Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 93
1 The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.
Indeed, the world is established;
it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne is established of old;
You are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring waves.
4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
yes, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Your statutes are very sure;
holiness is becoming to Your house,
O Lord, forever.
Psalm 96(A)
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song;
sing unto the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;
declare His salvation from day to day.
3 Proclaim His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give unto the Lord, O families of the people,
give unto the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give unto the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Indeed, the world is established; it shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field be joyful, and all that is in it;
then all the trees of the forests shall rejoice
13 before the Lord, for He comes,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with His faithfulness.
Psalm 34
A Psalm of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he departed.
1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise will continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
the humble will hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and became radiant,
and their faces are not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear Him,
and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints;
for the ones who fear Him will not be in need.
10 The young lions are in want and suffer hunger,
but the ones who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
and loves a long life in order to see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against the ones doing evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
and saves the contrite of spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 A righteous one keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of His servants,
and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.
Gideon
6 The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years. 2 The hands of Midian dominated Israel, and because of Midian the children of Israel made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever Israel would plant crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would come up against them. 4 Then they would make camp by them and ruin crops of the land all the way to Gaza. They did not leave any provisions behind in Israel—neither sheep, nor cattle, nor donkeys. 5 For they came with their livestock and tents like a swarm of locusts. They and their camels were too numerous to count, and they came into the land to destroy it. 6 Israel was made weak before Midian and cried out to the Lord.
7 When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8 the Lord sent them a prophet who said, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and out of that place of slavery. 9 I delivered you from the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God. Do not worship the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you have disobeyed Me.”
11 Now the angel[a] of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah belonging to Joash the Abiezrite. Gideon his son was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us? Where are all His miracles that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?’ Yet now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours. Save Israel from the control of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
15 And he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
16 Then the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you will strike the Midianites as one man.”
17 And he said to Him, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You who are speaking with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to You and bring out my gift and set it before You.”
And He said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.
20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And so he did. 21 The angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and unleavened flatbread. Fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord departed from his sight. 22 Then Gideon perceived that it was indeed the angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”
23 Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. You will not die.”
24 Then Gideon built an altar for the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. Even to this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Let every man give according to the purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, always having enough of everything, may abound to every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor;
His righteousness remains forever.”[a]
10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and supplies bread for your food will also multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. 11 So you will be enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which makes us give thanks to God.
12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the need of the saints, but is abundant also through many thanksgivings to God. 13 Meanwhile, through the performance of this ministry, they glorify God for the profession of your faith in the gospel of Christ and for your liberal sharing with them and with all others. 14 And in their prayer for you, they long for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.
Jesus and Beelzebub(A)
20 Then they entered a house, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat bread. 21 When His family heard of it, they went out to seize Him, for they said, “He is beside Himself.”
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
23 So He called them to Him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rises up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then he will plunder his house. 28 Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they speak. 29 But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal condemnation.”
30 For they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.