Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 24[a]
The Glory of God in Procession to Zion
1 A psalm of David.
I
The earth is the Lord’s and all it holds,(A)
the world and those who dwell in it.
2 For he founded it on the seas,
established it over the rivers.(B)
II
3 Who may go up the mountain of the Lord?(C)
Who can stand in his holy place?
4 [b]“The clean of hand and pure of heart,
who has not given his soul to useless things,
what is vain.
5 He will receive blessings from the Lord,
and justice from his saving God.
6 Such is the generation that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.”
Selah
III
7 Lift up your heads, O gates;[c]
be lifted, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may enter.(D)
8 Who is this king of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in war.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
rise up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may enter.
10 Who is this king of glory?
The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory.
Selah
Psalm 29[a]
The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World
1 A psalm of David.
I
Give to the Lord, you sons of God,[b]
give to the Lord glory and might;
2 Give to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bow down before the Lord’s holy splendor!(A)
II
3 The voice of the Lord[c] is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is power;
the voice of the Lord is splendor.(B)
5 The voice of the Lord cracks the cedars;
the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon,
6 Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
and Sirion[d] like a young bull.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes with fiery flame;
8 the voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.
9 [e]The voice of the Lord makes the deer dance
and strips the forests bare.
All in his Temple say, “Glory!”
III
Psalm 8[a]
Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.”[b] A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
I will sing of your majesty above the heavens
3 with the mouths of babes(A) and infants.[c]
You have established a bulwark against your foes,
to silence enemy and avenger.
4 When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place—
5 [d]What is man that you are mindful of him,(B)
and a son of man that you care for him?(C)
6 Yet you have made him little less than a god,[e]
crowned him with glory and honor.
7 You have given him rule over the works of your hands,(D)
put all things at his feet:
8 All sheep and oxen,
even the beasts of the field,
9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
10 O Lord, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
Psalm 84[a]
Prayer of a Pilgrim to Jerusalem
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.” A psalm of the Korahites.
I
2 How lovely your dwelling,
O Lord of hosts!(A)
3 My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the Lord.(B)
My heart and flesh cry out
for the living God.
4 [b]As the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow a nest to settle her young,
My home is by your altars,
Lord of hosts, my king and my God!(C)
5 Blessed are those who dwell in your house!
They never cease to praise you.
Selah
II
6 Blessed the man who finds refuge in you,
in their hearts are pilgrim roads.
7 As they pass through the Baca valley,[c]
they find spring water to drink.
The early rain covers it with blessings.
8 They will go from strength to strength[d]
and see the God of gods on Zion.
III
9 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob.
Selah
10 [e]O God, watch over our shield;
look upon the face of your anointed.(D)
IV
11 Better one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
Better the threshold of the house of my God
than a home in the tents of the wicked.
12 For a sun and shield is the Lord God,
bestowing all grace and glory.
The Lord withholds no good thing
from those who walk without reproach.
13 O Lord of hosts,
blessed the man who trusts in you!
I. Oracles in the Days of Josiah
Chapter 1
1 The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from Anathoth,[a] in the land of Benjamin. 2 The word of the Lord came to him in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign,(A) 3 and again in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah—down to the exile of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.(B)
Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the Lord came to me:
5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.[b](C)
6 “Ah, Lord God!” I said,
“I do not know how to speak. I am too young!”[c]
7 But the Lord answered me,
Do not say, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the Lord.
9 Then the Lord extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me,
See, I place my words in your mouth!(D)
10 Today I appoint you
over nations and over kingdoms,
To uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to demolish,
to build and to plant.
11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day[a] will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.(A) 14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,[b] but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?(B) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.[c]
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.(C) 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written:(D)
“He catches the wise in their own ruses,”
20 and again:
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”(E)
21 [d]So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,(F) 22 Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, 23 and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
Jesus and His Family. 31 (A)His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers[a] [and your sisters] are outside asking for you.” 33 But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and [my] brothers?” 34 And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 35 [For] whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Chapter 4
The Parable of the Sower. 1 [b]On another occasion(B) he began to teach by the sea.[c] A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.(C) 2 And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3 [d]“Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.