Book of Common Prayer
Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
For the choir 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 [a](E)give feigned obedience to You.
4 “(F)All the earth will worship You,
And will (G)sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” [b]Selah.
5 (H)Come and see the works of God,
Who is (I)awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.
6 He (J)turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through (K)the river on foot;
There let us (L)rejoice in Him!
7 He (M)rules by His might forever;
His (N)eyes keep watch on the nations;
Let not the rebellious (O)exalt themselves. Selah.
8 Bless our God, O peoples,
And [c](P)sound His praise abroad,
9 Who [d](Q)keeps us in life
And (R)does not allow our feet to [e]slip.
10 For You have (S)tried us, O God;
You have (T)refined us as silver is refined.
11 You (U)brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon our loins.
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 beasts,
With the smoke of (AC)rams;
I shall make an offering of [f]bulls with male goats. Selah.
16 (AD)Come and hear, all who [g]fear God,
And I will (AE)tell of what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And [h]He was (AF)extolled with my tongue.
18 If I [i](AG)regard wickedness in my heart,
The (AH)Lord [j]will not [k]hear;
19 But certainly (AI)God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
20 (AJ)Blessed be God,
Who (AK)has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.
The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.
For the choir 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 [l]upon us— [m]Selah.
2 That (AN)Your way may be known on the earth,
(AO)Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the (AP)peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Let the (AQ)nations be glad and sing for joy;
For You will (AR)judge the peoples with uprightness
And (AS)guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
5 Let the (AT)peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The (AU)earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, (AV)blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
[n]That (AW)all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
The Works and the Word of God.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
19 The (A)heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their (B)expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to (C)day pours forth speech,
And (D)night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their [a](E)line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has (F)placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its (G)rising is from [b]one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the [c]other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 (H)The law of the Lord is [d](I)perfect, (J)restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is (K)sure, making (L)wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are (M)right, (N)rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is (O)pure, (P)enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are (Q)true; they are (R)righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than (S)gold, yes, than much fine gold;
(T)Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them (U)Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great (V)reward.
12 Who can (W)discern his errors? (X)Acquit me of (Y)hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant (Z)from presumptuous sins;
Let them not (AA)rule over me;
Then I will be [e](AB)blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of (AC)great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and (AD)the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, (AE)my rock and my (AF)Redeemer.
God the Refuge of His People.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, [a]set to Alamoth. A Song.
46 God is our (A)refuge and strength,
[b]A very (B)present help (C)in [c]trouble.
2 Therefore we will (D)not fear, though (E)the earth should change
And though (F)the mountains slip into the heart of the [d]sea;
3 Though its (G)waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. [e]Selah.
4 There is a (H)river whose streams make glad the (I)city of God,
The holy (J)dwelling places of the Most High.
5 God is (K)in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will (L)help her [f]when morning dawns.
6 The [g]nations (M)made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He [h](N)raised His voice, the earth (O)melted.
7 The Lord of hosts (P)is with us;
The God of Jacob is (Q)our stronghold. Selah.
8 Come, (R)behold the works of the Lord,
[i]Who has wrought (S)desolations in the earth.
9 He (T)makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He (U)breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He (V)burns the chariots with fire.
10 “[j]Cease striving and (W)know that I am God;
I will be (X)exalted among the [k]nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
14 [a]There we found some (A)brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome. 15 And the (B)brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the [b]Market of Appius and [c]Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.
16 When we entered Rome, Paul was (C)allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.
17 After three days [d]Paul called together those who were (D)the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “(E)Brethren, (F)though I had done nothing against our people or (G)the customs of our [e]fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 And when they had (H)examined me, they (I)were willing to release me because there was (J)no ground [f]for putting me to death. 19 But when the Jews [g]objected, I was forced to (K)appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. 20 For this reason, therefore, I [h]requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing (L)this chain for (M)the sake of the hope of Israel.” 21 They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of (N)the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what [i]your views are; for concerning this (O)sect, it is known to us that (P)it is spoken against everywhere.”
23 When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at (Q)his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly (R)testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, (S)from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.
The Unrighteous Steward
16 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was [a]reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my [b]master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his [c]master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred [d]measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred [e]measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his [f]master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own [g]kind than the (C)sons of light. 9 And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [h](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “(G)He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous [i](H)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 (I)No [j]servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [k](J)wealth.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.