Book of Common Prayer
Longing for God
A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.[a]
63 O God, you are my God;
I will seek you diligently.
My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you
as in a dry and weary land without water.
2 Thus I have seen you in the sanctuary,
beholding your strength and glory.
3 Because your loyal love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you while I live.
I will lift up my hands[b] in your name.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the best and richest food,
and with joyful lips my mouth will praise.
6 When I remember you on my bed,
I meditate on you in the night watches.
7 Because you have been my help,
therefore[c] in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to[d] you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 But as for them who seek my life for ruin,
they will go into the depths of the earth.
10 They who would deliver him to the sword[e]
will become a portion for jackals.
11 However, the king will rejoice in God.
Everyone who swears an oath by him will boast,
because the mouth of the liars will be stopped.
Praise to Yahweh for His Salvation and Judgment
A psalm.[a]
98 Sing to[b] Yahweh a new song, for he has done wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm have secured his victory.
2 Yahweh has made known his salvation;[c]
to the eyes of the nations he has revealed his righteousness.
3 He has remembered his loyal love and his faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation[d] of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to Yahweh, all the earth.
Be cheerful[e] and sing for joy and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to Yahweh with lyre,
with lyre and melodious sound.
6 With trumpets and sound of horn,
shout joyfully before the king, Yahweh.
7 Let the sea with[f] its fullness roar,
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the hills sing joyfully together
9 before Yahweh, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Compassion
Of David.[a]
103 Bless Yahweh, O my soul,
and all within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless Yahweh, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits:
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with loyal love and mercies,
5 who satisfies your life with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 Yahweh does deeds of justice
and judgments for all who are oppressed,
7 who made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people[b] of Israel.
8 Yahweh is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger[c] and abundant in loyal love.
9 He does not dispute continually,
nor keep his anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him.
12 As far as east is from west,
so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.
13 As a father pities[d] his children,
so Yahweh pities[e] those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame.[f]
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like the grass.
As the flower of the field, so he blossoms.
16 When the wind passes over it, it is no more,
and its place knows it no longer.
17 But the loyal love of Yahweh
is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to their children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his precepts.
19 Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless Yahweh, you his angels,
you mighty heroes who do his word
by obeying[g] the sound of his word.
21 Bless Yahweh, all you his hosts,
you his attendants who do his will.
22 Bless Yahweh, all his works,[h]
in all the places of his dominion.
Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
6 Wail, for the day of Yahweh is near;
it will come like destruction from Shaddai![a]
7 Therefore all hands will grow slack,
and every human heart will melt,
8 and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and labor pains will seize them;
they will tremble like a woman giving birth.
They will stare at one another,[b]
their faces flushing.[c]
9 Look! The day of Yahweh is coming,
cruel and wrath and the burning of anger,
to make the earth a desolation,
and he will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not flash forth their light;
the sun will keep back when it comes out,
and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for its evil
and the wicked for their iniquity.
And I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
and I will bring the haughtiness of tyrants low.
12 I will make humanity more rare than gold
and humankind more than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will quake from its place
because of the wrath of Yahweh of hosts,
and in the day his anger burns.
18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, and to a burning fire, and to darkness, and to gloom, and to a whirlwind, 19 and to the noise of a trumpet, and to the sound of words which those who heard begged that not another word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”[a] 21 And the spectacle was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”[b] 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering 23 and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood[c] that speaks better than Abel’s does.
25 Watch out that you do not refuse the one who is speaking! For if those did not escape when they[d] refused the one who warned them on earth, much less will we escape,[e] if we[f] reject the one who warns from heaven, 26 whose voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, saying,
“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”[g]
27 Now the phrase “yet once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we[h] are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be thankful, through which let us serve God acceptably, with awe and reverence. 29 For indeed our God is a consuming fire.
Additional Testimony by John the Baptist About Jesus
22 After these things Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing. 23 Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and they were coming and were being baptized. 24 (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)
25 So a dispute occurred on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew[a] concerning purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!”
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive not one thing unless it is granted to him from heaven! 28 You yourselves testify about me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am sent before that one.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly[b] because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease.”
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