Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 87
The Glorious City
Heading
By the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.
The Holy City
1 The city he founded is on the holy mountains.
2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Interlude
3 Glorious things are spoken about you, O City of God.
Its Citizens
4 I will register Rahab[a] and Babylon among those who know me.
Look! Philistia and Tyre are there, along with Cush!
Of them I say, “This one was born there in Zion.”[b]
5 And about Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her,
and the Most High himself will establish her.”
6 When he registers the peoples,
the Lord will write: Interlude
“This one was born there.”
7 Then the singers, as they dance, will sing,
“All my springs are in you.”
Book IV
Psalms 90–106
Psalm 90
Teach Us to Number Our Days
Heading
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
God Is Eternal
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity you are God.
Man Is Mortal
3 You grind people to dust,
and you say, “Return, children of Adam.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day,
like yesterday that has gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away like a flood.
They are like sleep in the morning,
like grass which changes quickly.
6 In the morning it sprouts and grows.
By evening it is cut down, and it withers.
7 Surely, we are consumed by your anger,
and by your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have laid out our guilty deeds in front of you.
Our hidden sins are revealed in the light of your face.
9 For all our days pass away under your fury.
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years,
or eighty years if we are strong.
Yet the best of them are trouble and sorrow,
for they disappear quickly, and we fly away.
11 Who can understand the power of your anger?
But your fury is consistent with the fear that is owed to you.
Mortal Man Needs God’s Grace
12 Teach us to number our days in such a way
that we bring a heart of wisdom.
13 Turn, O Lord! How long!
Change your mind toward your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your mercy,
so that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 Let your deeds be seen by your servants
and your majesty by their children.
17 May the kindness of the Lord our God rest upon us.
Establish the work of our hands for us.
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 136
His Mercy Endures Forever
Introduction
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
For his mercy endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of Gods.
For his mercy endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of Lords.
For his mercy endures forever.
His Creating Love
4 To him who alone does great wonders—[a]
For his mercy endures forever.
5 To him who by his understanding made the heavens—
For his mercy endures forever.
6 To him who spread out the earth on the waters—
For his mercy endures forever.
7 To him who made the great lights,
For his mercy endures forever.
8 the sun to rule by day,
For his mercy endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to rule by night—
For his mercy endures forever.
His Redeeming Love
10 To him who struck Egypt by killing their firstborn,
For his mercy endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from their midst,
For his mercy endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm—
For his mercy endures forever.
13 To him who cut the Red Sea in two,
For his mercy endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the middle of it,
For his mercy endures forever.
15 but brushed off Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea—
For his mercy endures forever.
16 To him who made his people travel through the wilderness—
For his mercy endures forever.
17 To him who struck down great kings,
For his mercy endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings,
For his mercy endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
For his mercy endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan,
For his mercy endures forever.
21 and gave their land as a possession,
For his mercy endures forever.
22 a possession to his servant Israel.
For his mercy endures forever.
His Continuing Love
23 Who remembered us in our low condition,
For his mercy endures forever.
24 and tore us out of the hands of our oppressors.
For his mercy endures forever.
25 He gives food to all living creatures.[b]
For his mercy endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of the heavens.
For his mercy endures forever.
The Prophet’s Response
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate yourselves for war!
Rouse the strong warriors!
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears.
Let the weakling say, “I am a strong warrior!”
11 Come quickly to help, all you nations from every side,
and assemble there.
Bring down your strong warriors, O Lord!
The Lord’s Promise
12 Let the nations be roused.
Let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will be seated to judge all the nations.
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
for the winepress is full and the vats overflow,
because the nations’ wickedness is so great!
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision!
For the Day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars will stop shining.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion
and shout from Jerusalem.
The sky and the earth will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy.
Foreigners will not pass through her again.
Warning Against Partiality
2 My brothers, have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ without showing favoritism. 2 For example, suppose a man enters your worship assembly[a] wearing gold rings and fine clothing, and a poor man also enters wearing filthy clothing. 3 If you look with favor on the man wearing fine clothing and say, “Sit here in this good place,” but you tell the poor man, “Stand over there” or “Sit down here[b] at my feet,” 4 have you not made a distinction among yourselves and become judges with evil opinions? 5 Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and don’t they drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who blaspheme the noble name that was pronounced over you? 8 However, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”[c] you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, you are committing a sin, since you are convicted by this law as transgressors.
Keep the Whole Law
10 In fact, whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,”[d] also said, “Do not commit murder.”[e] Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. 13 For there will be judgment without mercy on the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs[f] over judgment.
10 The person who is faithful with very little is also faithful with much. And the person who is unrighteous with very little is also unrighteous with much. 11 So if you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust you with what is really valuable? 12 If you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something to be your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters. Indeed, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, also heard all these things and sneered at him. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts. In fact, what is highly regarded among people is an abomination in God’s sight. 16 The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is trying to force his way into it.[a]
17 “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for even one part of a letter in the Law to fail. 18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another is committing adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband is committing adultery.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.