Book of Common Prayer
Remember His Holy Name
97 (A)Yahweh [a]reigns, let the (B)earth rejoice;
Let the many (C)coastlands be glad.
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him;
(E)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before Him
And (G)burns up His adversaries all around.
4 His (H)lightnings light up the world;
The earth sees and (I)trembles.
5 The mountains (J)melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh,
At the presence of the (K)Lord of all the earth.
6 The (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
And (M)all the peoples see His glory.
7 Let all those be ashamed who serve (N)graven images,
Who boast of (O)idols;
[b](P)Worship Him, all you [c]gods!
8 Zion [d]heard this and (Q)was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O Yahweh.
9 For You are Yahweh (R)Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far (S)above all [e]gods.
10 (T)Hate evil, you who love Yahweh,
Who (U)keeps the souls of His holy ones;
He (V)delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 (W)Light is sown for the righteous
And (X)gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be (Y)glad in Yahweh, you righteous ones,
And (Z)give thanks for the remembrance of [f]His holy name.
Holy Is Yahweh Our God
99 (A)Yahweh reigns, let the peoples tremble;
He (B)sits enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth quake!
2 Yahweh 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 [a]He.
4 [b]The strength of the King (G)loves [c]justice;
You have established [d](H)equity;
You have (I)done [e]justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 (J)Exalt Yahweh our God
And (K)worship at the footstool of His feet;
(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)would call upon Yahweh and He would answer them.
7 He (R)would speak to them in the pillar of cloud;
They (S)kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
8 O Yahweh 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 Yahweh our God
And worship at His holy mountain,
For holy is Yahweh our God.
Serve Yahweh with Gladness
A Psalm of [f]Thanksgiving.
God of Vengeance, Shine Forth
94 O Yahweh, God of [a](A)vengeance,
God of [b]vengeance, [c](B)shine forth!
2 (C)Be lifted up, O (D)Judge of the earth,
Render recompense (E)to the proud.
3 How long shall the wicked, O Yahweh,
How long shall the (F)wicked exult?
4 They pour forth words, they (G)speak arrogantly;
All workers of iniquity (H)vaunt themselves.
5 They (I)crush Your people, O Yahweh,
And (J)afflict Your inheritance.
6 They (K)slay the widow and the sojourner
And murder the orphans.
7 (L)They have said, “Yah does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob discern.”
8 Discern, you (M)senseless among the people;
And when will you have insight, (N)you fools?
9 He who (O)planted the ear, [d]does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, [e]does He not see?
10 He who [f](P)disciplines the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who (Q)teaches man knowledge?
11 Yahweh (R)knows the thoughts of man,
[g]That they are vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom (S)You discipline, O Yah,
And (T)whom You teach out of Your law;
13 That You may grant him (U)calm from the (V)days of calamity,
Until (W)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For (X)Yahweh will not abandon His people,
Nor will He (Y)forsake His inheritance.
15 For [h](Z)judgment will [i]again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart will [j]follow it.
16 Who will (AA)arise for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me (AB)against workers of iniquity?
17 If (AC)Yahweh 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 stumbled,”
Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, will hold me up.
19 When my anxious thoughts [k]multiply within me,
Your (AE)consolations delight my soul.
20 Can a [l](AF)throne of destruction be allied with You,
One (AG)which forms [m]trouble by statute?
21 They (AH)band themselves together against the [n]life of the righteous
And (AI)condemn [o]the innocent to death.
22 But Yahweh has been my (AJ)stronghold,
And my God the (AK)rock of my refuge.
23 He has (AL)brought back their [p]iniquity upon them
And will [q](AM)destroy them in their evil;
Yahweh our God will [r]destroy them.
Let Us Kneel Before Yahweh Our Maker
95 Oh come, let us (AN)sing for joy to Yahweh,
Let us make a loud shout to (AO)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us (AP)come before His presence (AQ)with [s]thanksgiving,
Let us make a loud shout to Him (AR)with songs of praise.
3 For Yahweh 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 [t]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 Yahweh our (AY)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (AZ)we are the people of His (BA)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(BB)Today, [u]if you hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at [v](BC)Meribah,
As in the day of [w](BD)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (BE)tried Me,
They tested Me, though they had seen My work.
10 For (BF)forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who wander in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 Therefore I (BG)swore in My anger,
They shall never enter into My (BH)rest.”
The Birth of Samson
13 Then the sons of Israel (A)again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so that Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2 And 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 Yahweh appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you [a]shall be with child and give birth to a son. 4 So now, be careful (D)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 (E)For behold, you [b]shall be with child 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 save Israel from the hand 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 And he said to me, ‘Behold, you [c]shall be with child and give birth to a son, so now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, and you shall not 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 Yahweh and said, “O Lord, please let (H)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may instruct us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And 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 husband, and she said to him, “Behold, (J)the man who came the other day to me 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 So Manoah said, “Now your words will come to pass. What shall be the judgment governing the boy and his work?” 13 So (L)the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “(M)Let the woman be careful in 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 keep all that I commanded.”
15 Then Manoah said to (O)the angel of Yahweh, “Please let us delay you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”
27 And when they had brought them, they stood them [a]before (A)the Sanhedrin. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We (B)strictly commanded you 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 and said, “(D)We must obey God rather than men. 30 (E)The God of our fathers (F)raised up Jesus, [c]whom you (G)put to death by hanging Him on a tree. 31 (H)This One God exalted [d]to His right hand as [e]a (I)Leader and a (J)Savior, to grant (K)repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are (L)witnesses [f]of these things, and (M)so is the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to those who obey Him.”
Gamaliel’s Counsel
33 But when they heard this, they became (N)furious 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 Sanhedrin 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. [g]But he was killed, and all who [h]were following him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of (S)the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all those who [i]were following him were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I also say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or [j]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 you may even be found (U)fighting against God.”
40 So they [k]followed his advice. And after calling the apostles in and (V)beating them, they commanded them not to [l]speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the (W)Sanhedrin, (X)rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame (Y)for the Name. 42 (Z)And every day, in the temple and [m]from house to house, they did not cease teaching and (AA)proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the [n]Christ.
John the Baptist’s Last Witness
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 And 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 debate between John’s disciples and 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 borne witness, 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)bears witness; and (Q)no one receives His witness. 33 He who has received His witness (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.”
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