Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for God’s Future Help
For the music director, according to Do Not Destroy.
A psalm of Asaph. A song.[a]
75 We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, and your name is near.
Your wonderful deeds are told.[b]
2 “I will indeed set an appointed time;
I will judge fairly.[c]
3 The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking;[d]
I steady[e] its columns. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast!’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn!
5 Do not lift up high your[f] horn.
Do not speak with arrogant pride.’”[g]
6 For it is not from the east or the west
and not from the south[h] that lifting up comes,
7 rather God is the judge;
one he brings low, and another he lifts up.
8 For there is a cup in the hand of Yahweh
with[i] wine that foams, fully mixed,
and he pours out from this.
Surely all the wicked of the land
will quaff it down to its dregs. [j]
9 But as for me, I will proclaim forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 “And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off.
The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Praise to God for His Rescue of Israel
For the music director, with stringed instruments.
A psalm of Asaph. A song.[k]
76 God is known in Judah.
His name is great in Israel.
2 His den[l] has been in Salem,
his lair[m] in Zion.
3 There he broke the flames of the bow,
the shield and sword and battle. Selah
4 Radiant[n] you are, majestic,
from[o] the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted are plundered;
they sleep their sleep,
and all the able men cannot use[p] their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider[q] and horse slumber.
7 You, indeed, are to be feared,[r]
and who can stand before you
when you are angry? [s]
8 From heaven you proclaimed judgment.
The earth feared and was still
9 when God rose for justice,
to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah
10 For the anger of humankind will praise you.
You will put on the remnant of anger.[t]
11 Make vows and fulfill them to Yahweh, your God;
let all surrounding him
bring tribute to the one to be feared.[u]
12 He cuts off the spirit of leaders.
He is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
Yahweh the Shepherd
A psalm of David.[a]
23 Yahweh is my shepherd;
I will not lack for anything.
2 In grassy pastures he makes me lie down;
by quiet waters he leads me.
3 He restores my life.[b]
He leads me in correct paths[c]
for the sake of his name.
4 Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare before me a table
in the presence of my oppressors.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
6 Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will stay[d] in the house[e] of Yahweh
for a very long time.[f]
A Declaration of Trust
Of David.[a]
27 Yahweh is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the refuge of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh—
my adversaries and my enemies who drew near to me—
they themselves stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear.
Though war arise against me,
even in this I will remain confident.
4 One thing I have asked from Yahweh;
it I will seek:
that I may dwell in the house[b] of Yahweh all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of Yahweh,
and to consider[c] his temple.
5 Because he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble.
He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent.
He will set me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head will be high over my enemies round about me.
And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.
7 Hear, O Yahweh, my voice when I call,
and be gracious to me and answer me.
8 On your behalf my heart says, “Seek my face.”
Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my help; do not abandon nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 If my father or my mother forsake me,
then Yahweh will receive me.
11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
12 Do not give me over to the desire of my enemies,
because false witnesses have arisen against me,
and each breathing out violence.[d]
13 Surely[e] I believe that I will see the goodness of Yahweh
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for Yahweh.
Be strong and let your heart show strength,
and wait for Yahweh.
22 Once again[a] the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23 So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, “You shall not go up. Rather, go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees. 24 And it shall be[b] that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then pay attention, for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 25 So David did thus, just as Yahweh had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way[c] to Gezer.
David Brings the Ark of Yahweh to Jerusalem
6 David again gathered all the chosen men in Israel, thirty thousand. 2 David got up and went and all the people who were with him, from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called the name, the name of Yahweh of hosts, upon which the cherubim sit.[d] 3 They loaded the ark of God on a new utility cart, and they carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Now Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new utility cart along. 4 So they brought it out from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill with the ark of God, and Ahio was going before the ark. 5 Now David and all the house of Israel were dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of musical instruments made from ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzza reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen had stumbled. 7 Then the anger of Yahweh was kindled[e] against Uzza, and God struck him down there because of the indiscretion,[f] and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 David was angry[g] because Yahweh had burst out against Uzza, and he called that place Perez-Uzza until this day. 9 But David feared Yahweh on that day and said, “How can the ark of Yahweh come to me?” 10 However, David was not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 So the ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.
Paul in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he[a] observed the city was full of idols. 17 So he was discussing in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles,[b] and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, “What does this babbler want to say?” But others said,[c] “He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities,” because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took hold of him and[d] brought him[e] to the Areopagus, saying, “May we learn what is this new teaching being proclaimed by you? 20 For you are bringing some astonishing things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”[f] 21 (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who stayed there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling something or listening to something new.)
Paul Speaks to the Areopagus
22 So Paul stood there in the middle of the Areopagus and[g] said, “Men of Athens, I see you are very religious in every respect.[h] 23 For as I[i] was passing through and observing carefully your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it,[j] this I proclaim to you— 24 the God who made the world and all the things in it. This one, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands as if he[k] needed anything, because[l] he himself gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of humanity to live on all the face of the earth, determining their fixed times and the fixed boundaries of their habitation, 27 to search for God, if perhaps indeed they might feel around for him and find him.[m] And indeed he is not far away from each one of us, 28 for in him we live and move and exist,[n] as even some of your own[o] poets have said: ‘For we also are his[p] offspring.’[q] 29 Therefore, because we[r] are offspring of God, we ought not to think the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. 30 Therefore although[s] God has overlooked the times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man who he has appointed, having provided proof to everyone by[t] raising him from the dead.” 32 Now when they[u] heard about the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed, but others said, “We will hear you about this again also.” 33 So Paul went out from the midst of them. 34 But some people[v] joined him and[w] believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named[x] Damaris and others with them.
The Feeding of Four Thousand
8 In those days there was[a] again a large crowd, and they did not have[b] anything they could eat. Summoning the disciples, he said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes they will give out on the way, and some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “Where is anyone able to feed these people with bread here in the desert?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” So they said, “Seven.” 6 And he commanded the crowd to recline for a meal on the ground, and taking the seven loaves, after he[c] had given thanks he broke them[d] and began giving[e] them[f] to his disciples so that they could set them[g] before them.[h] And they set them[i] before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish, and after[j] giving thanks for them, he said to set these before them also. 8 And they ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces that were left, seven baskets full. 9 Now there were about four thousand. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and[k] went to the district of Dalmanutha.
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