Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.
118 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, for (B)He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Oh let (C)Israel say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
3 Oh let the (D)house of Aaron say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
4 Oh let those (E)who [a]fear the Lord say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
5 From my (F)distress I called upon [b]the Lord;
[c]The Lord answered me and (G)set me in a large place.
6 The Lord is (H)for me; I will (I)not fear;
(J)What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is for me (K)among those who help me;
Therefore I will (L)look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8 It is (M)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.
9 It is (N)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in princes.
10 All nations (O)surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely (P)cut them off.
11 They (Q)surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
12 They surrounded me (R)like bees;
They were extinguished as a (S)fire of thorns;
In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.
13 You (T)pushed me violently so that I [d]was falling,
But the Lord (U)helped me.
14 [e](V)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become (W)my salvation.
15 The sound of (X)joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The (Y)right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16 The (Z)right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17 I (AA)will not die, but live,
And (AB)tell of the works of [f]the Lord.
18 [g]The Lord has (AC)disciplined me severely,
But He has (AD)not given me over to death.
19 (AE)Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to [h]the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
The (AF)righteous will enter through it.
21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have (AG)answered me,
And You have (AH)become my salvation.
22 The (AI)stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23 This is [i]the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us (AJ)rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, (AK)do save, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, do send (AL)prosperity!
26 (AM)Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have (AN)blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 (AO)The Lord is God, and He has given us (AP)light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords [j]to the (AQ)horns of the altar.
28 (AR)You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, (AS)I extol You.
29 (AT)Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)extol You, (B)my God, O King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They shall [c]eagerly utter the memory of Your (L)abundant goodness
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
9 The Lord is (O)good to all,
And His (P)mercies are over all His works.
10 (Q)All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your (R)godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the (S)glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
12 To (T)make known to the sons of men [d]Your mighty acts
And the (U)glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is [f]an (V)everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord (W)sustains all who fall
And (X)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all [g]look to You,
And You (Y)give them their food in due time.
16 You (Z)open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (AA)righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18 The Lord is (AB)near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (AC)in truth.
19 He will (AD)fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also (AE)hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord (AF)keeps all who love Him,
But all the (AG)wicked He will destroy.
21 My (AH)mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And (AI)all flesh will (AJ)bless His holy name forever and ever.
4 Yet I have been the (A)Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (B)any god except Me,
For there is no savior (C)besides Me.
5 I [a](D)cared for you in the wilderness,
(E)In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became (F)satisfied,
And being satisfied, their (G)heart became proud;
Therefore they (H)forgot Me.
7 So I will be (I)like a lion to them;
Like a (J)leopard I will [b]lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will encounter them (K)like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open [c]their chests;
There I will also (L)devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.
9 It is your destruction, O Israel,
[d]That you are (M)against Me, against your (N)help.
10 Where now is your (O)king
That he may save you in all your cities,
And your (P)judges of whom you [e]requested,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I (Q)gave you a king in My anger
And (R)took him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is (S)stored up.
13 The pains of (T)childbirth come upon him;
He is (U)not a wise son,
For [f]it is not the time that he should (V)delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I (W)ransom them from the [g]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
(X)O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
(Y)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are (A)mature; a wisdom, however, not of (B)this age nor of the rulers of (C)this age, who are (D)passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a (E)mystery, the hidden wisdom which God (F)predestined before the (G)ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom (H)which none of the rulers of (I)this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified (J)the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written,
“(K)Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 [a](L)For to us God revealed them (M)through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the (N)depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the (O)spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we (P)have received, not the spirit of (Q)the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, (R)not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [b]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But [c]a (S)natural man (T)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (U)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually [d]appraised. 15 But he who is (V)spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For (W)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But (X)we have the mind of Christ.
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 (A)At that [a]time (B)Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, 2 and said to his servants, “(C)This is John the Baptist; [b]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For when (D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him (E)in prison because of (F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 For John had been saying to him, “(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded [c]John as (H)a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of (I)Herodias danced [d]before them and pleased (J)Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of [e]his dinner guests. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took away the body and buried [f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
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