Book of Common Prayer
33 He [a](A)changes rivers into a [b]wilderness
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
34 A (B)fruitful land into a (C)salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He [c](D)changes a [d]wilderness into a pool of water
And a dry land into springs of water;
36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell,
So that they may establish [e](E)an inhabited city,
37 And sow fields and (F)plant vineyards,
And [f]gather a fruitful harvest.
38 Also He blesses them and they (G)multiply greatly,
And He (H)does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they are (I)diminished and (J)bowed down
Through oppression, misery and sorrow,
40 He (K)pours contempt upon [g]princes
And (L)makes them wander (M)in a pathless waste.
41 But He (N)sets the needy [h]securely on high away from affliction,
And (O)makes his families like a flock.
42 The (P)upright see it and are glad;
But all (Q)unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
43 Who is (R)wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the (S)lovingkindnesses of the Lord.
God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 (T)My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my [i]soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your (U)lovingkindness is great (V)above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
5 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
6 (X)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
7 God has spoken in His [j]holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out Shechem
And measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 “Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the [k]helmet of My head;
(Y)Judah is My [l]scepter.
9 “Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Over Philistia I will shout aloud.”
10 (Z)Who will bring me into the besieged city?
Who [m]will lead me to Edom?
11 Have not You Yourself, O God, (AA)rejected us?
And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?
12 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (AB)deliverance [n]by man is in vain.
13 [o]Through God we will do valiantly,
And (AC)it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [d](AE)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [e]hoped in You.
21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
‘She has despised you and mocked you,
(A)The virgin daughter of Zion;
She (B)has shaken her head behind you,
The daughter of Jerusalem!
22 ‘Whom have you (C)reproached and (D)blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And [a]haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the (E)Holy One of Israel!
23 ‘(F)Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I [b]cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses.
And I [c]entered its farthest lodging place, its (G)thickest forest.
24 “I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the sole of my feet I [d](H)dried up
All the rivers of [e]Egypt.”
25 ‘(I)Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
(J)Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
26 ‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,
They were dismayed and put to shame;
They were (K)as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb,
As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
27 ‘But (L)I know your sitting down,
And your going out and your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 ‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your [f]arrogance has come up to My ears,
Therefore I (M)will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And (N)I will turn you back by the way which you came.
29 ‘Then this shall be (O)the sign for you: [g]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 (P)The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and (Q)out of Mount Zion [h]survivors. (R)The zeal of [i]the Lord will perform this.
32 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “(S)He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 (T)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘(U)For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and (V)for My servant David’s sake.’”
35 (W)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when [j]men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were [k]dead. 36 So (X)Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at (Y)Nineveh.
Avoid Israel’s Mistakes
10 For (A)I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all (B)under the cloud and all (C)passed through the sea; 2 and all were (D)baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all (E)ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all (F)drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was [a]Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for (G)they were laid low in the wilderness.
6 Now these things happened as (H)examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as (I)they also craved. 7 Do not be (J)idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “(K)The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to (L)play.” 8 Nor let us act immorally, as (M)some of them [b]did, and (N)twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9 Nor let us try the Lord, as (O)some of them [c]did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10 Nor (P)grumble, as some of them [d]did, and (Q)were destroyed by the (R)destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an (S)example, and (T)they were written for our instruction, upon whom (U)the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who (V)thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and (W)God is faithful, who will not allow you to be (X)tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Discipleship Tested
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, (A)He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 (B)Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the [a]air have [b]nests, but (C)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “(D)Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 (E)When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose [c]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “(F)Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He *said to them, “Why are you [d]afraid, (G)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and [e]it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
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