Book of Common Prayer
93 Jehovah is King! He is robed in majesty and strength. The world is his throne.[a]
2 O Lord, you have reigned from prehistoric times, from the everlasting past. 3 The mighty oceans thunder your praise. 4 You are mightier than all the breakers pounding on the seashores of the world! 5 Your royal decrees cannot be changed. Holiness is forever the keynote of your reign.
96 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing it everywhere around the world! 2 Sing out his praises! Bless his name. Each day tell someone that he saves.
3 Publish his glorious acts throughout the earth. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. 4 For the Lord is great beyond description and greatly to be praised. Worship only him among the gods! 5 For the gods of other nations are merely idols, but our God made the heavens! 6 Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty are in his Temple.
7 O nations of the world, confess that God alone is glorious and strong. 8 Give him the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come to worship him.[a] 9 Worship the Lord with the beauty of holy lives.[b] Let the earth tremble before him. 10 Tell the nations that Jehovah reigns! He rules the world. His power can never be overthrown. He will judge all nations fairly.
11 Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the vastness of the roaring seas demonstrate his glory. 12 Praise him for the growing fields, for they display his greatness. Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise. 13 For the Lord is coming to judge the earth; he will judge the nations fairly and with truth!
34 I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace.[a] 2 I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. 3 Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.
4 For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears. 5 Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! 6 This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. 7 For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.
8 Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him. 9 If you belong to the Lord, reverence him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those of us who reverence the Lord will never lack any good thing.
11 Sons and daughters, come and listen and let me teach you the importance of trusting and fearing the Lord. 12 Do you want a long, good life? 13 Then watch your tongue! Keep your lips from lying. 14 Turn from all known sin and spend your time in doing good. Try to live in peace with everyone; work hard at it.
15 For the eyes of the Lord are intently watching all who live good lives, and he gives attention when they cry to him. 16 But the Lord has made up his mind to wipe out even the memory of evil men from the earth. 17 Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to him for help and saves him out of all his troubles.
18 The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. 19 The good man does not escape all troubles—he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one. 20 Not one of his bones is broken.
21 Calamity will surely overtake the wicked; heavy penalties are meted out to those who hate the good. 22 But as for those who serve the Lord, he will redeem them; everyone who takes refuge in him will be freely pardoned.
1 This is the story of Elkanah, a man of the tribe of Ephraim who lived in Ramathaim-zophim, in the hills of Ephraim.
His father’s name was Jeroham,
His grandfather was Elihu,
His great-grandfather was Tohu,
His great-great-grandfather was Zuph.
2 He had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had some children, but Hannah didn’t.
7 Every year it was the same—Peninnah scoffing and laughing at her as they went to Shiloh, making her cry so much she couldn’t eat.
8 “What’s the matter, Hannah?” Elkanah would exclaim. “Why aren’t you eating? Why make such a fuss over having no children? Isn’t having me better than having ten sons?”
9 One evening after supper, when they were at Shiloh, Hannah went over to the Tabernacle. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance. 10 She was in deep anguish and was crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord.
11 And she made this vow: “O Lord of heaven, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you, and he’ll be yours for his entire lifetime, and his hair shall never be cut.”[a]
12-13 Eli noticed her mouth moving as she was praying silently and, hearing no sound, thought she had been drinking.
14 “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your bottle.”
15-16 “Oh no, sir!” she replied, “I’m not drunk! But I am very sad and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Please don’t think that I am just some drunken bum!”
17 “In that case,” Eli said, “cheer up! May the Lord of Israel grant you your petition, whatever it is!”
18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed, and went happily back, and began to take her meals again.
19-20 The entire family was up early the next morning and went to the Tabernacle to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah, and when Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her petition; in the process of time, a baby boy was born to her. She named him Samuel (meaning “asked of God”)[b] because, as she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”
21-22 The next year Elkanah and Peninnah and her children went on the annual trip to the Tabernacle without Hannah, for she told her husband, “Wait until the baby is weaned, and then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there.”
23 “Well, whatever you think best,” Elkanah agreed. “May the Lord’s will be done.”
So she stayed home until the baby was weaned. 24 Then, though he was still so small, they took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh, along with a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice, and a bushel of flour and some wine. 25 After the sacrifice they took the child to Eli.
26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked him. “I am the woman who stood here that time praying to the Lord! 27 I asked him to give me this child, and he has given me my request; 28 and now I am giving him to the Lord for as long as he lives.” So she left him there at the Tabernacle for the Lord to use.
9 So ever since we first heard about you we have kept on praying and asking God to help you understand what he wants you to do; asking him to make you wise about spiritual things; 10 and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the time you are learning to know God better and better.
11 We are praying, too, that you will be filled with his mighty, glorious strength so that you can keep going no matter what happens—always full of the joy of the Lord, 12 and always thankful to the Father who has made us fit to share all the wonderful things that belong to those who live in the Kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan’s kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins.
15 Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all,[a] and, in fact, 16 Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. 17 He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. 18 He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead,[b] so that he is first in everything; 19 for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.
20 It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood.
22 When the time came for Mary’s purification offering at the Temple, as required by the laws of Moses after the birth of a child, his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord; 23 for in these laws God had said, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.”
24 At that time Jesus’ parents also offered their sacrifice for purification—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” was the legal requirement. 25 That day a man named Simeon, a Jerusalem resident, was in the Temple. He was a good man, very devout, filled with the Holy Spirit and constantly expecting the Messiah[a] to come soon. 26 For the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen him—God’s anointed King. 27 The Holy Spirit had impelled him to go to the Temple that day; and so, when Mary and Joseph arrived to present the baby Jesus to the Lord in obedience to the law, 28 Simeon was there and took the child in his arms, praising God.
29-31 “Lord,” he said, “now I can die content! For I have seen him as you promised me I would. I have seen the Savior you have given to the world. 32 He is the Light that will shine upon the nations, and he will be the glory of your people Israel!”
33 Joseph and Mary just stood there, marveling at what was being said about Jesus.
34-35 Simeon blessed them but then said to Mary, “A sword shall pierce your soul, for this child shall be rejected by many in Israel, and this to their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy of many others. And the deepest thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed.”
36-37 Anna, a prophetess, was also there in the Temple that day. She was the daughter of Phanuel, of the Jewish tribe of Asher, and was very old, for she had been a widow for eighty-four years following seven years of marriage. She never left the Temple but stayed there night and day, worshiping God by praying and often fasting.
38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she also began thanking God and telling everyone in Jerusalem who had been awaiting the coming of the Savior[b] that the Messiah had finally arrived.
39 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the Law of God, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child became a strong, robust lad, and was known for wisdom beyond his years; and God poured out his blessings on him.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.