Book of Common Prayer
The King of Glory and His Kingdom
A Psalm of David.
24 The (A)earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
2 For He has (B)founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the [a]waters.
3 (C)Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has (D)clean hands and (E)a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor (F)sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who (G)seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah
7 (H)Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
(I)And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in (J)battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah
Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty
A Psalm of David.
29 Give[a] (A)unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
2 [b]Give unto the Lord the glory [c]due to His name;
Worship the Lord in (B)the [d]beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
(C)The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks (D)the cedars,
Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 (E)He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and (F)Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord [e]divides the flames of fire.
The Glory of the Lord in Creation
To the Chief Musician. [a]On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How (A)excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have (B)set Your glory above the heavens!
2 (C)Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have [b]ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence (D)the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I (E)consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 (F)What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You (G)visit[c] him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than [d]the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 (H)You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
(I)You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
9 (J)O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God
To the Chief Musician. (A)On[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 How (B)lovely [b]is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
2 (C)My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your (D)house;
They will still be praising You. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley (E)of [c]Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with [d]pools.
7 They go (F)from strength to strength;
[e]Each one (G)appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 (H)O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your [f]anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather [g]be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is (I)a sun and (J)shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
(K)No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
(L)Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Wealth Is Not the Goal of Life
6 There(A) is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, (B)so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; (C)yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil [a]affliction.
3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or (D)indeed he has no burial, I say that (E)a [b]stillborn child is better than he— 4 for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one (F)place?
7 (G)All the labor of man is for his mouth,
And yet the soul is not satisfied.
8 For what more has the wise man than the fool?
What does the poor man have,
Who knows how to walk before the living?
9 Better is [c]the (H)sight of the eyes than the wandering of [d]desire.
This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
10 Whatever one is, he has been named (I)already,
For it is known that he is man;
(J)And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.
11 Since there are many things that increase vanity,
How is man the better?
12 For who knows what is good for man in life, [e]all the days of his [f]vain life which he passes like (K)a shadow? (L)Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
Peter’s Vision
9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, (A)Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about [a]the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and (B)saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! (C)For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, (D)“What God has [b]cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
Summoned to Caesarea
17 Now while Peter [c]wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
19 While Peter thought about the vision, (E)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 (F)Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
21 Then Peter went down to the men [d]who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?”
22 And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and (G)has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.” 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them.
On the next day Peter went away with them, (H)and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
32 “Do not fear, little flock, for (A)it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 (B)Sell what you have and give (C)alms; (D)provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant(E)
35 (F)“Let your waist be girded and (G)your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 (H)Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 (I)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would [a]have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 (J)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.