Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)exalt You, (B)my God, the King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation will praise Your works to another,
And will declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 People will speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They will burst forth [c]in speaking of Your (L)abundant goodness,
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and compassionate;
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is (O)good to all,
And His (P)mercies are over all His works.
10 (Q)All Your works will give thanks to You, Lord,
And Your (R)godly ones will bless You.
11 They will speak of the (S)glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your might,
12 To (T)make known to the sons of mankind [d]Your mighty acts,
And the (U)glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is [f]an (V)everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[g]The Lord is faithful in His words,
And holy in all His works.
14 The Lord (W)supports all who fall,
And (X)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all [h]look to You,
And You (Y)give them their food in due time.
16 You (Z)open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (AA)righteous in all His ways,
And kind in all His works.
18 The Lord is (AB)near to all who call on Him,
To all who call on Him (AC)in truth.
19 He will (AD)fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also (AE)hear their cry for help and save them.
20 The Lord (AF)watches over all who love Him,
But He will destroy all the (AG)wicked.
21 My (AH)mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And (AI)all flesh will (AJ)bless His holy name forever and ever.
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 (A)Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord my God, You are very great;
You are (B)clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Covering Yourself with (C)light as with a cloak,
(D)Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 [a]He (E)lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
[b]He makes the (F)clouds His chariot;
[c]He walks on the (G)wings of the wind;
4 [d]He makes [e](H)the winds His messengers,
[f]Flaming (I)fire His ministers.
5 He (J)established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not [g]totter forever and ever.
6 You (K)covered it with the deep sea as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 They fled from Your (L)rebuke,
At the (M)sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the (N)place which You established for them.
9 You set a (O)boundary so that they will not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 [h]He sends forth (P)springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
11 They (Q)give drink to every animal of the field;
The (R)wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky (S)dwell [i]beside them;
They [j]lift up their voices from among the branches.
13 [k]He (T)waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
(U)The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 [l]He causes the (V)grass to grow for the [m]cattle,
And (W)vegetation for the labor of mankind,
So that [n]they may produce [o]food (X)from the earth,
15 And (Y)wine, which makes a human heart cheerful,
(Z)So that he makes his face gleam with oil,
And [p]food, which (AA)sustains a human heart.
16 The trees of the Lord [q]drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the (AB)birds build their nests,
And the (AC)stork, whose home is the juniper trees.
18 The high mountains are for the (AD)wild goats;
The (AE)cliffs are a refuge for the (AF)rock hyrax.
19 He made the moon (AG)for the seasons;
The (AH)sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You (AI)appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the (AJ)animals of the forest [r]prowl about.
21 The (AK)young lions roar for their prey
[s]And (AL)seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw,
And they lie down in their (AM)dens.
23 A person goes out to (AN)his work
And to his labor until evening.
24 Lord, how (AO)many are Your works!
[t]In (AP)wisdom You have made them all;
The (AQ)earth is full of Your [u]possessions.
25 [v]There is the (AR)sea, great and [w]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 The (AS)ships move along there,
And [x](AT)Leviathan, which You have formed to have fun in it.
27 They all (AU)wait for You
To (AV)give them their food in [y]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (AW)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (AX)hide Your face, they are terrified;
You (AY)take away their breath, they perish
And (AZ)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [z](BA)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 May the (BB)glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord (BC)rejoice in His works;
32 [aa]He (BD)looks at the earth, and it (BE)trembles;
He (BF)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [ab]I will sing to the Lord [ac](BG)as long as I live;
[ad]I will (BH)sing praise to my God [ae]while I have my being.
34 May my (BI)praise be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (BJ)rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners be (BK)removed from the earth
And may the (BL)wicked be no more.
(BM)Bless the Lord, my soul.
[af](BN)Praise [ag]the Lord!
God Leads the People
17 Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “(A)The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 Therefore God led the people around by way of the wilderness to the [a]Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up (B)in battle formation from the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took (C)the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will certainly [b]take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.” 20 Then they set out from (D)Succoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And (E)the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they might [c]travel by day and by night. 22 [d]He (F)did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from the presence of the people.
Pharaoh in Pursuit
14 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp in front of (G)Pi-hahiroth, between (H)Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And (I)I will [e]harden Pharaoh’s heart, and (J)he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and (K)the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
16 Therefore we (A)do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our (B)inner person is (C)being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary, (D)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we (E)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The Temporal and Eternal
5 For we know that if our [a](F)earthly (G)tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house (H)not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed, in this tent we (I)groan, longing to be (J)clothed with our [b]dwelling from heaven, 3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed, we who are in this tent (K)groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be (L)clothed, so that what is (M)mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who (N)gave us the Spirit as a [c]pledge.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that (O)while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for (P)we walk by faith, not by [d]sight— 8 but we are of good courage and (Q)prefer rather to be absent from the body and (R)to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be (S)pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before (T)the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for [e]his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.
18 (A)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to [a]Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (B)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to [b]marry the wife and raise up [c]children for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 The second one [d]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not [e]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But [f]regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, (C)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘(D)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 (E)He is not the God [g]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
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