Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
Affliction in Light of Eternity
A prayer of an afflicted person who is weak and pours out his lament before the Lord.(A)
1 Lord, hear my prayer;
let my cry for help come before You.(B)
2 Do not hide Your face from me in my day of trouble.
Listen closely to me;
answer me quickly when I call.(C)
3 For my days vanish like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.(D)
4 My heart is afflicted, withered like grass;(E)
I even forget to eat my food.(F)
5 Because of the sound of my groaning,
my flesh sticks to my bones.(G)
6 I am like a desert owl,[a]
like an owl among the ruins.(H)
7 I stay awake;(I)
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
8 My enemies taunt me all day long;
they ridicule and curse me.(J)
9 I eat ashes like bread
and mingle my drinks with tears(K)
10 because of Your indignation and wrath;
for You have picked me up and thrown me aside.(L)
11 My days are like a lengthening shadow,
and I wither away like grass.(M)
12 But You, Lord, are enthroned forever;(N)
Your fame endures to all generations.(O)
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her—
the appointed time has come.(P)
14 For Your servants take delight in its stones
and favor its dust.(Q)
15 Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh,
and all the kings of the earth Your glory,(R)
16 for the Lord will rebuild Zion;
He will appear in His glory.(S)
17 He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.(T)
18 This will be written for a later generation,
and a newly created people will praise the Lord:(U)
19 He looked down from His holy heights—
the Lord gazed out from heaven to earth(V)—
20 to hear a prisoner’s groaning,
to set free those condemned to die,[b](W)
21 so that they might declare
the name of Yahweh in Zion
and His praise in Jerusalem,(X)
22 when peoples and kingdoms are assembled
to serve the Lord.(Y)
23 He has broken my[c] strength in midcourse;
He has shortened my days.(Z)
24 I say: “My God, do not take me
in the middle of my life![d]
Your years continue through all generations.(AA)
25 Long ago You established the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Your hands.(AB)
26 They will perish, but You will endure;
all of them will wear out like clothing.
You will change them like a garment,
and they will pass away.(AC)
27 But You are the same,
and Your years will never end.(AD)
28 Your servants’ children will dwell securely,
and their offspring will be established before You.”(AE)
BOOK V
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim
that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe(B)
3 and has gathered them from the lands—
from the east and the west,
from the north and the south.(C)
4 Some[a] wandered in the desolate wilderness,
finding no way to a city where they could live.(D)
5 They were hungry and thirsty;
their spirits failed[b] within them.(E)
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He rescued them from their distress.(F)
7 He led them by the right path
to go to a city where they could live.(G)
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(H)
9 For He has satisfied the thirsty
and filled the hungry with good things.(I)
10 Others[c] sat in darkness and gloom[d]—
prisoners in cruel chains(J)—
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the counsel of the Most High.(K)
12 He broke their spirits[e] with hard labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.(L)
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them from their distress.(M)
14 He brought them out of darkness and gloom[f]
and broke their chains apart.(N)
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(O)
16 For He has broken down the bronze gates
and cut through the iron bars.(P)
17 Fools suffered affliction
because of their rebellious ways and their sins.(Q)
18 They loathed all food
and came near the gates of death.(R)
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them from their distress.(S)
20 He sent His word and healed them;
He rescued them from the Pit.(T)
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(U)
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and announce His works with shouts of joy.(V)
23 Others[g] went to sea in ships,
conducting trade on the vast waters.(W)
24 They saw the Lord’s works,
His wonderful works in the deep.(X)
25 He spoke and raised a tempest
that stirred up the waves of the sea.[h](Y)
26 Rising up to the sky, sinking down to the depths,
their courage[i] melting away in anguish,(Z)
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men,
and all their skill was useless.(AA)
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He brought them out of their distress.(AB)
29 He stilled the storm to a murmur,
and the waves of the sea[j] were hushed.(AC)
30 They rejoiced when the waves[k] grew quiet.
Then He guided them to the harbor they longed for.(AD)
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love
and His wonderful works for all humanity.(AE)
32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people
and praise Him in the council of the elders.(AF)
17 “The Lord God says to you, My flock: I am going to judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and male goats.(A) 18 Isn’t it enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Or isn’t it enough that you drink the clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Yet My flock has to feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied.
20 “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over, 22 I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey for you. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will appoint over them a single shepherd, My servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.(B) 24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and My servant David(C) will be a prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken.
25 “I will make a covenant of peace(D) with them and eliminate dangerous animals(E) in the land, so that they may live securely(F) in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. 26 I will make them and the area around My hill(G) a blessing: I will send down showers in their season(H)—showers[a] of blessing. 27 The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. They will know that I am Yahweh when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslave them.(I) 28 They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild animals of the land will not consume them. They will live securely, and no one will frighten them. 29 I will establish for them a place renowned for its agriculture,[b] and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land. They will no longer endure the insults of the nations.(J) 30 Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people.”(K) This is the declaration of the Lord God. 31 “You are My flock, the human flock of My pasture, and I am your God.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.(L)
A Heavenly Priesthood
8 Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,(A) 2 a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.(B) 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts(C) and sacrifices; therefore it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those[a] offering the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 These serve as a copy and shadow(D) of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.(E)[b] 6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator(F) of a better covenant,(G) which has been legally enacted on better promises.(H)
A Superior Covenant
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. 8 But finding fault with His people,[c] He says:[d]
Look, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—
9 not like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by their hands
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
I disregarded them, says the Lord,
because they did not continue in My covenant.
10 But this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be My people.(I)
11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,[e]
and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know Me,
from the least to the greatest of them.(J)
12 For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing,
and I will never again remember their sins.[f](K)[g]
13 By saying, a new covenant, He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.(L)
Martha and Mary
38 While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha(A) welcomed Him into her home.[a] 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s[b] feet(B) and was listening to what He said.[c] 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care(C) that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”[d](D)
41 The Lord[e] answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,(E) 42 but one thing is necessary.(F) Mary has made the right choice,[f] and it will not be taken away from her.”
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