Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66[a]
Praise of God, Israel’s Deliverer
1 For the leader. A song; a psalm.
I
2 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
sing of his glorious name;
give him glorious praise.(A)
3 Say to God: “How awesome your deeds!
Before your great strength your enemies cringe.
4 All the earth falls in worship before you;(B)
they sing of you, sing of your name!”
Selah
II
5 [b]Come and see the works of God,
awesome in deeds before the children of Adam.
6 He changed the sea to dry land;
through the river they passed on foot.(C)
There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
His eyes are fixed upon the nations.
Let no rebel rise to challenge!
Selah
8 Bless our God, you peoples;
loudly sound his praise,
9 Who has kept us alive
and not allowed our feet to slip.(D)
10 You tested us, O God,
tried us as silver tried by fire.(E)
11 You led us into a snare;
you bound us at the waist as captives.
12 [c]You let captors set foot on our neck;
we went through fire and water;
then you led us out to freedom.(F)
III
13 I will bring burnt offerings[d] to your house;
to you I will fulfill my vows,
14 Which my lips pronounced
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fatlings I will offer you
and sacrificial smoke of rams;
I will sacrifice oxen and goats.
Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
while I recount what has been done for me.
17 I called to him with my mouth;
praise was upon my tongue.
18 Had I cherished evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard.
19 But God did hear
and listened to my voice in prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who did not reject my prayer
and refuse his mercy.
The Bronze Serpent. 4 From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people’s patience was worn out by the journey; 5 so the people complained(A) against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”[a]
6 So the Lord sent among the people seraph[b] serpents, which bit(B) the people so that many of the Israelites died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, 8 and the Lord said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover.[c] 9 Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent[d] and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.(C)
11 Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.(A) 12 If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?(B) 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.(C) 14 And just as Moses lifted up[a] the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,(D) 15 [b]so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave[c] his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.(E) 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn[d] the world, but that the world might be saved through him.(F)
Psalm 118[a]
Hymn of Thanksgiving
I
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,(A)
his mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
his mercy endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
his mercy endures forever.
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,(B)
his mercy endures forever.
II
5 In danger I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is with me; I am not afraid;
what can mortals do against me?(C)
7 The Lord is with me as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on my foes.
8 Better to take refuge in the Lord(D)
than to put one’s trust in mortals.
9 Better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put one’s trust in princes.
III
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side;
in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees;(E)
they burned up like fire among thorns;
in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
13 I was hard pressed and falling,
but the Lord came to my help.(F)
14 The Lord, my strength and might,
has become my savior.(G)
IV
15 The joyful shout of deliverance
is heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand works valiantly;
16 the Lord’s right hand is raised;
the Lord’s right hand works valiantly.”
17 I shall not die but live
and declare the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord chastised me harshly,
but did not hand me over to death.
V
19 Open the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and thank the Lord.(H)
20 This is the Lord’s own gate,
through it the righteous enter.
21 I thank you for you answered me;
you have been my savior.
22 [b]The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(I)
23 By the Lord has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice in it and be glad.
25 Lord, grant salvation![c]
Lord, grant good fortune!
VI
26 Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.(J)
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God and has enlightened us.
Join in procession with leafy branches
up to the horns of the altar.
VII
28 You are my God, I give you thanks;
my God, I offer you praise.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
his mercy endures forever.
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered[a] for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit.(A) 19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,[b] 20 who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.(B) 21 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God[c] for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,(C) 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.(D)
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