Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66[a]
Praise of God, Israel’s Deliverer
1 For the leader. A song; a psalm.
I
2 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
sing of his glorious name;
give him glorious praise.(A)
3 Say to God: “How awesome your deeds!
Before your great strength your enemies cringe.
4 All the earth falls in worship before you;(B)
they sing of you, sing of your name!”
Selah
II
5 [b]Come and see the works of God,
awesome in deeds before the children of Adam.
6 He changed the sea to dry land;
through the river they passed on foot.(C)
There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
His eyes are fixed upon the nations.
Let no rebel rise to challenge!
Selah
8 Bless our God, you peoples;
loudly sound his praise,
9 Who has kept us alive
and not allowed our feet to slip.(D)
10 You tested us, O God,
tried us as silver tried by fire.(E)
11 You led us into a snare;
you bound us at the waist as captives.
12 [c]You let captors set foot on our neck;
we went through fire and water;
then you led us out to freedom.(F)
III
13 I will bring burnt offerings[d] to your house;
to you I will fulfill my vows,
14 Which my lips pronounced
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fatlings I will offer you
and sacrificial smoke of rams;
I will sacrifice oxen and goats.
Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
while I recount what has been done for me.
17 I called to him with my mouth;
praise was upon my tongue.
18 Had I cherished evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard.
19 But God did hear
and listened to my voice in prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who did not reject my prayer
and refuse his mercy.
Psalm 67[e]
Harvest Thanks and Petition
1 For the leader; with stringed instruments. A psalm; a song.
I
2 May God be gracious to us[f] and bless us;
may his face shine upon us.(G)
Selah
3 So shall your way be known upon the earth,
your victory among all the nations.(H)
4 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you!
II
5 May the nations be glad and rejoice;
for you judge the peoples with fairness,
you guide the nations upon the earth.(I)
Selah
6 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you!
III
7 The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.(J)
8 May God bless us still;
that the ends of the earth may revere him.
Psalm 19[a]
God’s Glory in the Heavens and in the Law
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.(A)
3 Day unto day pours forth speech;
night unto night whispers knowledge.
4 [b]There is no speech, no words;
their voice is not heard;
5 A report goes forth through all the earth,
their messages, to the ends of the world.
He has pitched in them a tent for the sun;[c]
6 it comes forth like a bridegroom from his canopy,
and like a hero joyfully runs its course.
7 From one end of the heavens it comes forth;
its course runs through to the other;
nothing escapes its heat.
II
8 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The decree of the Lord is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.(B)
9 The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eye.
10 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The statutes of the Lord are true,
all of them just;
11 More desirable than gold,
than a hoard of purest gold,
Sweeter also than honey
or drippings from the comb.(C)
12 By them your servant is warned;[d]
obeying them brings much reward.
III
13 Who can detect trespasses?
Cleanse me from my inadvertent sins.
14 Also from arrogant ones restrain your servant;
let them never control me.
Then shall I be blameless,
innocent of grave sin.
15 Let the words of my mouth be acceptable,
the thoughts of my heart before you,
Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 46[a]
God, the Protector of Zion
1 For the leader. A song of the Korahites. According to alamoth.[b]
I
2 God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.(A)
3 [c]Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken
and mountains quake to the depths of the sea,
4 Though its waters rage and foam
and mountains totter at its surging.(B)
Selah
II
5 [d]Streams of the river gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.(C)
6 God is in its midst; it shall not be shaken;
God will help it at break of day.(D)
7 Though nations rage and kingdoms totter,
he utters his voice and the earth melts.(E)
8 [e]The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Selah
III
9 Come and see the works of the Lord,
who has done fearsome deeds on earth;(F)
10 Who stops wars to the ends of the earth,
breaks the bow, splinters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire;(G)
11 (H)“Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.”
12 The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Selah
Death of Eli. 12 A Benjaminite fled from the battlefield and reached Shiloh that same day, with his clothes torn and his head covered with dirt.(A) 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting in his chair beside the gate, watching the road, for he was troubled at heart about the ark of God. The man, however, went into the city to announce his news; then the whole city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the uproar, he wondered why there was such commotion. Just then the man rushed up to inform him. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes would not focus. So he could not see. 16 The man said to Eli: “I have come from the battlefield; today I fled from there.” He asked, “What happened, my son?” 17 And the messenger answered: “Israel fled from the Philistines; in fact, the troops suffered heavy losses. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 At this mention of the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair into the gateway; he died of a broken neck since he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she crouched down in labor, and gave birth. 20 She was about to die when the women standing around her said to her, “Do not be afraid, you have given birth to a son.” Yet she neither answered nor paid any attention.(B) 21 She named the child Ichabod, saying, “Gone is the glory from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and to her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “Gone is the glory from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured.(C)
I. Address
Chapter 1
1 [a]James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.(A)
II. The Value of Trials and Temptation
Perseverance in Trial. 2 (B)Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,[b] 3 for you know that the testing[c] of your faith produces perseverance. 4 And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom,[d] he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.(C) 6 But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.(D) 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.
9 The brother in lowly circumstances[e] should take pride in his high standing,(E) 10 and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.”(F) 11 For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Temptation. 12 (G)Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation,[f] for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. 13 [g]No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.(H) 14 Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.
16 [h]Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: 17 all good giving and every perfect gift[i] is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. 18 (I)He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.[j]
23 [a]Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 (A)Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 [b]When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” 26 (B)Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” 27 (C)Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” 28 [c](D)Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. 30 [d](E)But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
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