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.
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [a]Red Sea, to (A)go around the land of Edom; and the [b]people became impatient because of the journey. 5 So the people spoke against God and Moses: “(B)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no [c]food and no water, and [d](C)we are disgusted with [e]this miserable food.”
The Bronze Serpent
6 (D)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and (E)they bit the people, so that (F)many people of Israel died. 7 (G)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; (H)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “[f]Make a (I)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” 9 So Moses made a (J)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
11 Truly, truly, I say to you, (A)we speak of what we know and (B)testify of what we have seen, and (C)you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 (D)No one has ascended into heaven, except (E)He who descended from heaven: (F)the Son of Man. 14 And just as (G)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must (H)the Son of Man (I)be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who [a]believes will (J)have eternal life in Him.
16 “For God so (K)loved the world, that He (L)gave His (M)only Son, so that everyone who (N)believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God (O)did not send the Son into the world (P)to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.
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.
17 For (A)it is better, (B)if [a]God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. 18 For (C)Christ also [b]suffered for sins (D)once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might (E)bring us to God, having been put to death (F)in the flesh, but made alive (G)in the [c]spirit; 19 in [d]which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who once were disobedient when the (H)patience of God (I)kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of (J)the ark, in which a few, that is, (K)eight (L)persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 (M)Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—(N)not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God [e]for a (O)good conscience—through (P)the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 (Q)who is at the right hand of God, (R)having gone into heaven, (S)after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
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