Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66
For the Music Director. A Song. A Psalm.
1 Shout joyfully to God, all you lands!
2 Sing out the glory of His name;
make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies cringe before You.
4 All the earth will worship You
and will sing to You;
they will sing to Your name.” Selah
5 Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doings toward mankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they crossed the river on foot;
there we rejoiced in Him.
7 He rules by His power forever;
His eyes keep watch on the nations;
do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Oh, bless our God, you people,
and make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 who keeps our soul among the living,
and does not allow our feet to slip.
10 For You, O God, have proved us;
You have refined us, as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net;
You placed distress on our backs.
12 You have allowed people to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
but You brought us out into a well-watered place.
13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
I will fulfill my vows to You,
14 which my lips have uttered,
and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
with the incense of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
and He was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me;
19 but certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
who has not turned away my prayer,
nor His mercy from me.
The Bronze Serpent
4 They journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was very discouraged because of the way. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread or water, and our soul loathes this worthless manna.”
6 So the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many children of Israel died. 7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, and He will take away the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and put it on a pole, and it will be, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, will live.” 9 Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent he lived.
11 Truly, truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and bear witness of what We have seen, but you do not receive Our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Psalm 118
1 Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
because His mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5 I called upon the Lord from my distress;
the Lord answered me and set me in an open place.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can people do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph upon those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations encircled me,
but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11 They circled me; indeed, they surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
12 They circled me like bees;
they went forth as a fire over thorns,
but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
13 You have pushed against me, that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and song;
He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord is valiant.
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord is valiant.”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live
and declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has severely chastened me,
but He has not given me over unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through.
21 I will thank You that You have heard me
and have become my deliverance.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is what the Lord has done;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we ask You, O Lord;
O Lord, we ask You, send now success.
26 Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord:
we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and He has shown us His light;
bind the sacrifice with cords,
even unto the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever.
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, that you suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who in times past were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 Figuratively this is like baptism, which also saves us now. It is not washing off the dirt from the body, but a response to God from a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.