Book of Common Prayer
Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm (A)of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have (B)brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 (C)Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 (D)Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not (E)revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to [a]folly.
9 Surely (F)His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
(G)That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
(H)Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 (I)Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
The Glories of the City of God
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.
87 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 (A)The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 (B)Glorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God! Selah
4 “I will make mention of [a]Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
6 The Lord will record,
When He (C)registers the peoples:
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
Thanksgiving to God for His Enduring Mercy
136 Oh, (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
(B)For His mercy endures forever.
2 Oh, give thanks to (C)the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:
4 To Him (D)who alone does great wonders,
For His mercy endures forever;
5 (E)To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
For His mercy endures forever;
6 (F)To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
For His mercy endures forever;
7 (G)To Him who made great lights,
For His mercy endures forever—
8 (H)The sun to rule by day,
For His mercy endures forever;
9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His mercy endures forever.
10 (I)To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures forever;
11 (J)And brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy endures forever;
12 (K)With a strong hand, and with [a]an outstretched arm,
For His mercy endures forever;
13 (L)To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures forever;
14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures forever;
15 (M)But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His mercy endures forever;
16 (N)To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His mercy endures forever;
17 (O)To Him who struck down great kings,
For His mercy endures forever;
18 (P)And slew famous kings,
For His mercy endures forever—
19 (Q)Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures forever;
20 (R)And Og king of Bashan,
For His mercy endures forever—
21 (S)And gave their land as a [b]heritage,
For His mercy endures forever;
22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever.
23 Who (T)remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures forever;
24 And (U)rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures forever;
25 (V)Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever.
26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.
14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the (A)ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and (B)the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the (C)Jordan overflows all its banks (D)during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away [a]at Adam, the city that is beside (E)Zaretan. So the waters that went down (F)into the Sea of the Arabah, (G)the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; (H)and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
The Memorial Stones
4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed (I)over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 (J)“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where (K)the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in (L)the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be (M)a sign among you (N)when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that (O)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for (P)a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
Walk in Love
5 Therefore(A) be imitators of God as dear (B)children. 2 And (C)walk in love, (D)as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God (E)for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all (F)uncleanness or (G)covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 (H)neither filthiness, nor (I)foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, (J)which are not fitting, but rather (K)giving of thanks. 5 For [a]this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any (L)inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be (M)partakers with them.
Walk in Light
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are (N)light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for (O)the fruit of the [b]Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 (P)finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have (Q)no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [c]expose them. 12 (R)For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But (S)all things that are [d]exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:
(T)“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Walk in Wisdom
15 (U)See then that you walk [e]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 (V)redeeming the time, (W)because the days are evil.
17 (X)Therefore do not be unwise, but (Y)understand (Z)what the will of the Lord is. 18 And (AA)do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another (AB)in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making (AC)melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 (AD)giving thanks always for all things to God the Father (AE)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, (A)who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, (B)but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 (C)I[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is (D)day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, (E)I am the light of the world.”
6 When He had said these things, (F)He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash (G)in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So (H)he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was [b]blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, [c]“He is like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, (I)“A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to [d]the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
True Vision and True Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had (A)found him, He said to him, “Do you (B)believe in (C)the Son of [a]God?”
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and (D)it is He who is talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he (E)worshiped Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.