Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97
The Lord Reigns. Throw Away Your Idols
Introduction
1 The Lord reigns. Let the earth celebrate.
Let the many islands and coastlands rejoice.
God Will Judge
2 Clouds and deep darkness surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes out in front of him.
It burns up his foes all around him.
4 His lightning lights up the world.
The earth sees and writhes in pain.
5 The mountains melt like wax
in the presence of the Lord,
in the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
Warning Against Idols
7 All who serve idols are put to shame,
those who boast in “nothings.”[a]
Bow to him, all you gods![b]
His People’s Response
8 Zion hears and rejoices,
and the daughters of Judah[c] celebrate
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.
You are raised up far above all gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil.
He guards the lives of his favored ones.
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light rises[d] for the righteous
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
and give thanks as you remember his holiness.
Psalm 99
The Holy One Rules in Israel
Admonition to the Nations
1 The Lord reigns. Let the peoples tremble.
He is seated above the cherubim. Let the earth quake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion. He is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your name, great and awesome.
Refrain
He is holy!
Assurance to Israel
4 The King is mighty. He loves justice.
You, Lord,[a] have established fairness.
In Jacob you carried out justice and righteousness.
5 Exalt the Lord our God and bow down before his footstool.
Refrain
He is holy!
Examples From History
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests.
Samuel was among those who call on his name.
They called on the Lord, and he answered them.
7 From within the pillar of cloud he spoke to them.
They kept his testimonies and the order that he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them.
For them you were a God who removes sin,
but you repaid them for their deeds.
Concluding Refrain
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
and bow down before his holy mountain,
because the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 100
He Rules His People
Heading
A psalm for giving thanks.
Know That the Lord Is God
1 Shout to the Lord with joy, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are his.[b]
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.[c]
5 For the Lord is good. His mercy endures forever.
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 94
The Lord Rules the Wicked
A Call for Vengeance
1 O Lord, God of vengeance,
God of vengeance, shine forth.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth.
Repay the proud with what they deserve.
3 How long will the wicked, O Lord,
how long will the wicked celebrate?
The Deeds of the Wicked
4 They gush. They speak arrogantly.
All the evildoers brag about themselves.
5 They crush your people, O Lord.
They oppress the people that belong to you.
6 They kill the widow and the alien.
They murder the fatherless.
7 Then they say, “The Lord[a] does not see.
The God of Jacob does not understand.”
8 Understand, you brutes among the people.
You fools, when will you become wise?
Relief for the Righteous
9 The one who planted the ear—will he not hear?
The one who formed the eye—will he not observe?
10 The one who disciplines nations—will he not rebuke them?
He is the one who teaches mankind knowledge.
11 The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind.
He knows that they are just vapor.
12 How blessed is the person whom you discipline, O Lord,
whom you teach from your law.
13 You grant him rest in days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not desert his people,
and he will never forsake those who are his own.
15 Then judgment will again be based on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will pursue it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had been my helper,
my soul would soon have dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, “My foot has slipped,”
your mercy, Lord, upheld me.
19 When my worries within me were many,
your comfort brought joy to my soul.
20 Can a destructive throne be allied with you,
one that creates injustice by its decrees?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous,
and they condemn innocent blood.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God is the rock where I take refuge.
23 Then he will repay them for their iniquity,
and he will destroy them for their wickedness.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95
Worship and Warning
Worship
1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord.
Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let us approach his presence with thanksgiving.
With music we will shout to him.
3 For the Lord is the great God
and the great King above all gods.
4 He holds the unexplored places of the earth in his hand,
and the peaks of the mountains belong to him.
5 The sea belongs to him, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down. Let us revere him.
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker,
7 for he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture
and the flock in his hand.
Warning
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as they did at Meribah,
as they did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers challenged me
and tested me though they had seen what I had done.
10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation,
and I said, “They are a people who have hearts that stray.
They do not acknowledge my ways.”
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They shall never enter my resting place.”
The Lord’s Charges Against Israel and Its Priests
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you people of Israel,
because the Lord has charges to make against the inhabitants of the land,
because there is no truth,
there is no mercy,
and there is no knowledge of God in the land.
2 There is cursing, lying, murder, theft, and adultery.
They break out in violence, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,[a]
and everyone who dwells in it wastes away
along with the wild animals and the birds in the sky.
Even the fish of the sea have been removed.
4 Yet no one should bring charges.
No one should accuse,
because your people are like those who dispute with a priest.[b]
5 You will stumble by day,
and the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
I will also destroy your mother.
6 My people have been destroyed because of lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you
from serving as a priest for me.
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me.
I changed their glory into shame.[c]
8 They feed on the sin of my people.
They set their desire on things that make them guilty.
9 So it will be the same for people as for priests.
I will punish them for their ways.
I will repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat, but not be satisfied.
They will engage in sexual immorality, but not increase.
This will take place because they have abandoned the Lord to devote themselves to
To Tyre
21 After we[a] tore ourselves away from them and set sail, we headed straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 When we found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing by on its south side, we sailed to Syria and put in to port at Tyre, because there the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 We located the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5 When our time there came to an end, we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. We knelt down on the beach and prayed. 6 After saying good-bye to each other, we went on board the ship, and they returned home.
To Caesarea
7 When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brothers[b] and stayed with them for one day. 8 The next day, we left and came to Caesarea. We entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four virgin daughters, who prophesied. 10 After we had stayed there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he came to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands with it, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘This is the way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard this, both we and the local residents urged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Since he could not be persuaded, we said nothing more except, “May the Lord’s will be done.”
Jesus Heals a Leper
12 On another occasion, Jesus was in one of the towns, and there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be made clean.”
Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Jesus ordered him to tell no one, “But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony for them.” 15 The news about him spread even more, and large crowds gathered to listen and be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.
Jesus Forgives Sins
17 On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 Just then, men who were carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher tried to bring him in and lay him in front of Jesus. 19 Since they did not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him down through the tiles on his stretcher into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 When he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins have been forgiven.”
21 The experts in the law and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God alone?”
22 But Jesus knew their thoughts and answered them, “Why are you thinking this in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . .” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”
25 Immediately, he stood up in front of them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26 They were all astonished and glorified God. They were also filled with reverence and said, “We have seen wonderful things today.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.