Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97
The Glory of God’s Reign
1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!(A)
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.(B)
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his adversaries on every side.(C)
4 His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.(D)
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All servants of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.(E)
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns[a] of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O God.(F)
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.(G)
Psalm 99
Praise to God for His Holiness
1 The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!(A)
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.(B)
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
4 Mighty King,[a] lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.(C)
5 Extol the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!(D)
Psalm 115
The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God
1 [a]Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.(A)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(B)
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.(C)
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(D)
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see.
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
they have noses, but they do not smell.
7 They have hands, but they do not feel;
they have feet, but they do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.(E)
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.(F)
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.(G)
12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,
both small and great.
40 The time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.(A) 41 At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that very day, all the companies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.(B) 42 That was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all the Israelites throughout their generations.(C)
Directions for the Passover
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance for the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after he has been circumcised; 45 no bound or hired servant may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the animal outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.(D) 47 The whole congregation of Israel shall do this.(E) 48 If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it; 49 there shall be one law for the native-born and for the alien who resides among you.”(F)
50 All the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 That very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company.(G)
29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour?(A) 31 I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord.(B) 32 If I fought with wild animals at Ephesus with a merely human perspective, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”(C)
33 Do not be deceived:
“Bad company ruins good morals.”
34 Sober up, as you rightly ought to, and sin no more, for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.(D)
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.(E) 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
The Resurrection of Jesus
28 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.(A) 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.(B) 3 His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.(C) 6 He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he[a] lay.(D) 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead,[b] and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”(E) 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.(F) 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”(G)
The Report of the Guard
11 While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened.(H) 12 After the priests[c] had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 telling them, “You must say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”(I) 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Judeans to this day.
The Commissioning of the Disciples
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.(J)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.