Book of Common Prayer
Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
For the music director. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
2 Sing the (B)glory of His name;
Make His (C)praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How (D)awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will (E)pretend to obey You.
4 (F)All the earth will worship You,
And will (G)sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 (H)Come and see the works of God,
Who is (I)awesome in His deeds toward the sons of mankind.
6 He (J)turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through (K)the river on foot;
Let’s (L)rejoice there, in Him!
7 He (M)rules by His might forever;
His (N)eyes keep watch on the nations;
The rebellious shall not (O)exalt themselves! Selah
8 Bless our God, you peoples,
And [a](P)sound His praise abroad,
9 Who [b](Q)keeps us in life,
And (R)does not allow our feet to [c]slip.
10 For You have (S)put us to the test, God;
You have (T)refined us as silver is refined.
11 You (U)brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon [d]us.
12 You made men (V)ride over our heads;
We went through (W)fire and through water.
Yet You (X)brought us out into a place of abundance.
13 I shall (Y)come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall (Z)pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was (AA)in distress.
15 I shall (AB)offer to You burnt offerings of fat animals,
With the smoke of (AC)rams;
I shall make an offering of [e]bulls with male goats. Selah
16 (AD)Come and hear, all who [f]fear God,
And I will (AE)tell of what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And [g]He was (AF)exalted with my tongue.
18 If I [h](AG)regard wickedness in my heart,
The (AH)Lord will not hear;
19 But (AI)God has heard;
He has given attention to the sound of my prayer.
20 (AJ)Blessed be God,
Who (AK)has not turned away my prayer
Nor His favor from me.
The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.
For the music director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 God be gracious to us and (AL)bless us,
And (AM)cause His face to shine [i]upon us— Selah
2 That (AN)Your way may be known on the earth,
(AO)Your salvation among all nations.
3 May the (AP)peoples praise You, God;
May all the peoples praise You.
4 May the (AQ)nations be glad and sing for joy;
For You will (AR)judge the peoples with fairness
And (AS)guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 May the (AT)peoples praise You, God;
May all the peoples praise You.
6 The (AU)earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, (AV)blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
[j]So that (AW)all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
116 (A)I love the Lord, because He (B)hears
My voice and my pleas.
2 Because He has (C)inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The (D)snares of death encompassed me
And the [a]terrors of [b]Sheol [c]came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
4 Then (E)I called upon the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, (F)save my [d]life!”
5 (G)Gracious is the Lord, and (H)righteous;
Yes, our God is (I)compassionate.
6 The Lord watches over (J)the simple;
I was (K)brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your (L)rest, my soul,
For the Lord has (M)dealt generously with you.
8 For You have (N)rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from stumbling.
9 I shall walk before the Lord
In the [e](O)land of the living.
10 I (P)believed when I said,
“I am (Q)greatly afflicted.”
11 I (R)said in my alarm,
“(S)All people are liars.”
12 What shall I (T)repay to the Lord
For all His (U)benefits [f]to me?
13 I will lift up the (V)cup of salvation,
And (W)call upon the name of the Lord.
14 I will (X)pay my vows to the Lord;
May it be (Y)in the presence of all His people!
15 (Z)Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
16 O Lord, [g]I surely am (AA)Your slave,
I am Your slave, the (AB)son of Your female slave,
You have (AC)unfastened my restraints.
17 I will offer You (AD)a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And (AE)call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I will (AF)pay my vows to the Lord,
May it be in the presence of all His people,
19 In the (AG)courtyards of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, (AH)Jerusalem!
[h]Praise [i]the Lord!
A Psalm of Praise.
10 Then on that day
The (A)nations will resort to the (B)root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a (C)signal flag for the peoples;
And His (D)resting place will be [a]glorious.
The Restored Remnant
11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover with His hand the second time
The (E)remnant of His people who will remain,
From (F)Assyria, (G)Egypt, Pathros, Cush, (H)Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the [b](I)islands of the sea.
12 And He will lift up a (J)flag for the nations
And (K)assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
13 Then the (L)jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be eliminated;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
14 They will (M)swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the (N)west;
Together they will (O)plunder the [c]people of the east;
[d]They will possess (P)Edom and (Q)Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be [e]subject to them.
15 And the Lord will [f](R)utterly destroy
The tongue of the [g]Sea of Egypt;
And He will (S)wave His hand over the (T)Euphrates River
With His scorching wind;
And He will strike it into seven streams
And make people walk over in dry sandals.
16 And there will be a (U)highway from Assyria
For the (V)remnant of His people who will be left,
Just as there was for Israel
On (W)the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.
Judgment at the Throne of God
11 Then I saw a great white (A)throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose [a]presence (B)earth and heaven fled, and (C)no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the (D)great and the small, standing before the throne, and [b](E)books were opened; and another [c]book was opened, which is (F)the book of life; and the dead (G)were judged from the things which were written in the [d]books, (H)according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and (I)Death and Hades (J)gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them (K)according to their deeds. 14 Then (L)Death and Hades were thrown into (M)the lake of fire. This is the (N)second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if [e]anyone’s name was not found written in (O)the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The New Heaven and Earth
21 Then I saw (P)a new heaven and a new earth; for (Q)the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw (R)the holy city, (S)new Jerusalem, (T)coming down out of heaven from God, (U)prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, (V)the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will (W)dwell among them, and they shall be His [f]people, and God Himself will be among them[g], 4 and He will (X)wipe away every tear from their eyes; and (Y)there will no longer be any death; (Z)there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; (AA)the first things have passed away.”
5 And (AB)He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am (AC)making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for (AD)these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “[h](AE)It is done. I am the (AF)Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (AG)I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the (AH)water of life, without cost. 7 (AI)The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and (AJ)I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 (AK)But for the cowardly, and [i]unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in (AL)the lake that burns with fire and [j]brimstone, which is the (AM)second death.”
John the Baptist’s Birth Foretold
5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the (B)division of [a]Abijah; and he had a wife [b]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 They were both (C)righteous in the sight of God, walking (D)blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7 And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in [c]years.
8 Now it happened that while (E)he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot (F)to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer (G)outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 Now (H)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and (I)fear [d]gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “(J)Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and (K)you shall [e]name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will (L)drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [f]while still in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will (M)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And it is he who will (N)go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of (O)Elijah, (P)to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to (Q)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For (R)I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her [g]years.” 19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am (S)Gabriel, who [h](T)stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
21 And meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he repeatedly [i](U)made signs to them, and remained speechless. 23 When the days of his priestly service were concluded, he went back home.
24 Now after these days his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself [j]in seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to (V)take away my disgrace among people.”
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