Book of Common Prayer
The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David, [a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, (A)You are my God; I shall seek You [b]earnestly;
My soul (B)thirsts for You, my flesh [c]yearns for You,
In a (C)dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Thus I have (D)seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your (E)lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You (F)as long as I live;
I will (G)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is (H)satisfied as with [d]marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers (I)praises with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You (J)on my bed,
I meditate on You in the (K)night watches,
7 For (L)You have been my help,
And in the (M)shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul (N)clings [e]to You;
Your (O)right hand upholds me.
9 But those who (P)seek my [f]life to destroy it,
Will go into the [g](Q)depths of the earth.
10 [h]They will be [i](R)delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a [j](S)prey for foxes.
11 But the (T)king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who (U)swears by Him will glory,
For the (V)mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.
A Psalm.
98 O sing to the Lord a (A)new song,
For He has done (B)wonderful things,
His (C)right hand and His (D)holy arm have [a]gained the victory for Him.
2 (E)The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has (F)revealed His [b]righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has (G)remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(H)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His (B)holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And (C)forget none of His benefits;
3 Who (D)pardons all your iniquities,
Who (E)heals all your diseases;
4 Who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
Who (G)crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who (H)satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is (I)renewed like the eagle.
6 The Lord (J)performs [b]righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are (K)oppressed.
7 He (L)made known His ways to Moses,
His (M)acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is (N)compassionate and gracious,
(O)Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He (P)will not always strive with us,
Nor will He (Q)keep His anger forever.
10 He has (R)not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high (S)as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (T)removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just (U)as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him.
14 For (V)He Himself knows [e]our frame;
He (W)is mindful that we are but (X)dust.
15 As for man, his days are (Y)like grass;
As a (Z)flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the (AA)wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its (AB)place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the (AC)lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [f]fear Him,
And His [g]righteousness (AD)to children’s children,
18 To (AE)those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The Lord has established His (AF)throne in the heavens,
And His [h](AG)sovereignty rules over [i]all.
20 Bless the Lord, you (AH)His angels,
(AI)Mighty in strength, who (AJ)perform His word,
(AK)Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you (AL)His hosts,
You (AM)who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, (AN)all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
15 Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. 16 At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “(A)Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. 17 The city shall be (B)under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot [a]and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not [b]covet them and (C)take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. 19 (D)But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” 20 So the people shouted, and [c]priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the (E)wall fell down [d]flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight [e]ahead, and they took the city. 21 (F)They [f]utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “(G)Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” 23 So the young men who were spies went in and (H)brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel. 24 (I)They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the [g]house of the Lord. 25 However, (J)Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua [h]spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for (K)she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “(L)Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.” 27 So (M)the Lord was with Joshua, and his (N)fame was in all the land.
30 But on the next day, (A)wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he (B)released him and ordered the chief priests and all (C)the [a]Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.
Paul before the Council
23 Paul, looking intently at (D)the [b]Council, said, “(E)Brethren, (F)I have [c]lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.” 2 The high priest (G)Ananias commanded those standing beside him (H)to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, (I)you whitewashed wall! Do you (J)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” 4 But the bystanders said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘(K)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
6 But perceiving that one group were (L)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in (M)the [d]Council, “(N)Brethren, (O)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for (P)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For (Q)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there occurred a great uproar; and some of (R)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “(S)We find nothing wrong with this man; (T)suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 And as a great dissension was developing, the [e]commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into (U)the barracks.
11 But on (V)the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “(W)Take courage; for (X)as you have (Y)solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”
The Paralytic Healed
2 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And (A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 (B)And they *came, bringing to Him a (C)paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to [a]get to Him because of the crowd, they (D)removed the roof [b]above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the (E)paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, “[c]Son, (F)your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; (G)who can forgive sins [d]but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware [e]in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the (H)paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and (I)were glorifying God, saying, “(J)We have never seen anything like this.”
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