Book of Common Prayer
The Eternal Reign of the Lord
93 The (A)Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord is clothed,
(B)He has girded Himself with strength.
Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be [a]moved.
2 (C)Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
3 The floods have [b]lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their waves.
4 (D)The Lord on high is mightier
Than the noise of many waters,
Than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Your testimonies are very sure;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, [c]forever.
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment(A)
96 Oh, (B)sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the [a]nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For (C)the Lord is great and (D)greatly to be praised;
(E)He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For (F)all the gods of the peoples are idols,
(G)But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and (H)beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 (I)Give[b] to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [c]Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the Lord (J)in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the [d]nations, (K)“The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be [e]moved;
(L)He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 (M)Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
(N)Let the sea roar, and [f]all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
(O)He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God
A Psalm of David (A)when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
34 I will (B)bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
4 I (C)sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 (D)The [a]angel of the Lord (E)encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, (F)taste and see that the Lord is good;
(G)Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no [b]want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
(H)But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
(I)I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 (J)Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking (K)deceit.
14 (L)Depart from evil and do good;
(M)Seek peace and pursue it.
15 (N)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 (O)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
(P)To [c]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and (Q)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 (R)The Lord is near (S)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [d]have a contrite spirit.
19 (T)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(U)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
(V)Not one of them is broken.
21 (W)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (X)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
The Family of Elkanah
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the (A)mountains of Ephraim, and his name was (B)Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of [a]Elihu, the son of [b]Tohu, the son of Zuph, (C)an Ephraimite. 2 And he had (D)two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.
Hannah’s Vow
8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not (A)better to you than ten sons?”
9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of (B)the [a]tabernacle of the Lord. 10 (C)And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and [b]wept in anguish. 11 Then she (D)made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed (E)look on the affliction of Your maidservant and (F)remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and (G)no razor shall come upon his head.”
12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”
15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have (H)poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not consider your maidservant a (I)wicked[c] woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.”
17 Then Eli answered and said, (J)“Go in peace, and (K)the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”
18 And she said, (L)“Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman (M)went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
Samuel Is Born and Dedicated
19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah (N)knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord (O)remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name [d]Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”
21 Now the man Elkanah and all his house (P)went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will (Q)take him, that he may appear before the Lord and (R)remain there (S)forever.”
23 So (T)Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord [e]establish [f]His word.” Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24 Now when she had weaned him, she (U)took him up with her, with [g]three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to (V)the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and (W)brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “O my lord! (X)As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. 27 (Y)For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be [h]lent to the Lord.” So they (Z)worshiped the Lord there.
Preeminence of Christ
9 (A)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask (B)that you may be filled with (C)the knowledge of His will (D)in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 (E)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, (F)fully pleasing Him, (G)being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the (H)knowledge of God; 11 (I)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, (J)for all patience and longsuffering (K)with joy; 12 (L)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of (M)the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from (N)the power of darkness (O)and [a]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 (P)in whom we have redemption [b]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is (Q)the image of the invisible God, (R)the firstborn over all creation. 16 For (S)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or (T)dominions or [c]principalities or [d]powers. All things were created (U)through Him and for Him. 17 (V)And He is before all things, and in Him (W)all things consist. 18 And (X)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, (Y)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Reconciled in Christ
19 For it pleased the Father that (Z)in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and (AA)by Him to reconcile (AB)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, (AC)having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Jesus Presented in the Temple
22 Now when (A)the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (B)(as it is written in the law of the Lord, (C)“Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, (D)“A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Simeon Sees God’s Salvation
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, (E)waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not (F)see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So he came (G)by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “Lord, (H)now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes (I)have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 (J)A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 [a]And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the (K)fall and rising of many in Israel, and for (L)a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, (M)a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Anna Bears Witness to the Redeemer
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of (N)Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow [b]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers (O)night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to [c]the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who (P)looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
The Family Returns to Nazareth
39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 (Q)And the Child grew and became strong [d]in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.