Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80[a]
For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph.
80 O Shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep.
You who sit enthroned above the cherubim,[c] reveal your splendor.[d]
2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal[e] your power.
Come and deliver us.[f]
3 O God, restore us.
Smile on us.[g] Then we will be delivered.[h]
4 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[i]
how long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you?[j]
5 You have given them tears as food;[k]
you have made them drink tears by the measure.[l]
6 You have made our neighbors dislike us,[m]
and our enemies insult us.
7 O God of Heaven’s Armies,[n] restore us.
Smile on us.[o] Then we will be delivered.[p]
8 You uprooted a vine[q] from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;[r]
it took root,[s]
and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars[t] by its branches.
11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,[u]
and its shoots the Euphrates River.[v]
12 Why did you break down its walls,[w]
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit?[x]
13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it;[y]
the insects[z] of the field feed on it.
14 O God of Heaven’s Armies,[aa] come back.
Look down from heaven and take notice.
Take care of this vine,
15 the root[ab] your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow.[ac]
16 It is burned[ad] and cut down.
May those who did this die because you are displeased with them.[ae]
17 May you give support to the one you have chosen,[af]
to the one whom you raised up for yourself.[ag]
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you.[ah]
19 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[ai] restore us.
Smile on us.[aj] Then we will be delivered.[ak]
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147[j]
147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[n]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[o] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[r]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[s]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[t]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children[v] within you.
14 He[w] brings peace to your territory.[x]
He abundantly provides for you[y] the best grain.
15 He[z] sends his command through the earth;[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.[ab]
16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.[ac]
17 He throws his hailstones[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?[ae]
18 He then orders it all to melt;[af]
he breathes on it,[ag] and the water flows.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
13 The Lord[a] says,
“These people say they are loyal to me;[b]
they say wonderful things about me,[c]
but they are not really loyal to me.[d]
Their worship consists of
nothing but man-made ritual.[e]
14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people—
an absolutely extraordinary deed.[f]
Wise men will have nothing to say,
the sages will have no explanations.”[g]
15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead,[h]
who do their work in secret and boast,[i]
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”[j]
16 Your thinking is perverse![k]
Should the potter be regarded as clay?[l]
Should the thing made say[m] about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
Changes Are Coming
17 In just a very short time[n]
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest.[o]
18 At that time[p] the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,
and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.[q]
19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delight[r] in the Holy One of Israel.[s]
20 For tyrants will disappear,
those who taunt will vanish,
and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated[t]—
21 those who bear false testimony against a person,[u]
who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate[v]
and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.[w]
22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, has said to the family of Jacob:[x]
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;
their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.[y]
23 For when they see their children,
whom I will produce among them,[z]
they will honor[aa] my name.
They will honor the Holy One of Jacob;[ab]
they will respect[ac] the God of Israel.
24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding;[ad]
those who complain will acquire insight.[ae]
22 Now[a] I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God—the All-Powerful[b]—and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations[c] will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur[d] into it. 25 Its gates will never be closed during the day[e] (and[f] there will be no night there).[g] 26 They will bring the grandeur and the wealth[h] of the nations[i] into it, 27 but[j] nothing ritually unclean[k] will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable[l] or practices falsehood,[m] but only those whose names[n] are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22 Then[o] the angel[p] showed me the river of the water of life—water as clear as crystal—pouring out[q] from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s[r] main street.[s] On each side[t] of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds[u] of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year.[v] Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 And there will no longer be any curse,[w] and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city.[x] His[y] servants[z] will worship[aa] him, 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.
Mary and Elizabeth
39 In those days[a] Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah,[b] 40 and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When[c] Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped[d] in her[e] womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.[f] 42 She[g] exclaimed with a loud voice,[h] “Blessed are you among women,[i] and blessed is the child[j] in your womb! 43 And who am I[k] that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me? 44 For the instant[l] the sound of your greeting reached my ears,[m] the baby in my womb leaped for joy.[n] 45 And blessed[o] is she who believed that[p] what was spoken to her by[q] the Lord would be fulfilled.”[r]
Mary’s Hymn of Praise
48 because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant.[a]
For[b] from now on[c] all generations will call me blessed,[d]
49 because he who is mighty[e] has done great things for me, and holy is his name;
50 from[f] generation to generation he is merciful[g] to those who fear[h] him.
51 He has demonstrated power[i] with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance[j] of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the mighty[k] from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position;[l]
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,[m] and has sent the rich away empty.[n]
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering[o] his mercy,[p]
55 as he promised[q] to our ancestors,[r] to Abraham and to his descendants[s] forever.”
56 So[t] Mary stayed with Elizabeth[u] about three months[v] and then returned to her home.
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