Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 24[a]
The Lord’s Solemn Entry into Jerusalem
1 [b]A psalm of David.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it.[c]
2 For he founded it on the seas
and established[d] it on the rivers.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 One who has clean hands and a pure heart,[e]
who does not turn his mind to vanities
or swear an oath in order to deceive.
5 He will receive a blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God, his Savior.
6 This is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 [f]Lift up your arches, O gates;
rise up, you ancient portals,[g]
so that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, valiant in battle.
9 Lift up your arches, O gates,
rise up, you ancient portals,
so that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts:[h]
he is the King of glory. Selah
Psalm 29[a]
God’s Majesty in the Storm
1 A psalm of David.
Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,[b]
ascribe to the Lord glory and might.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;[c]
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord[d] echoes over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is filled with majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord shatters the cedars;
the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.[e]
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion[f] like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth
with bolts of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.[g]
9 The voice of the Lord batters the oaks
and strips the forests bare,
while in his temple all cry out, “Glory!”[h]
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood;[i]
the Lord is enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord grant strength to his people.
May the Lord bless his people with peace.
Psalm 8[a]
The Majesty of God and the Dignity of Human Beings
1 For the director.[b] “Upon the gittith.” A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, our Lord,
how glorious is your name[c] in all the earth!
You have exalted your majesty above the heavens.
3 Out of the mouths of newborn babes and infants[d]
you have brought forth praise
as a bulwark against your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
4 When I look up at your heavens
that have been formed by your fingers,
the moon and the stars
that you set in place,
5 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man[e] that you care for him?
6 You have made him a little less than the angels[f]
and crowned him with glory and honor.
7 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands
and placed everything under his feet:
8 all sheep and oxen
as well as the beasts of the field,
9 the birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims in the paths of the sea.
10 O Lord, our Lord,
how glorious is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 84[a]
Longing for God’s Dwelling
1 For the director.[b] “Upon the gittith.” A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts.[c]
3 My soul yearns and is filled with longing
for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
4 Just as the sparrow searches for a home
and the swallow builds a nest for herself
where she may place her young,
so do I seek your altars,[d]
O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
5 Blessed[e] are those who dwell in your house;
they offer continuous praise to you. Selah
6 Blessed are those who find strength in you,
who set their hearts upon your ways.[f]
7 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they turn it into a region of springs,
and the early rain covers it with pools.[g]
8 [h]They move forward with increasing strength
as they behold the God of gods in Zion.
9 O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer;
listen to my pleas, O God of Jacob. Selah
10 O God, look upon our shield[i]
behold the face of your anointed one.
11 It is better to spend one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper[j] in God’s house
than dwell inside the tents of the wicked.
12 The Lord God serves as our sun[k] and our shield;
the Lord showers us with grace and glory.
He does not withhold any good thing
from those who walk in integrity.
13 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the man who puts his trust in you.
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanse of the earth?
Tell me if you know all this.
19 “Can you point out the way to the dwelling of light
and show the abode of darkness,
20 so that you may assign each to its designated boundary
and escort them on their homeward paths?
21 Surely you must know this,
for you had already been born
and the years of your life are beyond numbering!
Have You Entered the Place Where the Snow Is Stored?[a]
22 [b]“Have you entered the place where the snow is stored,
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved for times of distress,
for the times of war and battle?
24 Can you show me the place where lightning is dispersed
or where the east wind is scattered over the earth?
25 “Who has cut a channel for the downpour of rain
and cleared a path for the thunderstorm
26 so that rain may fall on uninhabited lands,
on the wilderness devoid of human life,
27 and thus reinvigorate the wastes and the desolate land,
enabling grass to sprout on the thirsty ground?
28 “Does the rain have a father?
Who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Whose womb brings forth the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost of heaven,
30 causing a layer of stone to cover the waters
and the surface of the earth to congeal?
Do You Know the Ordinances of the Heavens?
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loosen the bonds of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their season
or indicate which way to go to the Bear[c] and its cubs?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you put into effect their rule on the earth?
34 “Can you raise up your voice to command the clouds
to envelop you in a deluge of rain?
35 Will flashes of lightning come forth at your command
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who has endowed the heart with wisdom
and given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can number all the rain clouds
and empty the cisterns of the heavens
38 so that the dust solidifies into a thick mass
and the clods of earth cling together?
A2: The Astonishing World of the Animals[d]
The Lion and the Raven
39 “Can you hunt prey for the lioness
or satisfy the hunger of young lions
40 while they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in the bushes?
41 Who provides the raven with prey
when its little ones cry out to God
in their need for sustenance?
Chapter 18
The Fall of Babylon the Great.[a] 1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and his splendor illumined the earth. 2 He cried out in a mighty voice:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit
and for every filthy and loathsome bird.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the wine of the wrath of her harlotry.
The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich
from her wealth and luxury.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying:
“Depart from her, my people,
so that you will not take part in her sins
and share in her plagues.
5 For her sins are piled up as high as the heavens,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay her back as she has done to others,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix her a double portion of her own poison.
7 Give her torment and grief
to equal the measure of her glory and luxury.
In her heart she says,
‘I rule as a queen.
I am not a widow,
and I will never experience grief.’
8 Therefore, in a single day
her plagues will come upon her:
pestilence and mourning and famine.
And she will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
21 Anger.[a]“You have heard that your ancestors were told: ‘You shall not kill, and anyone who kills will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I say this to you: Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever addresses his brother in an insulting way will answer for it before the Sanhedrin, and whoever calls his brother a fool will be liable to the fires of Gehenna.[b]
23 “Therefore, when offering your gift at the altar, if you should remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar and first go to be reconciled with your brother. Then return and offer your gift.
25 “Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court with him. If you fail to do so, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge will put you in the custody of the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Believe the truth of what I tell you: you will not be given your freedom until you have paid your debt down to the last penny.[c]
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