will judge the peoples fairly.”
11 Let the heavens exult and the earth be glad;
let the sea resound and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields rejoice and all that is in them;
let all the trees[l] of the forest shout for joy
13 before the Lord, for he is coming,
coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and the nations with equity.[m]
Psalm 34[a]
Presence of God, Protector of the Righteous
1 Of David. When he pretended to be mad before Abimelech, who forced him to depart.[b]
2 [c]I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will be continually on my lips.
3 My soul[d] will glory in the Lord;
let the lowly hear and be glad.
4 Magnify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
5 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he set me free from all my fears.
6 Look to him and you will be radiant;
your faces will never be covered with shame.
7 In my anguish[e] I cried out;
the Lord heard my plea,
and I was saved from all my troubles.
8 The angel of the Lord[f] encamps around those who fear God,
and he delivers them.
9 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed[g] is the man who takes refuge in him.
10 Fear the Lord,[h] you his saints;
nothing is lacking for those who fear him.
11 The powerful[i] suffer want and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord want for no good thing.
12 [j]Come, my children,[k] and listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
13 Who among you delights in life
and desires many years to enjoy prosperity?[l]
14 Then keep your tongue[m] from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
15 Shun evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
16 [n]The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
17 The face of the Lord is turned against those who do evil,
to erase all memory of them from the earth.
18 [o]The righteous call out, and the Lord hears them;
he rescues them from all their troubles.
19 The Lord remains close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 [p]The misfortunes of the righteous man are many,
but the Lord delivers him,[q] from all of them.
21 He watches with care over all his bones;
not a single one will be broken.
22 [r]Evil will bring death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
23 The Lord redeems the lives of those who serve him;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
Chapter 43
The Sun, God’s Herald[a]
1 The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky,
a vision of glory like the sight of the heavens.
2 As the sun comes into view, it proclaims as it rises,
“What a marvelous creation it is, the work of the Most High.”
3 At noontime it parches the surface of the earth,
and who can endure its blazing heat?
4 A man stokes a furnace in burning heat,
but three times as hot is the sun that scorches the mountains.
It breathes out fiery vapors,
and the eyes are blinded by the intensity of its rays.
5 Great indeed is the Lord who made it,
and whose command speeds it on its course.
The Moon, Queen of Feasts and Seasons[b]
6 He also created the moon that marks the changing seasons,
governing the divisions of time, their everlasting sign.
7 From the moon we are able to calculate when feast days are to be observed;
its light wanes when its course has been completed.[c]
8 “Month” derives its name from the moon;[d]
it waxes wondrously as its phases change.
It is a beacon to the hosts on high,
shining in the vault of the heavens.
The Stars, Heavenly Sentinels
9 The brilliance of the stars enhances the beauty of the heavens,
a glittering array in the heights of the Lord.
10 At the command of the Holy One they remain in their appointed places,
and they never relax in their vigils.
The Rainbow, Aureole of Glory[e]
11 Look at the rainbow and praise its Maker,
for it glows with a surpassing beauty.
12 It spans the heavens with its glorious ark,
a bow stretched out by the hands of the Most High.
Where Can We Find the Skill To Glorify God?[a]
27 No matter how much we say, our words will never prove adequate;
to sum it all up: “He is the all!”[b]
28 Where can we find the skill to glorify him,
for he is greater than all his works.
29 The Lord is awe-inspiring in his majesty,
and marvelous is his power.
30 Glorify and exalt the Lord to the extent of your ability,
and yet even that will prove inadequate.
Summon all your strength to exalt him,
and do not grow weary, for you can never finish.
31 For who has seen him and can describe him,
or who can praise him as he truly is?
32 Many mysteries even greater than these remain,
for we have seen only a few of his works.
14 Greatness of the Divine Majesty. While I am hoping to come to you soon, I am writing to you about these matters 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how to regulate your conduct in God’s household—that is, in the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. 16 Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great:
He was made visible in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,[a]
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the Gentiles,
believed in throughout the world,
taken up in glory.
General Regulations[b]
Chapter 4
False Asceticism. 1 The Spirit clearly says that during the last times some will abandon the faith. They will run after deceitful spirits and demonic doctrines, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences have been branded as with a burning iron. 3 They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods[c] that God created to be accepted with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided that it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and by prayer.[d]
24 The Parable of the Weeds.[a] He then proposed another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep, his enemy came, sowed weeds[b] among the wheat, and then went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and ripened, the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and asked, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘One of my enemies has done this.’ The servants then asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’
29 “He replied, ‘No, because in gathering the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let them both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time, I will tell the reapers, “Collect the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
31 The Parable of the Mustard Seed.[c] He proposed still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of plants and becomes a tree large enough for the birds to come and make nests in its branches.”[d]
33 The Parable of the Yeast.[e] And he offered them yet another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until it was completely leavened.”
34 The Use of Parables.[f] Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables. Indeed he never spoke to them except in parables.
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