Book of Common Prayer
A Davidic Psalm.
A Song for the King of Glory
24 The earth and everything in it exists for the Lord—
the world and those who live in it.
2 Indeed, he founded it upon the seas,
he established it upon deep waters.[a]
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?[b]
Who may stand in his Holy Place?
4 The one who has innocent hands and a pure heart;
the person who does not delight in what is false
and does not swear an oath deceitfully.
5 This person[c] will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation that seeks him.
Those who seek your face
are the true seed of[d] Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads,[e] gates!
Be lifted up, ancient doors,
so the King of Glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads,[f] gates!
Be lifted up, ancient doors,
so the King of Glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of Glory?
The Lord of the heavenly armies—
He is the King of Glory.
A Davidic Psalm.
Praise to the Majestic Lord
29 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings;
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord wearing holy attire.
3 The voice of the Lord was heard[a] above the waters;
the God of glory thundered;
the Lord was heard[b] over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord snaps the cedars;[c]
the Lord snaps the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them stagger like a calf,
even Lebanon and Sirion[d] like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord shoots out flashes of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the voice of the Lord shakes[e] the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord causes deer to give birth,
and strips the forest bare.
In his Temple all of them shout, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sat enthroned over the flood,
and the Lord sits as king forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to his people;
the Lord will bless his people with peace.
To the Director: On a stringed instrument.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
Divine Glory and Human Dignity
8 Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is your name in all the earth!
You set your glory above the heavens!
2 Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
you have established strength[b]
on account of your adversaries,
in order to silence the enemy and vengeful foe.
3 When I look at the heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you established—
4 what is man that you take notice of him,
or the son of man[c] that you pay attention to him?
5 You made him a little less than divine,[d]
but you crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You gave him dominion over the work of your hands,
you put all things under his feet:
7 Sheep and cattle—all of them,
wild creatures of the field,
8 birds in the sky,
fish in the sea—
whatever moves through the currents of the oceans.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is your name in all the earth!
To the Director: On the Gittith.
A Psalm by the descendants of Korah.
Longing for God
84 How lovely are your dwelling places,
Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
2 I desire and long
for the Temple[a] courts of the Lord.
My heart and body[b] sing for joy
to the living God.[c]
3 Even the sparrow found a house for herself
and the swallow a nest
to lay[d] her young at your altar,
Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
my king and God.
4 How happy are those who live in your Temple,
for they can praise you continuously.
5 How happy are those whose strength is in you,
whose heart is on your path.
6 They will pass through the Baca Valley
where he will prepare a spring for them;
even the early rain will cover it with blessings.
7 They will walk from strength to strength;
each will appear before God in Zion.
8 Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, hear my prayer!
Listen, God of Jacob!
9 God, look at our shield,
and show favor to your anointed,
10 for a day in your Temple[e] courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather stand
at the entrance of God’s house
than live in the tent of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord grants grace and favor;
the Lord will not withhold any good thing
from those who walk blamelessly.
12 Lord of Heavenly Armies,
how happy are those who trust in you.
Ordination of the Priesthood(A)
8 The Lord told Moses, 2 “Take Aaron, his sons with him, the clothing, the anointing oil, the bull for sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread 3 and then assemble the entire congregation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.”
4 So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded him. He assembled the congregation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 5 Moses told the congregation, “This is what the Lord commanded to be done.”
6 Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7 Then he clothed Aaron with the tunic, girded him with the band[a] for priests, clothed him with the robe, placed the ephod on him, girded him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and bound it on him. 8 He set the breastplate on him, placed the Urim and Thummim[b] on top of the breastplate, 9 then he set the turban on his head. On the turban at the front he set the golden plate, the sacred crown that the Lord had commanded. 10 After this, Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tent, consecrating everything that was in it. 11 He sprinkled some on the altar seven times, and then anointed the altar, all its vessels, the basin, and its base to consecrate them. 12 After doing this, he poured the oil of anointing on Aaron’s head to anoint and consecrate him. 13 Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons, clothed them with the tunics, girded them with the bands, and bound turbans on them, just as the Lord had commanded him.[c]
Moses’ Oil of Anointing
30 Moses took some anointing oil and blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his clothes, on his sons, and on their clothes, consecrating Aaron, his clothes, his sons, and their clothes. 31 Then he told Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. You may eat it there, along with the bread that is in the basket for consecration, just as I’ve commanded when I told him, ‘Aaron and his sons may eat of it, 32 but the leftover meat and bread is to be incinerated.’ 33 Furthermore, you are not to go out past the entrance to the Tent of Meeting until the days of your ordination have been completed, since it will take seven days to ordain you. 34 What has been done today[a] has been commanded by the Lord to make atonement for you. 35 Stay seven days and nights at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and attend to the service of the Lord, so that you won’t die, because this is what I’ve commanded.”
36 So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had commanded through[b] Moses.
We Must Look Off to Jesus
12 Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles[a] us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us, 2 fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of[b] the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Father Disciplines Us
3 Think about the one who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you may not become tired and give up. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your[c] blood. 5 You have forgotten the encouragement that is addressed to you as sons:
“My son, do not think lightly of the Lord’s[d] discipline
or give up when you are corrected by him.
6 For the Lord[e] disciplines the one he loves,
and he punishes[f] every son he accepts.”[g]
7 What you endure disciplines you: God is treating you as sons. Is there a son whom his father does not discipline? 8 Now if you are without any discipline, in which all sons share, then you are illegitimate and not God’s[h] sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. We should submit even more to the Father of our spirits and live, shouldn’t we? 10 For a short time they disciplined us as they thought best, but God[i] does it for our good, so that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.
Live as God’s People
12 Therefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees, 13 and straighten the paths of your life,[j] so that your lameness may not become worse, but instead may be healed.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth(A)
16 Then Jesus[a] came to Nazareth, where he had been raised. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. When he stood up to read, 17 the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord[b] is upon me;
he has anointed me to tell
the good news to the poor.
He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set oppressed people free,
19 and to announce the year of the Lord’s[c] favor.”[d]
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. While the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him, 21 he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled, as you’ve heard it read aloud.”[e]
22 All the people began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?”
23 So he told them, “You will probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself! Do everything here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.’”
24 He added, “I tell all of you[f] with certainty, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown. 25 I’m telling you the truth—there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain[g] for three years and six months and there was a severe famine everywhere in the land. 26 Yet Elijah wasn’t sent to a single one of those widows except to one at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time, yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, forced Jesus[h] out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off. 30 But he walked right through the middle of them and went away.
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