Book of Common Prayer
מ MEM
97 Oh, how I love Your law!
(A)It is my meditation all the day.
98 You, through Your commandments, make me (B)wiser than my enemies;
For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
(C)For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 (D)I understand more than the [a]ancients,
Because I keep Your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
102 I have not departed from Your judgments,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103 (E)How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
נ NUN
105 (F)Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 (G)I have sworn and confirmed
That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 Accept, I pray, (H)the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your judgments.
109 (I)My life is continually [b]in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 (J)The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
111 (K)Your testimonies I have taken as a [c]heritage forever,
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, to the very end.
ס SAMEK
113 I hate the [d]double-minded,
But I love Your law.
114 (L)You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word.
115 (M)Depart from me, you evildoers,
For I will keep the commandments of my God!
116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me (N)be ashamed of my hope.
117 [e]Hold me up, and I shall be safe,
And I shall observe Your statutes continually.
118 You reject all those who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceit is falsehood.
119 You [f]put away all the wicked of the earth (O)like [g]dross;
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 (P)My flesh trembles for fear of You,
And I am afraid of Your judgments.
An Appeal for Israel’s Repentance
To the Chief Musician. (A)On[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4 For (B)this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
(C)Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 (D)You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
(E)I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I (F)tested you at the waters of [b]Meribah. Selah
8 “Hear,(G) O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9 There shall be no (H)foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 (I)I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
(J)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have (K)none of Me.
12 (L)So I gave them over to [c]their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh,(M) that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (N)The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him,
But their [d]fate would endure forever.
16 He would (O)have fed them also with [e]the finest of wheat;
And with honey (P)from the rock I would have satisfied you.”
A Plea for Justice
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God (Q)stands in the congregation of [f]the mighty;
He judges among (R)the [g]gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly,
And (S)show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 [h]Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and (T)needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the (U)foundations of the earth are [i]unstable.
6 I said, (V)“You are [j]gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
(W)For You shall inherit all nations.
73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities.
Ezra Reads the Law
(A)When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities.
Ezra Reads and Explains the Law
8 Now all (B)the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was (C)in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the (D)scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought (E)the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding (F)on the first day of the seventh month. 3 Then he (G)read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate [a]from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people (A)stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.
Then all the people (B)answered, “Amen, Amen!” while (C)lifting up their hands. And they (D)bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, (E)helped the people to understand the Law; and the people (F)stood in their place. 8 So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.
9 (G)And Nehemiah, who was the [a]governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, (H)“This day is holy to the Lord your God; (I)do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, (J)and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to (K)send portions and rejoice greatly, because they (L)understood the words that were declared to them.
The Feast of Tabernacles(M)
13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. 14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in (N)booths[b] during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and (O)that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and (P)in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and (Q)bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the (R)roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the (S)Water Gate (T)and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made [c]booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very (U)great gladness. 18 Also (V)day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast (W)seven days; and on the (X)eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
Finality of Babylon’s Fall
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, (A)“Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and (B)shall not be found anymore. 22 (C)The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 (D)The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, (E)and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For (F)your merchants were the great men of the earth, (G)for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And (H)in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who (I)were slain on the earth.”
Jesus Heals Great Multitudes(A)
29 (B)Jesus departed from there, (C)skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 (D)Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, [a]maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ (E)feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the [b]maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they (F)glorified the God of Israel.
Feeding the Four Thousand(G)
32 (H)Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 (I)Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And (J)He took the seven loaves and the fish and (K)gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 (L)And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of [c]Magdala.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.