Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, You are my God;
early will I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You,
my flesh faints for You,
in a dry and thirsty land
with no water.
2 I have seen You in the sanctuary,
to see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips will praise You.
4 Thus will I bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You on my bed,
and meditate on You in the night watches,
7 because You have been my help,
therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul clings hard to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my soul to destroy it
will go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They will fall by the sword;
they will be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
everyone who swears by Him will glory,
because the mouth of liars will be stopped.
Psalm 98
A Psalm.
1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song,
for He has done marvelous deeds!
His right hand and His holy arm
have accomplished deliverance.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy
and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the deliverance of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth;
break out in loud songs, and sing praises.
5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of melody,
6 with trumpets and sound of the horn;
make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,
the world and those who live in it;
8 let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills be joyful together
9 before the Lord,
for He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He will judge the world,
and the peoples with justice.
Psalm 103
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquities,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 who satisfies your mouth with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord does righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always accuse,
neither will He keep his anger forever.
10 He does not treat us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord gives compassion to those who fear Him.
14 For He knows how we are formed;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass;
as a flower of the field he flourishes.
16 For the hot wind passes over it, and it is gone;
the place where it was is not known.
17 But the mercy of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting
upon those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep His covenant,
and to those who remember to do His commandments.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
and His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, you His angels,
who are mighty, and do His commands,
and obey the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts;
you servants who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
in all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
God’s Command to Rebuild the Temple
1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
2 Thus says the Lord of Hosts: These people say, The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.
3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 4 Is it time for you yourselves to live in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?
5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes.
7 Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain and bring wood and rebuild the house, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of Hosts. Because of My house that lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.
The People Obey God’s Command
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke the message of the Lord to the people, saying: I am with you, says the Lord. 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of Hosts their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
The Future Glory of the Temple
2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying: 3 Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not, in your eyes, as nothing in comparison? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong all you people of the land, says the Lord. Work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Hosts. 5 According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.
6 For thus says the Lord of Hosts: Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and earth, the sea and dry land. 7 And I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of Hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of Hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of Hosts.
Apollos Preaches in Ephesus
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, who was an eloquent man and powerful in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John, but being fervent in spirit, he accurately spoke and taught the things concerning the Lord. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him and explained the way of God more accurately.
27 When Apollos intended to pass into Achaia, the brothers wrote to encourage the disciples to welcome him. On arriving, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. 28 For he vehemently refuted the Jews publicly, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Ephesians Receive the Holy Spirit
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples 2 and said to them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?”
They said to him, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 He said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
The Good Samaritan
25 Now, a lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?”
27 He answered, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind’[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 By chance a priest came down that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to that place, looked at him and passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. Then he set him on his own donkey and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day when he departed, he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, ‘Take care of him. I will repay you whatever else you spend when I return.’
36 “Now which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.