Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God for His Awesome Works
To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm.
66 Make (A)a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2 Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God,
“How (B)awesome are Your works!
(C)Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4 (D)All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
6 (E)He turned the sea into dry land;
(F)They went through the river on foot.
There we will rejoice in Him.
7 He rules by His power forever;
His eyes observe the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to [a]be moved.
10 For (G)You, O God, have tested us;
(H)You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 (I)You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
12 (J)You have caused men to ride over our heads;
(K)We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to [b]rich fulfillment.
13 (L)I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
(M)I will pay You my [c]vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered
And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
With the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was [d]extolled with my tongue.
18 (N)If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
19 But certainly God (O)has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!
An Invocation and a Doxology
To the Chief Musician. On [e]stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 God be merciful to us and bless us,
And (P)cause His face to shine upon us, Selah
2 That (Q)Your way may be known on earth,
(R)Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
For (S)You shall judge the people righteously,
And govern the nations on earth. Selah
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
116 I (A)love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 (B)The [a]pains of death surrounded me,
And the [b]pangs of Sheol [c]laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
5 (C)Gracious is the Lord, and (D)righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your (E)rest, O my soul,
For (F)the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 (G)For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord
(H)In the land of the living.
10 (I)I believed, therefore I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 (J)I said in my haste,
(K)“All men are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
14 (L)I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people.
15 (M)Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints.
16 O Lord, truly (N)I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, (O)the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to You (P)the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the (Q)courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
[d]Praise the Lord!
Let All Peoples Praise the Lord
117 Praise (R)the Lord, all you Gentiles!
[e]Laud Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
And (S)the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
10 “And(A) in that day (B)there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a (C)banner to the people;
For the (D)Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”
11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
(E)From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the [a]islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will [b]assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together (F)the dispersed of Judah
From the four [c]corners of the earth.
13 Also (G)the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the [d]people of the East;
(H)They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.
15 The Lord (I)will utterly [e]destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over [f]the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over [g]dry-shod.
16 (J)There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
(K)As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.
The Great White Throne Judgment
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face (A)the earth and the heaven fled away. (B)And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, (C)small and great, standing before [a]God, (D)and books were opened. And another (E)book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged (F)according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, (G)and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. (H)And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then (I)Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. (J)This is the second [b]death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life (K)was cast into the lake of fire.
All Things Made New
21 Now (L)I saw a new heaven and a new earth, (M)for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, [c]John, saw (N)the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared (O)as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, (P)the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 (Q)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; (R)there shall be no more death, (S)nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then (T)He who sat on the throne said, (U)“Behold, I make all things new.” And He said [d]to me, “Write, for (V)these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, (W)“It[e] is done! (X)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. (Y)I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes [f]shall inherit all things, and (Z)I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 (AA)But the cowardly, [g]unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in (AB)the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
John’s Birth Announced to Zacharias
5 There was (A)in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, (B)of the division of (C)Abijah. His (D)wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, [a]his lot fell (E)to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 (F)And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of (G)the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, (H)he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and (I)you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and (J)many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be (K)great in the sight of the Lord, and (L)shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, (M)even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 (N)He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, (O)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am (P)Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you [b]these glad (Q)tidings. 20 But behold, (R)you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
23 So it was, as soon as (S)the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. 24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to (T)take away my reproach among people.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.