Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 93
The Lord Rules the World
1 The Lord reigns. He is clothed in majesty.
The Lord is clothed—he wears strength like a belt.
Yes, the world stands firm. It will not be moved.
2 Your throne was established long ago.
You are from eternity.
3 The waves[a] have lifted up, O Lord,
the waves have lifted up their voice.
The waves roar loudly.
4 Mightier than the thundering of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty.
5 Your testimonies stand very firm.
Holiness beautifies your house for endless days, O Lord.
Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a New Song
Call to Worship
1 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord. Praise his name.
Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3 Tell about his glory among the nations,
about his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Praise Him Alone
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of great praise.
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are “nothings,”[a]
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him.
Power and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, families of peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and power.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bring a gift and come into his courtyards.
9 Bow down to the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.[b]
Look away from his face,[c] all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established.
It will not be moved.
He will judge the peoples with fairness.
Let Nature Praise Him
11 Let the heavens rejoice.
Let the earth celebrate.
Let the sea roar,
and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields be overjoyed,
and everything that is in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 34
Blessed Is the Person Who Takes Refuge in God
Heading
By David. When he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelek, who drove him away, and David left.[a]
David’s Thanks for Deliverance
1 I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 In the Lord my soul will boast.
The humble will hear and rejoice.
An Invitation to Join David in Praise
3 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
The Story of David’s Deliverance
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me.
From all my terrors he delivered me.
5 His people look to him and are radiant,
and their faces will never blush.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard.
From all his distress the Lord saved him.
7 The Angel of the Lord[b] camps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
The Application of This Truth to All Believers
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his saints,
since those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions may lack food and be hungry,
but those who seek the Lord do not lack any good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who wants to find pleasure in life?
Who would love to experience many good days?
13 Guard your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord watch over the righteous.
His ears listen to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil,
to cut off memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears.
From all their distress he delivers them.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
20 He watches over all his bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked.
Those who hate the righteous will be found guilty.
22 The Lord redeems the soul[c] of his servants.
Anyone who takes refuge in him will not be found guilty.
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says.
They will glean what remains of Israel
as thoroughly as a vine.
Like someone gathering grapes,
pass your hand over the branches again.
10 Who can I speak to?
Who will listen to my warning?[a]
Look! Their ears are uncircumcised.
They will not be able to hear.
Indeed, to them the word of the Lord is an embarrassment.
They take no pleasure in it.
11 I am full of the Lord’s wrath,[b]
and I cannot hold it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together.
Both husband and wife will be taken,
the old along with the very old.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
because I will stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,
declares the Lord.
13 From the least of them to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophets to priests, they all practice deceit.
14 They have treated the wound of my people as if it were nothing serious.
They say, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace!
15 Are they ashamed of the detestable things they have done?
No, they are not ashamed at all!
They do not know how to be ashamed.
So they will fall with the fallen.
They will be thrown down when I punish them, says the Lord.
Flee From Sexual Immorality!
12 “All things are permitted for me”—but not all things are beneficial. “All things are permitted for me”—but I will not allow anything to control me. 13 “Foods are for the belly, and the belly is for foods, but God will do away with both of them.” However, the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then remove the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Certainly not! 16 Or[a] do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For it says, “The two will become one flesh.”[b] 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
18 Flee from sexual immorality! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
A Demon-Possessed Man and a Herd of Pigs
5 They went to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs to meet him. 3 The man lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he pulled the chains apart and broke the shackles in pieces. Nobody had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was constantly crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down in front of him. 7 He cried out with a loud voice, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you to swear by God not to torment me.” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “because we are many.” 10 He begged Jesus repeatedly that he would not send them out of the region.
11 There was a large herd of pigs there feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we may enter them.”
13 Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits went out and entered the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned. 14 Those who were feeding the pigs ran and reported this in the city and the countryside.
People came to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it described for these people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and they told them about the pigs. 17 They began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to stay with Jesus. 19 But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your people, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.”
20 The man left and began to proclaim in the Decapolis everything Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.