Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
2 Let Israel now say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron [the priesthood] now say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
4 Let those now who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
5 Out of my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free and in a large place.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?(A)
7 The Lord is on my side and takes my part, He is among those who help me; therefore shall I see my desire established upon those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations (the surrounding tribes) compassed me about, but in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!
11 They compassed me about, yes, they surrounded me on every side; but in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!
12 They swarmed about me like bees, they blaze up and are extinguished like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I will cut them off!(B)
13 You [my adversary] thrust sorely at me that I might fall, but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my Strength and Song; and He has become my Salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly and achieves strength!
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly and achieves strength!
17 I shall not die but live, and shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me sorely, but He has not given me over to death.(C)
19 Open to me the [temple] gates of righteousness; I will enter through them, and I will confess and praise the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord; the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall enter through it.(D)
21 I will confess, praise, and give thanks to You, for You have heard and answered me; and You have become my Salvation and Deliverer.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is from the Lord and is His doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.(E)
24 This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, we beseech You, O Lord; send now prosperity, O Lord, we beseech You, and give to us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the Lord [you who come into His sanctuary under His guardianship].(F)
27 The Lord is God, Who has shown and given us light [He has illuminated us with grace, freedom, and joy]. Decorate the festival with leafy boughs and bind the sacrifices to be offered with thick cords [all over the priest’s court, right up] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will confess, praise, and give thanks to You; You are my God, I will extol You.
29 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.
Psalm 145
[A Psalm] of praise. Of David.
1 I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever [with grateful, affectionate praise].
2 Every day [with its new reasons] will I bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You]; yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable.(A)
4 One generation shall laud Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wondrous works I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your tremendous and terrible acts, and I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth [like a fountain] the fame of Your great and abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of Your rightness and justice.
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.
9 The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works [the entirety of things created].
10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your loving ones shall bless You [affectionately and gratefully shall Your saints confess and praise You]!
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men God’s mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who are falling and raises up all those who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait for You [looking, watching, and expecting] and You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with favor.
17 The Lord is [rigidly] righteous in all His ways and gracious and merciful in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) His holy name forever and ever.
20 [a]Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets;
21 She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?
23 If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [[b]Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you.(A)
24 Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it,(B)
25 And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic—
27 When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me.(C)
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord,(D)
30 Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.
32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them.(E)
33 But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.
11 Therefore, being conscious of fearing the Lord with respect and reverence, we seek to win people over [to persuade them]. But [a]what sort of persons we are is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood by God, and I hope that it is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood also by your consciences (your inborn discernment).
12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but we are providing you with an occasion and incentive to be [rightfully] proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who pride themselves on surface appearances [[b]on the virtues they only appear to have], although their heart is devoid of them.
13 For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit,
14 For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died;
15 And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.
16 Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh].
17 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!
18 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].
19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [[c]endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Him and said to Him, Teacher, we desire You to do for us whatever we ask of You.
36 And He replied to them, What do you desire Me to do for you?
37 And they said to Him, Grant that we may sit, one at Your right hand and one at [Your] left hand, in Your glory (Your majesty and splendor).
38 But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism [of affliction] with which I am baptized?
39 And they replied to Him, We are able. And Jesus told them, The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized,
40 But to sit at My right hand or at My left hand is not Mine to give; but [it will be given to those] for whom it is ordained and prepared.
41 And when the other ten [apostles] heard it, they began to be indignant with James and John.
42 But Jesus called them to [Him] and said to them, You know that those who are recognized as governing and are supposed to rule the Gentiles (the nations) lord it over them [ruling with absolute power, holding them in subjection], and their great men exercise authority and dominion over them.
43 But this is not to be so among you; instead, whoever desires to be great among you must be your servant,
44 And whoever wishes to be most important and first in rank among you must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to have service rendered to Him, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for ([a]instead of) many.
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