Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118
Thanksgiving for Victory
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(B)
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(C)
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(D)
5 I called to the Lord in distress;(E)
the Lord answered me
and put me in a spacious place.[a](F)
6 The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?(G)
7 The Lord is my helper,
Therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.(H)
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.(I)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in nobles.(J)
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(K)
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(L)
12 They surrounded me like bees;(M)
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(N)
13 You[b] pushed me[c] hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.(O)
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.(P)
15 There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!(Q)
16 The Lord’s right hand is raised.
The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!”(R)
17 I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the Lord has done.(S)
18 The Lord disciplined me severely
but did not give me over to death.(T)
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.(U)
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous will enter through it.(V)
21 I will give thanks to You
because You have answered me
and have become my salvation.(W)
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(X)
23 This came from the Lord;
it is wonderful in our eyes.(Y)
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.(Z)
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, please grant us success!(AA)
26 He who comes in the name
of the Lord is blessed.(AB)
From the house of the Lord we bless you.(AC)
27 The Lord is God and has given us light.
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.(AD)
28 You are my God, and I will give You thanks.
You are my God; I will exalt You.(AE)
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(AF)
Psalm 145
Praising God’s Greatness
A Davidic hymn.
1 I[a] exalt You, my God the King,
and praise Your name forever and ever.(A)
2 I will praise You every day;
I will honor Your name forever and ever.(B)
3 Yahweh is great and is highly praised;(C)
His greatness is unsearchable.(D)
4 One generation will declare Your works to the next
and will proclaim Your mighty acts.(E)
5 I[b] will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty
and[c] Your wonderful works.(F)
6 They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.[d](G)
7 They will give a testimony of Your great goodness
and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.(H)
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in faithful love.(I)
9 The Lord is good to everyone;(J)
His compassion rests on all He has made.(K)
10 All You have made will thank You, Lord;
the[e] godly will praise You.(L)
11 They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and will declare Your might,(M)
12 informing all people of Your mighty acts
and of the glorious splendor of Your[f] kingdom.(N)
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
Your rule is for all generations.(O)
The Lord is faithful in all His words
and gracious in all His actions.[g](P)
14 The Lord helps all who fall;
He raises up all who are oppressed.[h](Q)
15 All eyes look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.(R)
16 You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.(S)
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and gracious in all His acts.(T)
18 The Lord is near all who call out to Him,
all who call out to Him with integrity.(U)
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry for help and saves them.(V)
20 The Lord guards all those who love Him,
but He destroys all the wicked.(W)
21 My mouth will declare Yahweh’s praise;
let every living thing
praise His holy name forever and ever.(X)
Death and Resurrection
4 I have been Yahweh your God(A)
ever since[a] the land of Egypt;
you know no God but Me,(B)
and no Savior exists besides Me.(C)
5 I knew[b] you in the wilderness,(D)
in the land of drought.
6 When they had pasture,
they became satisfied;(E)
they were satisfied,
and their hearts became proud.(F)
Therefore they forgot Me.(G)
7 So I will be like a lion(H) to them;
I will lurk like a leopard(I) on the path.
8 I will attack them
like a bear robbed of her cubs
and tear open the rib cage over their hearts.
I will devour them there like a lioness,(J)
like a wild beast that would rip them open.
9 I will destroy you, Israel;
you have no help but Me.[c](K)
10 Where now is your king,[d](L)
that he may save you in all your cities,
and the[e] rulers[f](M) you demanded, saying,
“Give me a king and leaders”?
11 I give you a king in My anger(N)
and take away a king in My wrath.(O)
12 Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.(P)
13 Labor pains come on him.(Q)
He is not a wise son;(R)
when the time comes,
he will not be born.[g](S)
Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature,(A) but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers(B) of this age, who are coming to nothing.(C) 7 On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined(D) before the ages for our glory.(E) 8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(F) 9 But as it is written:
What eye did not see and ear did not hear,
and what never entered the human mind—
God prepared this for those who love Him.(G)[a]
10 Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything,(H) even the depths of God.(I) 11 For who among men knows the thoughts[b] of a man except the spirit(J) of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows(K) the thoughts[c] of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words(L) taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.[d] 14 But the unbeliever[e] does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated[f] spiritually. 15 The spiritual person, however, can evaluate[g] everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated[h] by anyone. 16 For
But we have the mind of Christ.(N)
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 At that time(A) Herod the tetrarch(B) heard the report about Jesus. 2 “This is John the Baptist!” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why supernatural powers are at work in him.”(C)
3 For Herod had arrested John, chained[a] him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,(D) 4 since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful(E) for you to have her!” 5 Though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, since they regarded him as a prophet.(F)
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them[b] and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 And prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter!” 9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. 10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came, removed the corpse,[c] buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
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