Book of Common Prayer
Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
For the choir director. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
2 Sing the (B)glory of His name;
Make His (C)praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How (D)awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will [a](E)give feigned obedience to You.
4 “(F)All the earth will worship You,
And will (G)sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” [b]Selah.
5 (H)Come and see the works of God,
Who is (I)awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.
6 He (J)turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through (K)the river on foot;
There let us (L)rejoice in Him!
7 He (M)rules by His might forever;
His (N)eyes keep watch on the nations;
Let not the rebellious (O)exalt themselves. Selah.
8 Bless our God, O peoples,
And [c](P)sound His praise abroad,
9 Who [d](Q)keeps us in life
And (R)does not allow our feet to [e]slip.
10 For You have (S)tried us, O God;
You have (T)refined us as silver is refined.
11 You (U)brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
12 You made men (V)ride over our heads;
We went through (W)fire and through water,
Yet You (X)brought us out into a place of abundance.
13 I shall (Y)come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall (Z)pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was (AA)in distress.
15 I shall (AB)offer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts,
With the smoke of (AC)rams;
I shall make an offering of [f]bulls with male goats. Selah.
16 (AD)Come and hear, all who [g]fear God,
And I will (AE)tell of what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And [h]He was (AF)extolled with my tongue.
18 If I [i](AG)regard wickedness in my heart,
The (AH)Lord [j]will not [k]hear;
19 But certainly (AI)God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
20 (AJ)Blessed be God,
Who (AK)has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.
The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.
For the choir director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 God be gracious to us and (AL)bless us,
And (AM)cause His face to shine [l]upon us— [m]Selah.
2 That (AN)Your way may be known on the earth,
(AO)Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the (AP)peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Let the (AQ)nations be glad and sing for joy;
For You will (AR)judge the peoples with uprightness
And (AS)guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the (AT)peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The (AU)earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, (AV)blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
[n]That (AW)all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
116 (A)I love the Lord, because He (B)hears
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has (C)inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The (D)cords of death encompassed me
And the [a]terrors of [b]Sheol [c]came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
4 Then (E)I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I beseech You, [d](F)save my life!”
5 (G)Gracious is the Lord, and (H)righteous;
Yes, our God is (I)compassionate.
6 The Lord preserves (J)the simple;
I was (K)brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your (L)rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has (M)dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have (N)rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.
9 I shall walk before the Lord
In the [e](O)land of the living.
10 I (P)believed when I said,
“I am (Q)greatly afflicted.”
11 I (R)said in my alarm,
“(S)All men are liars.”
12 What shall I (T)render to the Lord
For all His (U)benefits [f]toward me?
13 I shall lift up the (V)cup of salvation
And (W)call upon the name of the Lord.
14 I shall (X)pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be (Y)in the presence of all His people.
15 (Z)Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
16 O Lord, [g]surely I am (AA)Your servant,
I am Your servant, the (AB)son of Your handmaid,
You have (AC)loosed my bonds.
17 To You I shall offer (AD)a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And (AE)call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I shall (AF)pay my vows to the Lord,
Oh may it be in the presence of all His people,
19 In the (AG)courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O (AH)Jerusalem.
[h]Praise [i]the Lord!
A Psalm of Praise.
10 Then in that day
The (A)nations will resort to the (B)root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a [a](C)signal for the peoples;
And His (D)resting place will be [b]glorious.
The Restored Remnant
11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover the second time with His hand
The (E)remnant of His people, who will remain,
From (F)Assyria, (G)Egypt, Pathros, Cush, (H)Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the [c](I)islands of the sea.
12 And He will lift up a (J)standard for the nations
And (K)assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
13 Then the (L)jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
14 They will (M)swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the (N)west;
Together they will (O)plunder the sons of the east;
[d]They will possess (P)Edom and (Q)Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be [e]subject to them.
15 And the Lord will [f](R)utterly destroy
The tongue of the [g]Sea of Egypt;
And He will (S)wave His hand over the [h](T)River
With His scorching wind;
And He will strike it into seven streams
And make men walk over [i]dry-shod.
16 And there will be a (U)highway from Assyria
For the (V)remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
In (W)the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.
Judgment at the Throne of God
11 Then I saw a great white (A)throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose [a]presence (B)earth and heaven fled away, and (C)no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the (D)great and the small, standing before the throne, and [b](E)books were opened; and another [c]book was opened, which is (F)the book of life; and the dead (G)were judged from the things which were written in the [d]books, (H)according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and (I)death and Hades (J)gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them (K)according to their deeds. 14 Then (L)death and Hades were thrown into (M)the lake of fire. This is the (N)second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if [e]anyone’s name was not found written in (O)the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The New Heaven and Earth
21 Then I saw (P)a new heaven and a new earth; for (Q)the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw (R)the holy city, (S)new Jerusalem, (T)coming down out of heaven from God, (U)made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, (V)the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will [f](W)dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them[g], 4 and He will (X)wipe away every tear from their eyes; and (Y)there will no longer be any death; (Z)there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; (AA)the first things have passed away.”
5 And (AB)He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am (AC)making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for (AD)these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “[h](AE)It is done. I am the (AF)Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (AG)I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the (AH)water of life without cost. 7 (AI)He who overcomes will inherit these things, and (AJ)I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 (AK)But for the cowardly and [i]unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in (AL)the lake that burns with fire and [j]brimstone, which is the (AM)second death.”
Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named [a]Zacharias, of the (B)division of [b]Abijah; and he had a wife [c]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 They were both (C)righteous in the sight of God, walking (D)blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in [d]years.
8 Now it happened that while (E)he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot (F)to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer (G)outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And (H)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and (I)fear [e]gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “(J)Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and (K)you will [f]give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will (L)drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [g]while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will (M)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will (N)go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of (O)Elijah, (P)to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to (Q)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For (R)I am an old man and my wife is advanced in [h]years.” 19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am (S)Gabriel, who [i](T)stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he (U)kept [j]making signs to them, and remained mute. 23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she [k]kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to (V)take away my disgrace among men.”
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