Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.
118 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, for (B)He is good;
For His mercy is everlasting.
2 Let (C)Israel say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
3 Oh let the (D)house of Aaron say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
4 Let those (E)who [a]fear the Lord say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
5 From my (F)distress I called upon [b]the Lord;
[c]The Lord answered me and (G)put me in an open space.
6 The Lord is (H)for me; I will (I)not fear;
(J)What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is for me (K)among those who help me;
Therefore I will (L)look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8 It is (M)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in people.
9 It is (N)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in noblemen.
10 All nations (O)surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will certainly (P)fend them off.
11 They (Q)surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will certainly fend them off.
12 They surrounded me (R)like bees;
They were extinguished like a (S)fire of thorn bushes;
In the name of the Lord I will certainly fend them off.
13 You (T)pushed me violently so that I [d]was falling,
But the Lord (U)helped me.
14 [e](V)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become (W)my salvation.
15 The sound of (X)joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The (Y)right hand of the Lord performs valiantly.
16 The (Z)right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord performs valiantly.
17 I (AA)will not die, but live,
And (AB)tell of the works of [f]the Lord.
18 [g]The Lord has (AC)disciplined me severely,
But He has (AD)not turned me over to death.
19 (AE)Open the gates of righteousness to me;
I will enter through them, I will give thanks to [h]the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
The (AF)righteous will enter through it.
21 I will give thanks to You, for You have (AG)answered me,
And You have (AH)become my salvation.
22 A (AI)stone which the builders rejected
Has become the [i]chief cornerstone.
23 This came about from the Lord;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let’s (AJ)rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, O Lord, (AK)do save us;
Please, O Lord, do send (AL)prosperity!
26 (AM)Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have (AN)blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 (AO)The Lord is God, and He has given us (AP)light;
Bind the festival sacrifice [j]to the (AQ)horns of the altar with cords.
28 (AR)You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, (AS)I exalt You.
29 (AT)Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His mercy is everlasting.
The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)exalt You, (B)my God, the King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation will praise Your works to another,
And will declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 People will speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They will burst forth [c]in speaking of Your (L)abundant goodness,
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and compassionate;
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is (O)good to all,
And His (P)mercies are over all His works.
10 (Q)All Your works will give thanks to You, Lord,
And Your (R)godly ones will bless You.
11 They will speak of the (S)glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your might,
12 To (T)make known to the sons of mankind [d]Your mighty acts,
And the (U)glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is [f]an (V)everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[g]The Lord is faithful in His words,
And holy in all His works.
14 The Lord (W)supports all who fall,
And (X)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all [h]look to You,
And You (Y)give them their food in due time.
16 You (Z)open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (AA)righteous in all His ways,
And kind in all His works.
18 The Lord is (AB)near to all who call on Him,
To all who call on Him (AC)in truth.
19 He will (AD)fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also (AE)hear their cry for help and save them.
20 The Lord (AF)watches over all who love Him,
But He will destroy all the (AG)wicked.
21 My (AH)mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And (AI)all flesh will (AJ)bless His holy name forever and ever.
Saul among the Prophets
10 Then (A)Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on [a]Saul’s head, (B)kissed him, and said, “Has (C)the Lord not anointed you as ruler over (D)His inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, then you will find two men close to (E)Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘(F)The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has stopped talking about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What am I to do about my son?”’ 3 Then you will go on farther from there, and you will come as far as the [b](G)oak of Tabor, and there three men going up (H)to God at Bethel will meet you: one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine. 4 And they will [c]greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. 5 Afterward you will come to [d](I)the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet (J)a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre in front of them, and (K)they will be prophesying. 6 Then (L)the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and (M)you will prophesy with them and be changed into a different man. 7 And it shall be when these signs come to you, (N)do for yourself what [e]the occasion requires, because (O)God is with you. 8 And (P)you shall go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will be coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and (Q)sacrifice peace offerings. (R)You shall wait seven days until I come to you and inform you of what you should do.”
9 Then it happened, when he turned his back to leave Samuel, that God (S)changed [f]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 (T)When they came there to [g]the hill, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, so that he prophesied among them. 11 And it came about, when all who previously knew him saw that he was indeed prophesying with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? (U)Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man from there responded and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a saying: “(V)Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
14 Now (W)Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “(X)To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 So Saul said to his uncle, “(Y)He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.
13 For (A)the promise to Abraham or to his [a]descendants (B)that he would be heir of the world was not [b]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For (C)if those who are [c]of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for (D)the Law brings about wrath, but (E)where there is no law, there also is no violation.
16 For this reason it is [d]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with (F)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to (G)all the [e]descendants, not only to [f]those who are of the Law, but also to [g](H)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is (I)the father of us all, 17 (as it is written: “I have made you (J)a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, (K)who gives life to the dead and (L)calls into being (M)things that do not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become (N)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “(O)So shall your [h]descendants be.” 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now (P)as good as dead since (Q)he was about a hundred years old, and (R)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, (S)giving glory to God, 21 and (T)being fully assured that (U)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore (V)it was also credited to him as righteousness. 23 Now (W)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us (X)who believe in Him who (Y)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was (Z)delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was (AA)raised because of our justification.
Authority Challenged
23 (A)When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him (B)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you one [a]question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the [b]people; for they all regard John as (C)a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.
Parable of Two Sons
28 “But what do you think? A man had two [c]sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘[d]Son, go work today in the (D)vineyard.’ 29 But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that (E)the tax collectors and prostitutes [e]will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but (F)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even [f]have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.
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