Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118
The Stone the Builders Rejected
Introduction
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
4 Let those who fear the Lord say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
Trust During Distress
5 Under pressure I cried to the Lord.[a]
The Lord answered me.
He set me in a wide-open space.
6 The Lord is with me.
I will not be afraid.
What can people do to me?
7 The Lord, who is with me, is my helper,
so I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in human benefactors.[b]
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.[c]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees,
but they were extinguished as quickly as a fire of thorns.
In the name of the Lord I cut them off.
13 You pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.
The Messiah’s Joy in Victory
14 My strength and song is the Lord,
and he has become salvation for me.
15 Loud shouts of victory are heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord has done a mighty deed!
16 The right hand of the Lord is lifted high!
The right hand of the Lord has done a mighty deed!”
17 I will not die. No, I will live,
and I will proclaim the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not handed me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness.
I will enter them. I will give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate to the Lord.
The righteous enter it.
21 I will give you thanks,
because you answered me,
and you have become salvation for me.
The Joy in Victory of Messiah’s Followers
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.[d]
23 This is from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, please save us now.[e]
O Lord, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he makes light shine on us.
Bind the festival with branches as far as the horns of the altar.[f]
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God, and I will exalt you.
Conclusion
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Psalm 145
The Lord Is Worthy of Praise
Heading
A song of praise. By David.
Praise
1 I will exalt you, my God, the King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Proclamation of His Greatness
3 Great is the Lord and worthy of great praise,
and there are no limits to the extent of his greatness.
Praise
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and they will declare your mighty acts.
5 I will contemplate the glorious splendor of your majesty
and the accounts of your wonderful works.
6 Then they will speak about the power of your awesome works,
and I will tell about your great deeds.
7 They will pour forth the memory of your abundant goodness
and sing loudly about your righteousness.
Proclamation of His Grace
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all.
His compassion extends over all he has made.
Praise
10 Everyone you have made will thank you, O Lord,
and the ones you favor will bless you.
11 They will tell about the glory of your kingdom,
and they will speak about your might,
12 to make known his might to the children of Adam,
to make known the glorious splendor of his kingdom.
Proclamation of His Kingdom
13 Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is faithful to all his words
and merciful toward all he has made.[a]
14 The Lord lifts up all who fall,
and he supports all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look eagerly to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 He opens his hand,
and he satisfies the desire of every living thing.[b]
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and merciful toward all that he has made.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He grants the desire of those who fear him.
He hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but he will destroy all the wicked.
Praise
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.
Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? This makes three times you have made a fool of me, and you have not told me where your great strength comes from.” 16 This was how she tormented him with her words day after day and nagged him until he was sick to death of it.
17 Finally he told her everything in his heart. He said to her, “A razor has never touched my head, because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from the womb of my mother. If I am ever shaved, my strength will desert me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”
18 When Delilah saw that he told her everything in his heart, she sent for the serens of the Philistines, saying, “Come back one more time, for he has poured out his heart to me.”
The serens of the Philistines came up to her and brought the silver in their hands. 19 Delilah let Samson fall asleep on her lap. Then she called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head. She began his humiliation, because his strength had left him. 20 She said, “Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have time after time, and I will shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.
21 The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, and restrained him with bronze shackles. He had to grind grain in the prison.
22 But the hair on his head began to grow after it had been shaved.
Samson’s Death
23 Meanwhile, the serens of the Philistines gathered to make a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has given our enemy Samson into our hands.”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god: “Our god has given our enemy into our hands, the devastator of our land, who has caused the death of many of us.”
25 When they were feeling good, they said, “Send for Samson, so that he can provide amusement for us.” They summoned Samson from the prison, and he served as their entertainment.
They made Samson stand between the pillars. 26 He said to the young man who led him by his hand, “Put me where I can touch the pillars that support the building, so I can lean upon them.” 27 The building was full of men and women, as well as all the serens of the Philistines. On the roof were about three thousand more men and women watching Samson as he was amusing them.
28 Samson called out to the Lord. He said, “Lord God, remember me, I pray. Give me strength, I pray, this one more time, O God. Let me get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes in one act of vengeance.” 29 Samson then grasped the two central pillars supporting the building. He leaned against them, one with his right hand and one with his left. 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his strength, and the building fell upon the serens and upon all the people who were inside.
The Philistines he put to death when he died were more numerous than those he had put to death during his lifetime.
31 Then his brothers and his father’s entire household went down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had served as judge of Israel for twenty years.
13 This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony[a] of two or three witnesses.”[b] 2 I have said this before, and before I arrive I am saying it again—as I did when I was present the second time, even though I am now absent—to those who sinned earlier and to all the rest: When I arrive, I will not spare you. 3 I say this because you are seeking proof that Christ (who is not weak toward you, but is powerful in you) is speaking in me. 4 To be sure, he was crucified as a result of weakness, yet he lives as a result of God’s power. Certainly, we are also weak in him, but we will live with him for your benefit, as a result of God’s power.
5 Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not know this about yourselves: that Jesus Christ is in you—unless perhaps you fail the test? 6 But I hope that you will recognize that we are not failing the test.
7 We pray to God that you may not do anything evil, not so that we may appear to have passed the test, but so that you may do what is good, even if we may seem like those who are failing to pass the test. 8 To be sure, we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 Yes, we rejoice whenever we are weak and you are strong. And we are praying for your complete restoration. 10 It is for this reason that I am writing these things while I am still absent, so that, when I am present, I may not have to deal harshly with you, using the authority that the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
Farewell
11 Finally, brothers,[c] rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
25 A certain woman who was there had a discharge of blood for twelve years. 26 She had suffered much under the care of many physicians and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. 27 When she heard what was being said about Jesus, she went up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe. 28 She said, “If I just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30 At that moment, Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing tightly against you and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
32 Nevertheless he kept looking around to see who had done this. 33 The woman was trembling with fear since she knew what had happened to her. She came forward, fell down in front of him, and told him the whole truth.
34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your suffering.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.