Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving to God for His Works
For the music director. A song. A psalm.[a]
66 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.
2 Sing the glory of his name.
Set forth his glorious praise.[b]
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your works!
Because of the greatness of your strength,
your enemies will cringe before you.
4 All the earth will bow in worship to you,
and sing praise to you.
They will sing the praise of your name.” Selah
5 Come and consider[c] the works of God;
he is awesome in his dealings[d] with the children of humankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry ground;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him.
7 He rules by his might forever;
his eyes keep watch on the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.[e] Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples,
and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,
9 the one who has kept our soul among the living,
and has not allowed our foot to slip.
10 For you have tested us, O God;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you placed a heavy burden[f] on our backs.
12 You let men[g] ride over our heads.
We went through fire and through water,
but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.[h]
13 I will come into your house[i] with burnt offerings.
I will pay to you my vows
14 that my lips uttered,
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fat animals I will offer to you,
with the smoke of rams.
I will do[j] cattle with rams. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you God-fearers, and I will tell
what he has done for me.[k]
17 I called to him with my mouth,
and he was extolled with my tongue.[l]
18 If I had considered evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 However, God has listened;
he has attended to the sound of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
who has not turned aside my prayer,
or his loyal love from me.
A Prayer of Blessing
For the music director, with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.[m]
67 May God be gracious to us and bless us.
May he cause his face to shine toward us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on the earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all of the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
because you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its produce.
God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
116 I love him, because Yahweh has heard
the voice of my supplications.[a]
2 Because he has inclined his ear to me,
I will call all my days.[b]
3 The ropes of death encircled me,
and the distresses of Sheol found me.
I found trouble and grief.
4 Then I called on the name of Yahweh:
“O Yahweh, please save my life!”
5 Gracious is Yahweh and righteous,
and our God is merciful.
6 Yahweh watches over the simple.
I was brought low, but he gave me victory.
7 Return, O my soul, to your repose,
for Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have rescued me[c] from death,
my eyes[d] from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk before Yahweh
in the land[e] of the living.
10 I believed when I spoke,
“I am afflicted greatly.”
11 I said in my haste,
“Everyone[f] is a liar.”
12 What shall I give back to Yahweh
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and proclaim the name of Yahweh.
14 I will pay my vows made to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people.
15 Costly in Yahweh’s view[g] is
the death of his faithful ones.
16 Ah, Yahweh, I am indeed your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and proclaim the name of Yahweh.
18 I will pay my vows made to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house[h] of Yahweh,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise Yah![i]
Let All Peoples Praise Yahweh
117 Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For his loyal love is mighty on our behalf,
and the faithfulness of Yahweh is forever.
Praise Yah![j]
2 Then Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength is exalted in Yahweh; I grin[a] over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.
2 There is no one holy like Yahweh, for there is no one besides you,
and there is no rock like our God.
3 Do not increase speaking very proud[b] words!
Let no arrogance go forth from your mouth,
for Yahweh is a God of knowledge
whose deeds are not weighed.[c]
4 The bows of mighty warriors are shattered,
but those who stumble gird themselves with strength.
5 Those who were full must hire themselves out for bread,
but those who are hungry will become fat.
As for the infertile, she will bear seven,
but she who has many sons withers away.
6 Yahweh kills and restores alive,
he brings down to Sheol[d] and raises up.
7 Yahweh makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust.
From the ash heap he lifts up the needy,
to cause them to sit with noble people
and to cause them to inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth belong to Yahweh
and he has set the inhabited world on them.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful[e] ones,
but the wicked will be destroyed[f] in the darkness,
because a man will not prevail by his might.
10 Yahweh will shatter[g] his adversaries;[h]
he will thunder against them in the heavens.
Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth.
He will give strength to his king
and will exalt the might of his anointed one.
Sound Instruction and Consistent Behavior
2 But you, speak the things which are fitting for sound instruction. 2 Older men are to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderous, not enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 in order that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, busy at home, good, being subject to their own husbands, in order that the word of God may not be slandered. 6 Likewise, exhort the young men to be self-controlled, 7 concerning everything showing yourself to be an example of good deeds, in your teaching demonstrating soundness, dignity, 8 a sound message beyond reproach, in order that an opponent[a] may be put to shame, because he[b] has nothing bad to say concerning us.
9 Slaves must be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not to talk back, 10 not stealing, but demonstrating all good faith, in order that they may do credit to the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
The Prediction of Jesus’ Birth
26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named[a] Nazareth, 27 to a virgin legally promised in marriage to a man named[b] Joseph of the house of David. And the name of the virgin was Mary. 28 And he came to her and[c] said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly perplexed at the statement, and was pondering what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son,
and you will call his name Jesus.
32 This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
33 And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,[d]
and of his kingdom there will be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 35 And the angel answered and[e] said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth—she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”[f]
38 So Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s female slave! May it happen to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software