Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
1 For the director.[b] A song. A psalm.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;[c]
2 sing to the glory of his name;[d]
offer to him glorious praise.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power,
your enemies grovel before you.
4 The whole earth bows down in worship before you,
singing praises to you,
singing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and behold[e] the works of God,
the awesome deeds he has done for people.
6 He changed the sea into dry land;
they crossed the river[f] on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 for he rules forever by his power.
His eyes keep watch over the nations
so that the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
8 [g]Bless our God, all you peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 For he has preserved our lives[h]
and has kept our feet from stumbling.
10 For you, O God, have put us to the test;
you have purified us as silver is refined.
11 [i]You allowed us to be snared in the net
and placed heavy burdens on our backs.
12 You let our captors ride over our heads,[j]
and we went through fire and water,
but now you have afforded us relief.
13 [k]I will enter your house with burnt offerings
and carry out my vows to you,
14 the vows that my lips pronounced
and my mouth promised when I was in distress.
15 I will offer burnt offerings of fat animals
with the smoke of burning rams;
I will sacrifice to you bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God,
while I relate what he has done for me.
17 [l]I lifted up my voice in prayer to him;
his praise[m] was on my tongue.
18 [n]If I had harbored evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But God truly did listen,
and he was attentive to the words of my prayer.
20 Blessed[o] be God,
because he did not reject my prayer
or withhold his kindness from me.
9 “To whom will the prophet impart knowledge?
To whom will he explain his message?
To babies who are newly weaned,
to those just taken from the breast?
10 With him we are given
command after command, command after command,
rule after rule, rule after rule,
here a little, there a little.”[a]
11 Now, with stammering lips
and in an alien tongue,
he will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
“This is the place for rest;
give rest to the weary.
This is the place for repose.”
However, they would not listen.
13 Therefore, to them the word of the Lord will be,
“Command after command, command after command,
rule after rule, rule after rule,
here a little, there a little.”
14 Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord,
you arrogant rulers of this people in Jerusalem.
15 Proudly you have boasted,
“We have made a covenant with death
and entered into a pact with the netherworld.
And so, when the overwhelming scourge occurs,
it will not afflict us.
For we have made lies our refuge
and taken shelter in falsehood.”
16 Therefore, the Lord God
has this to say to you in response:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a stone that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone as a firm foundation;
those who place their trust in it will not falter.
New Life in the Church
For Christians in General[a]
Chapter 4
Christian Unity and Maturity.[b] 1 Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I implore you to behave in a manner worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in a spirit of love. 3 Make every possible effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, as well as one hope to which you have been called by your vocation, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure in which Christ allotted it. 8 Therefore, it is written,
“When he ascended to the heights,
he took prisoners into captivity
and gave gifts to men.”
9 Now the word “ascended” implies that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth. 10 The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
11 It was he who established some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,[c] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry in building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us attain to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to full maturity, as measured by the full stature of Christ.
14 In this way, we will no longer be like children, tossed back and forth by the waves and swept along by every new wind of teaching, emanating from human cunning and craftiness and leading people into error. 15 Rather, professing truth and love, we will in all things grow into him who is the head, Christ. 16 From him, the entire body, joined and held together by every ligament, continues to grow and to build itself up in love, as each part performs its particular function.
Psalm 116[a]
Thanksgiving to God for Help Received
1 I love the Lord because he has heard my voice
and listened to my cry for mercy,[b]
2 because he has inclined his ear to me
on the day when I called out to him.[c]
3 The bonds of death[d] encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld held me tightly.
I was seized by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I cried out in the name[e] of the Lord:
“O Lord, I entreat you to preserve my life.”
5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord watches over his little ones;[f]
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Be at peace once again, O my soul,
for the Lord has shown mercy to you.
8 He has delivered my soul[g] from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.[h]
10 I believed; therefore, I said,[i]
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 In my dismay I cried out,
“All men are liars.”[j]
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the good he has done for me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation[k]
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows[l] to the Lord
in the presence of his people.
15 Precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death[m] of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant.
I am your servant, the child of your handmaid;[n]
you have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Alleluia.[o]
Psalm 117[p]
Universal Praise of God
15 “If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you forever,
17 the Spirit of Truth
whom the world cannot accept
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you know him,
because he dwells with you
and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you orphans;
I will come to you.
19 In a little while,
the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me.
Because I live,
you also will live.
20 On that day, you will know
that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you.
21 “Anyone who has received my commandments
and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me
will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him
and reveal myself to him.”
22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot)[a] asked him, “Lord, why is it that you are revealing yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him
and make our abode with him.
24 Whoever does not love me
does not keep my words.
And the word that you hear
is not my own,
but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you these things
while I am still with you.
26 However, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all
that I have said to you.
The Peace of Jesus[b]
27 “Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives
do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled;
be not afraid.
28 “You have heard me say to you,
‘I am going away,
and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice
that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.[c]
29 And now I have told you this
before it happens,
so that when it does happen
you may believe.
30 “I will no longer talk at length with you
because the prince of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
31 but the world must come to understand
that I love the Father
and that I do
just as the Father has commanded me.
Get up! Let us be on our way.
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