Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, You are my God;
early will I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You,
my flesh faints for You,
in a dry and thirsty land
with no water.
2 I have seen You in the sanctuary,
to see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips will praise You.
4 Thus will I bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You on my bed,
and meditate on You in the night watches,
7 because You have been my help,
therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul clings hard to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my soul to destroy it
will go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They will fall by the sword;
they will be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
everyone who swears by Him will glory,
because the mouth of liars will be stopped.
Psalm 98
A Psalm.
1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song,
for He has done marvelous deeds!
His right hand and His holy arm
have accomplished deliverance.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy
and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the deliverance of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth;
break out in loud songs, and sing praises.
5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of melody,
6 with trumpets and sound of the horn;
make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,
the world and those who live in it;
8 let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills be joyful together
9 before the Lord,
for He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He will judge the world,
and the peoples with justice.
Psalm 103
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquities,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 who satisfies your mouth with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord does righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always accuse,
neither will He keep his anger forever.
10 He does not treat us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord gives compassion to those who fear Him.
14 For He knows how we are formed;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass;
as a flower of the field he flourishes.
16 For the hot wind passes over it, and it is gone;
the place where it was is not known.
17 But the mercy of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting
upon those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep His covenant,
and to those who remember to do His commandments.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
and His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels,
who are mighty, and do His commands,
and obey the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts;
you servants who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
in all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Love and Obey
11 You must love the Lord your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments always. 2 Know this day that I am not speaking with your children who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm, 3 and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land, 4 and what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea to flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord utterly destroyed them, 5 and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place, 6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and everything that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel. 7 But your eyes have seen all the great deeds of the Lord which He did.
8 Therefore you must keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you are going to possess; 9 and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land which you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt from where you came, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot like a vegetable garden, 11 but the land, which you are entering to possess, is a land of hills and valleys and drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud and a rainbow on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he cried out, seven thunders sounded their voices. 4 And when the seven thunders sounded their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up those things which the seven thunders said, and do not write them.”
5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth lifted up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in them, and the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be no more delay. 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as He has declared to His servants the prophets.
8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the earth.”
9 So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little scroll.” He said to me, “Take it and eat it. ‘It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’[a]” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. And with joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The Parable of the Net
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, they drew it to shore, sat down, and gathered the good into baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Treasures New and Old
51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all of these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who is discipled for the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is master of the household who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth(A)
53 When Jesus finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 When He came to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is He not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
58 And He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.