Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Power and Dominion.
97 (A)The Lord [a]reigns, let the (B)earth rejoice;
Let the many [b](C)islands be glad.
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
(E)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before Him
And (G)burns up His adversaries round about.
4 His (H)lightnings lit up the world;
The earth saw and (I)trembled.
5 The mountains (J)melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the (K)Lord of the whole earth.
6 The (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
And (M)all the peoples have seen His glory.
7 Let all those be ashamed who serve (N)graven images,
Who boast themselves of (O)idols;
[c](P)Worship Him, all you [d]gods.
8 Zion [e]heard this and (Q)was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You are the Lord (R)Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far (S)above all [f]gods.
10 (T)Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who (U)preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He (V)delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 (W)Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And (X)gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be (Y)glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And (Z)give thanks [g]to His holy name.
Praise to the Lord for His Fidelity to Israel.
99 (A)The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble;
He [a](B)is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
2 The Lord [b]is (C)great in Zion,
And He is (D)exalted above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your (E)great and awesome name;
(F)Holy is [c]He.
4 The [d]strength of the King (G)loves [e]justice;
You have established [f](H)equity;
You have (I)executed [g]justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 [h](J)Exalt the Lord our God
And (K)worship at His footstool;
(L)Holy is He.
6 (M)Moses and Aaron were among His (N)priests,
And (O)Samuel was among those who (P)called on His name;
They (Q)called upon the Lord and He answered them.
7 He (R)spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They (S)kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
8 O Lord our God, You (T)answered them;
You were a (U)forgiving God to them,
And yet an (V)avenger of their evil deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill,
For holy is the Lord our God.
All Men Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm for [i]Thanksgiving.
The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.
94 O Lord, God of [a](A)vengeance,
God of [b]vengeance, [c](B)shine forth!
2 (C)Rise up, O (D)Judge of the earth,
Render recompense (E)to the proud.
3 How long shall the wicked, O Lord,
How long shall the (F)wicked exult?
4 They pour forth words, they (G)speak arrogantly;
All who do wickedness (H)vaunt themselves.
5 They (I)crush Your people, O Lord,
And (J)afflict Your heritage.
6 They (K)slay the widow and the [d]stranger
And murder the orphans.
7 (L)They have said, “[e]The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”
8 Pay heed, you (M)senseless among the people;
And when will you understand, (N)stupid ones?
9 He who (O)planted the ear, [f]does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, [g]does He not see?
10 He who [h](P)chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who (Q)teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord (R)knows the thoughts of man,
[i]That they are a mere breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom (S)You chasten, O [j]Lord,
And (T)whom You teach out of Your law;
13 That You may grant him (U)relief from the (V)days of adversity,
Until (W)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For (X)the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He (Y)forsake His inheritance.
15 For [k](Z)judgment [l]will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart [m]will follow it.
16 Who will (AA)stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me (AB)against those who do wickedness?
17 If (AC)the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
18 If I should say, “(AD)My foot has slipped,”
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
19 When my anxious thoughts [n]multiply within me,
Your (AE)consolations delight my soul.
20 Can a [o](AF)throne of destruction be allied with You,
One (AG)which devises [p]mischief by decree?
21 They (AH)band themselves together against the [q]life of the righteous
And (AI)condemn [r]the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has been my (AJ)stronghold,
And my God the (AK)rock of my refuge.
23 He has (AL)brought back their wickedness upon them
And will [s](AM)destroy them in their evil;
The Lord our God will [t]destroy them.
Praise to the Lord, and Warning against Unbelief.
95 O come, let us (AN)sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to (AO)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us (AP)come before His presence (AQ)with [u]thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him (AR)with [v]psalms.
3 For the Lord is a (AS)great God
And a great King (AT)above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the (AU)depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
5 [w]The sea is His, for it was He (AV)who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us (AW)worship and bow down,
Let us (AX)kneel before the Lord our (AY)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (AZ)we are the people of His [x](BA)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(BB)Today, [y]if you would hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at [z](BC)Meribah,
As in the day of [aa](BD)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (BE)tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
10 “For (BF)forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 “Therefore I (BG)swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My (BH)rest.”
Philistines Oppress Again
13 Now the sons of Israel (A)again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.
2 There was a certain man of (B)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3 (C)Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 Now therefore, be careful (D)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 (E)For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a (F)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “(G)A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let (H)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 God listened to the voice of Manoah; and (I)the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her [a]husband, “Behold, (J)the man who [b]came the other day has appeared to me.” 11 Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you (K)the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” 13 So (L)the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “(M)Let the woman pay attention [c]to all that I said. 14 She should not eat anything that comes from the (N)vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”
15 Then Manoah said to (O)the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”
27 When they had brought them, they stood them [a]before (A)the Council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you (B)strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and [b]yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and (C)intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “(D)We must obey God rather than men. 30 (E)The God of our fathers (F)raised up Jesus, [c]whom you had (G)put to death by hanging Him on a [d]cross. 31 (H)He is the one whom God exalted [e]to His right hand as a [f](I)Prince and a (J)Savior, to grant (K)repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are (L)witnesses [g]of these things; and (M)so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Gamaliel’s Counsel
33 But when they heard this, they were (N)cut [h]to the quick and intended to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee named (O)Gamaliel, a (P)teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in (Q)the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, (R)claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. [i]But he was killed, and all who [j]followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of (S)the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who [k]followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or [l]action (T)is of men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found (U)fighting against God.”
40 They [m]took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they (V)flogged them and ordered them not to [n]speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the [o](W)Council, (X)rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame (Y)for His name. 42 (Z)And every day, in the temple and [p]from house to house, they [q]kept right on teaching and [r](AA)preaching Jesus as the [s]Christ.
John’s Last Testimony
22 After these things Jesus and His (A)disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and (B)baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for (C)John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about (D)purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “(E)Rabbi, He who was with you (F)beyond the Jordan, to whom you (G)have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “(H)A man can receive nothing unless it (I)has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves [a]are my witnesses that I said, ‘(J)I am not the [b]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is (K)the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this (L)joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “(M)He who comes from above is above all, (N)he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. (O)He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He (P)testifies; and (Q)no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony (R)has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For He whom God has (S)sent speaks the words of God; [c](T)for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 (U)The Father loves the Son and (V)has given all things into His hand. 36 He who (W)believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who (X)does not [d]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.