Book of Common Prayer
Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
For the music director. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
2 Sing the (B)glory of His name;
Make His (C)praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How (D)awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will (E)pretend to obey You.
4 (F)All the earth will worship You,
And will (G)sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 (H)Come and see the works of God,
Who is (I)awesome in His deeds toward the sons of mankind.
6 He (J)turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through (K)the river on foot;
Let’s (L)rejoice there, in Him!
7 He (M)rules by His might forever;
His (N)eyes keep watch on the nations;
The rebellious shall not (O)exalt themselves! Selah
8 Bless our God, you peoples,
And [a](P)sound His praise abroad,
9 Who [b](Q)keeps us in life,
And (R)does not allow our feet to [c]slip.
10 For You have (S)put us to the test, God;
You have (T)refined us as silver is refined.
11 You (U)brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon [d]us.
12 You made men (V)ride over our heads;
We went through (W)fire and through water.
Yet You (X)brought us out into a place of abundance.
13 I shall (Y)come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall (Z)pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was (AA)in distress.
15 I shall (AB)offer to You burnt offerings of fat animals,
With the smoke of (AC)rams;
I shall make an offering of [e]bulls with male goats. Selah
16 (AD)Come and hear, all who [f]fear God,
And I will (AE)tell of what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And [g]He was (AF)exalted with my tongue.
18 If I [h](AG)regard wickedness in my heart,
The (AH)Lord will not hear;
19 But (AI)God has heard;
He has given attention to the sound of my prayer.
20 (AJ)Blessed be God,
Who (AK)has not turned away my prayer
Nor His favor from me.
The Prophet’s Call
2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, (A)stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as He spoke to me the (B)Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have (C)rebelled against Me; (D)they and their fathers have revolted against Me to this very day. 4 So I am sending you to those who are [a](E)impudent and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord [b]God says:’ 5 As for them, (F)whether they listen or [c]not—for they are a rebellious house—they will (G)know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And as for you, son of man, you are (H)not to fear them nor fear their words, though (I)thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; you are not to fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, since they are a rebellious house. 7 But you shall (J)speak My words to them (K)whether they listen or [d]not, for they are rebellious.
Peter Reports in Jerusalem
11 Now the apostles and (A)the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, [a](B)the Jewish believers took issue with him, 3 saying, “(C)You [b]went to [c]uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained at length to them (D)in an orderly sequence, saying, 5 “(E)I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw (F)a vision, an [d]object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was, 6 and I stared at it and was thinking about it, and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the [e]crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; [f]kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing [g]unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘(G)What God has cleansed, no longer [h]consider unholy.’ 10 This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. 11 And behold, at that moment three men who had been sent to me from (H)Caesarea came up to the house where we were staying. 12 (I)And the Spirit told me to go with them (J)without [i]misgivings. (K)These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he reported to us how he had seen the angel [j]standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send some men to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; 14 and he will speak (L)words to you by which you will be saved, you and (M)all your household.’ 15 And as I began to speak, (N)the Holy Spirit fell upon them just (O)as He did upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘(P)John baptized with water, but you will be baptized [k]with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 Therefore, if (Q)God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, (R)who was I that I could [l]stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard this, they [m]quieted down and (S)glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the (T)repentance that leads to life.”
The Lord’s Power and Dominion.
97 (A)The Lord [a]reigns, may the (B)earth rejoice;
May the many [b](C)islands be joyful.
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
(E)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before Him
And (G)burns up His enemies all around.
4 His (H)lightning lit up the world;
The earth saw it and (I)trembled.
5 The mountains (J)melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the (K)Lord of the whole earth.
6 The (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
And (M)all the peoples have seen His glory.
7 May all those be ashamed who serve (N)carved images,
Who boast in (O)idols;
[c](P)Worship Him, all you [d]gods.
8 Zion [e]heard this and (Q)was joyful,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, Lord.
9 For You are the Lord (R)Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far (S)above all [f]gods.
10 (T)Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who (U)watches over the souls of His godly ones;
He (V)saves them from the hand of the wicked.
11 (W)Light is sown like seed for the righteous,
And (X)gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be (Y)joyful in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And (Z)praise [g]the mention of His holy name.
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
The Council at Jerusalem
2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I (A)went up again to Jerusalem with (B)Barnabas, taking (C)Titus along also. 2 [a]It was because of a (D)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the (E)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that somehow I might be (F)running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even (G)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was (H)compelled to be circumcised. 4 Yet it was a concern because of the (I)false brothers secretly brought in, who (J)had sneaked in to spy on our (K)freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to (L)enslave us. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that (M)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But from those who [b]were of considerable (N)repute (what they were makes no difference to me; (O)God shows no favoritism)—well, those who were of repute contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been (P)entrusted with the (Q)gospel [c]to the uncircumcised, just as (R)Peter had been [d]to the circumcised 8 (for He who was at work for Peter in his (S)apostleship [e]to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing (T)the grace that had been given to me, [f](U)James and [g](V)Cephas and John, who were (W)reputed to be (X)pillars, gave to me and (Y)Barnabas the (Z)right [h]hand of fellowship, so that we might (AA)go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
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