Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66
For the choir director; a song; a psalm.
1 Shout happily to Elohim, all the earth!
2 Make music to praise the glory of his name.
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to Elohim,
“How awe-inspiring are your deeds!
Your power is so great that your enemies will cringe in front of you.
4 The whole earth will worship you.
It will make music to praise you.
It will make music to praise your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what Elohim has done—
his awe-inspiring deeds for Adam’s descendants.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
They crossed the river on foot.
We rejoiced because of what he did there.
7 He rules forever with his might.
His eyes watch the nations.
Rebels will not be able to oppose him. Selah
8 Thank our Elohim, you nations.
Make the sound of his praise heard.
9 He has kept us alive
and has not allowed us to fall.
10 You have tested us, O Elohim.
You have refined us in the same way silver is refined.
11 You have trapped us in a net.
You have laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads.
We went through fire and water,
but then you brought us out and refreshed us.
13 I will come into your temple with burnt offerings.
I will keep my vows to you,
14 the vows made by my lips and spoken by my own mouth
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer you a sacrifice of fattened livestock for burnt offerings
with the smoke from rams.
I will offer cattle and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all who fear Elohim,
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 With my mouth I cried out to him.
High praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had thought about doing anything sinful,
Adonay would not have listened to me.
19 But Elohim has heard me.
He has paid attention to my prayer.
20 Thanks be to Elohim,
who has not rejected my prayer
or taken away his mercy from me.
Psalm 67
For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a psalm; a song.
1 May Elohim have pity on us and bless us!
May he smile on us. Selah
2 Then your ways will be known on earth,
your salvation throughout all nations.
3 Let everyone give thanks to you, O Elohim.
Let everyone give thanks to you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing joyfully
because you judge everyone with justice
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 Let the people give thanks to you, O Elohim.
Let all the people give thanks to you.
6 The earth has yielded its harvest.
May Elohim, our Elohim, bless us.
7 May Elohim bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth worship him.
Psalm 116
1 I love Yahweh because he hears my voice, my pleas for mercy.
2 I will call on him as long as I live
because he turns his ear toward me.
3 The ropes of death became tangled around me.
The horrors of the grave took hold of me.
I experienced pain and agony.
4 But I kept calling on the name of Yahweh:
“Please, Yahweh, rescue me!”
5 Yahweh is merciful and righteous.
Our Elohim is compassionate.
6 Yahweh protects defenseless people.
When I was weak, he saved me.
7 Be at peace again, my soul,
because Yahweh has been good to you.
8 You saved me from death.
You saved my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in Yahweh’s presence in this world of the living.
10 I kept my faith even when I said,
“I am suffering terribly.”
11 I also said when I was panic-stricken,
“Everyone is undependable.”
12 How can I repay Yahweh
for all the good that he has done for me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.
14 I will keep my vows to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of Yahweh
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Yahweh, I am indeed your servant.
I am your servant,
the son of your female servant.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will bring a song of thanksgiving to you as a sacrifice.
I will call on the name of Yahweh.
18 I will keep my vows to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of Yahweh’s house,
in the middle of Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 117
1 Praise Yahweh, all you nations!
Praise him, all you people of the world!
2 His mercy toward us is powerful.
Yahweh’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!
10 At that time the root of Jesse will stand as a banner
for the people to gather around.
The nations will come to him.
His resting place will be glorious.
11 At that time Adonay will use his power again
to recover what remains of his people
in Assyria, Upper and Lower Egypt,
Sudan, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath,
and the islands of the sea.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations to gather around.
He will gather the outcasts of Israel
and bring together the scattered people of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s opponents will come to an end.
Ephraim won’t be jealous of Judah,
and Judah won’t oppose Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia in the west.
Together they will loot the people of the east.
They will conquer Edom and Moab.
The people of Ammon will be subject to them.
15 Yahweh will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian Sea.
He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River with his scorching wind
and divide it into seven streams
so that people can walk over it in their sandals.
16 There will be a highway
for the remaining few of his people left in Assyria
like there was for Israel when it came out of Egypt.
11 I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but no place was found for them. 12 I saw the dead, both important and unimportant people, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead. Death and hell gave up their dead. People were judged based on what they had done. 14 Death and hell were thrown into the fiery lake. (The fiery lake is the second death.) 15 Those whose names were not found in the Book of Life were thrown into the fiery lake.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone. 2 Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “God lives with humans! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”
5 The one sitting on the throne said, “I am making everything new.” He said, “Write this: ‘These words are faithful and true.’” 6 He said to me, “It has happened! I am the A and the Z,[a] the beginning and the end. I will give a drink from the fountain filled with the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. It won’t cost anything. 7 Everyone who wins the victory will inherit these things. I will be their God, and they will be my children. 8 But cowardly, unfaithful, and detestable people, murderers, sexual sinners, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
The Angel Gabriel Appears to Zechariah
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division of priests named after Abijah. Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth had God’s approval. They followed all the Lord’s commands and regulations perfectly. 7 Yet, they never had any children because Elizabeth couldn’t become pregnant. Both of them were too old to have children.
8 Zechariah was on duty with his division of priests. As he served in God’s presence, 9 he was chosen by priestly custom to go into the Lord’s temple to burn incense. 10 All the people were praying outside while he was burning incense.
11 Then, to the right of the incense altar, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. 12 Zechariah was troubled and overcome with fear.
13 The angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you will name him John. 14 He will be your pride and joy, and many people will be glad that he was born. 15 As far as the Lord is concerned, he will be a great man. He will never drink wine or any other liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring many people in Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 He will go ahead of the Lord with the spirit and power that Elijah had. He will change parents’ attitudes toward their children. He will change disobedient people so that they will accept the wisdom of those who have God’s approval. In this way he will prepare the people for their Lord.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “What proof is there for this? I’m an old man, and my wife is beyond her childbearing years.”
19 The angel answered him, “I’m Gabriel! I stand in God’s presence. God sent me to tell you this good news. 20 But because you didn’t believe what I said, you will be unable to talk until the day this happens. Everything will come true at the right time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah. They were amazed that he was staying in the temple so long. 22 When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. So they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. He motioned to them but remained unable to talk.
23 When the days of his service were over, he went home. 24 Later, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and didn’t go out in public for five months. She said, 25 “The Lord has done this for me now. He has removed my public disgrace.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.