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!
2 Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver and in gold.
3 He continued on his journey from the Negev and came to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he first made an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land was not able to support them both dwelling together because their possessions were so great. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelled in the land at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife, I ask you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you will go to the left, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 Lot lifted up his eyes, and looked at all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 11 Then Lot chose for himself the entire valley of the Jordan and journeyed east, and the two of them separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the valley and pitched his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against the Lord.
14 After Lot had departed from him, the Lord said to Abram, “Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever. 16 I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be numbered. 17 Arise, and walk throughout the land across its length and its width, for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar to the Lord there.
Paul Accepted by the Other Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took Titus with me. 2 I went up in response to a revelation and communicated to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. But privately I communicated to those who were of reputation, in case I might be running, or had run, in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised. 4 This happened because false brothers were secretly brought in, who sneaked in to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. 5 We did not yield to subjection to them, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
6 But of these who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality to anyone—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, as the gospel to the circumcised was to Peter. 8 For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, understood the grace that was given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only they requested that we should remember the poor, which I also was eager to do.
The Deaf and Mute Man Healed
31 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking. And they pleaded with Him to put His hand on him.
33 He took him aside from the crowd, and put His fingers into his ears, and spat and touched his tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke correctly.
36 He ordered them to tell no one. But the more He ordered them, the more they greatly proclaimed it. 37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.