Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of the Lord.
93 (A)The Lord [a]reigns, He is (B)clothed with majesty;
The Lord has (C)clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the (D)world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
2 Your (E)throne is established from of old;
You (F)are from everlasting.
3 The (G)floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice,
The floods lift up their pounding waves.
4 More than the sounds of many waters,
Than the mighty breakers of the sea,
The Lord (H)on high is mighty.
5 Your (I)testimonies are fully confirmed;
(J)Holiness befits Your house,
O Lord, [b]forevermore.
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 (A)Sing to the Lord a (B)new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
(C)Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of (D)His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (E)great is the Lord and (F)greatly to be praised;
He is to be (G)feared (H)above all gods.
5 For (I)all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But (J)the Lord made the heavens.
6 (K)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 [b]Ascribe to the Lord, O (L)families of the peoples,
[c](M)Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [d]Ascribe to the Lord the (N)glory of His name;
Bring an [e](O)offering and come into His courts.
9 (P)Worship the Lord in [f]holy attire;
(Q)Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “(R)The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the (S)world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will (T)judge the peoples with [g]equity.”
11 Let the (U)heavens be glad, and let the (V)earth rejoice;
Let (W)the sea [h]roar, and [i]all it contains;
12 Let the (X)field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the (Y)trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, (Z)for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(AA)He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
The Lord, a Provider and Deliverer.
A Psalm of David when he [a]feigned madness before [b]Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.
34 I will (A)bless the Lord at all times;
His (B)praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will (C)make its boast in the Lord;
The (D)humble will hear it and rejoice.
3 O (E)magnify the Lord with me,
And let us (F)exalt His name together.
4 I (G)sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And (H)delivered me from all my fears.
5 They (I)looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will (J)never be ashamed.
6 This [c]poor man cried, and (K)the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The (L)angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
8 O (M)taste and see that the Lord is good;
How (N)blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 O fear the Lord, you (O)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is (P)no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall (Q)not be in want of any good thing.
11 (R)Come, you children, listen to me;
(S)I will teach you (T)the fear of the Lord.
12 (U)Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may (V)see good?
13 Keep (W)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking (X)deceit.
14 (Y)Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and (Z)pursue it.
15 The (AA)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The (AB)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (AC)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (AD)cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord (AE)is near to the (AF)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [d](AG)crushed in spirit.
19 (AH)Many are the (AI)afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord (AJ)delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
(AK)Not one of them is broken.
21 (AL)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (AM)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who (AN)take refuge in Him will be [f]condemned.
Israel Oppressed by Midian
6 Then the sons of Israel (A)did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of (B)Midian seven years. 2 The [a]power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves (C)the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and [b]go against them. 4 So they would camp against them and (D)destroy the produce of the earth [c]as far as Gaza, and (E)leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in (F)like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it. 6 So Israel was brought (G)very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord.
7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and (H)he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of [d]slavery. 9 I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, 10 and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you (I)shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not [e]obeyed Me.”’”
Gideon Is Visited
11 Then (J)the angel of the Lord came and sat under the [f]oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the (K)Abiezrite as his son (L)Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But (M)now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord [g]looked at him and said, “(N)Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 15 (O)He said to Him, “O Lord, [h]how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in (P)Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 (Q)But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall [i]defeat Midian as one man.” 17 So [j]Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me (R)a sign that it is You who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”
19 Then Gideon went in and (S)prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an [k]ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket [l]and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the [m]oak and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and (T)fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord [n]vanished from his sight. 22 (U)When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, [o]he said, “Alas, O Lord [p]God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it [q]The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still (V)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
6 Now this I say, (A)he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows [a]bountifully will also reap [b]bountifully. 7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not (B)grudgingly or under compulsion, for (C)God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And (D)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; 9 as it is written,
10 Now He who supplies (F)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and (G)increase the harvest of your righteousness; 11 you will be (H)enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing (I)thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying (J)the needs of the [d]saints, but is also overflowing (K)through many thanksgivings to God. 13 Because of the proof given by this (L)ministry, they will (M)glorify God for your obedience to your (N)confession of the (O)gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your [e]contribution to them and to all, 14 while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 15 (P)Thanks be to God for His indescribable (Q)gift!
20 And He *came [a](A)home, and the (B)crowd *gathered again, (C)to such an extent that they could not even eat [b]a meal. 21 When (D)His own [c]people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “(E)He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down (F)from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by [d](G)Beelzebul,” and “(H)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 (I)And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in (J)parables, “How can (K)Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If (L)Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but [e]he is finished! 27 (M)But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
28 “(N)Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but (O)whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.