Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 138
A Thankful Heart
Davidic.
1 I will give You thanks with all my heart;(A)
I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings.[a](B)
2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple
and give thanks to Your name
for Your constant love and truth.
You have exalted Your name
and Your promise above everything else.(C)
3 On the day I called, You answered me;
You increased strength within me.[b](D)
4 All the kings on earth will give You thanks, Lord,
when they hear what You have promised.[c](E)
5 They will sing of the Lord’s ways,
for the Lord’s glory is great.(F)
6 Though the Lord is exalted,
He takes note of the humble;
but He knows the haughty from a distance.(G)
7 If I walk into the thick of danger,
You will preserve my life
from the anger of my enemies.(H)
You will extend Your hand;
Your right hand will save me.(I)
8 The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.(J)
Lord, Your love is eternal;
do not abandon the work of Your hands.(K)
Psalm 139
The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, You have searched me and known me.(L)
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.(M)
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.(N)
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.(O)
5 You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.(P)
6 This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.(Q)
7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?(R)
8 If I go up to heaven, You are there;(S)
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.(T)
9 If I live at the eastern horizon
or settle at the western limits,[d]
10 even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold on to me.(U)
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”(V)—
12 even the darkness is not dark to You.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to You.(W)
13 For it was You who created my inward parts;[e]
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.(X)
14 I will praise You
because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.[f][g]
Your works are wonderful,
and I know this very well.(Y)
15 My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.(Z)
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.(AA)
17 God, how difficult[h] Your thoughts are
for me to comprehend;
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;(AB)
when I wake up,[i] I am still with You.(AC)
19 God, if only You would kill the wicked—
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me(AD)—
20 who invoke You deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by You falsely.(AE)
21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate You,
and detest those who rebel against You?
22 I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.(AF)
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.(AG)
Psalm 147
God Restores Jerusalem
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.(A)
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;(B)
He gathers Israel’s exiled people.(C)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.(D)
4 He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.(E)
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
His understanding is infinite.[a](F)
6 The Lord helps the afflicted
but brings the wicked to the ground.(G)
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
play the lyre to our God,(H)
8 who covers the sky with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
and causes grass to grow on the hills.(I)
9 He provides the animals with their food,
and the young ravens, what they cry for.(J)
10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
He does not value the power[b] of a man.(K)
11 The Lord values those who fear Him,
those who put their hope in His faithful love.(L)
12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!(M)
13 For He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your children within you.(N)
14 He endows your territory with prosperity;[c](O)
He satisfies you with the finest wheat.(P)
The Lord and His Sheep
23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!”(A) This is the Lord’s declaration. 2 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them.(B) I will attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 3 “I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.(C) 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them.(D) They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any be missing.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Righteous Branch of David
5 “The days are coming”(E)—this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David.(F)
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.(G)
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.(H)
This is what He will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness.(I)
7 “The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’(J) 8 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I[a] had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”(K)
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,(A) based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.(B) 9 For the entire fullness(C) of God’s nature[a] dwells bodily[b] in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by Him, who is the head(D) over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,(E) in the circumcision of the Messiah.[c](F) 12 Having been buried with Him(G) in baptism, you were also raised with Him(H) through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.(I) 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.(J) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.[d](K)
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(L) you in regard to food and drink(M) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(N) or a Sabbath day.[e] 17 These are a shadow(O) of what was to come;(P) the substance is[f] the Messiah.(Q) 18 Let no one disqualify you,[g](R) insisting on ascetic practices(S) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated(T) without cause by his unspiritual[h] mind. 19 He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(U) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.
20 If you died with the Messiah(V) to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men. 23 Although these have a reputation of wisdom(W) by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[i](X)
The Good Shepherd
7 So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am(A) the door of the sheep.(B) 8 All who came before Me[a] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal(C) and to kill and to destroy.(D) I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
11 “I am the good shepherd.(E) The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.(F) 12 The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them[b] and runs away when he sees a wolf(G) coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, 15 as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father.(H) I lay down My life(I) for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep(J) that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.(K) 17 This is why the Father loves Me,(L) because I am laying down My life(M) so I may take it up again.
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