Book of Common Prayer
The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David, [a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, (A)You are my God; I shall seek You [b]earnestly;
My soul (B)thirsts for You, my flesh [c]yearns for You,
In a (C)dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Thus I have (D)seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your (E)lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You (F)as long as I live;
I will (G)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is (H)satisfied as with [d]marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers (I)praises with joyful lips.
6 When I remember You (J)on my bed,
I meditate on You in the (K)night watches,
7 For (L)You have been my help,
And in the (M)shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul (N)clings [e]to You;
Your (O)right hand upholds me.
9 But those who (P)seek my [f]life to destroy it,
Will go into the [g](Q)depths of the earth.
10 [h]They will be [i](R)delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a [j](S)prey for foxes.
11 But the (T)king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who (U)swears by Him will glory,
For the (V)mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.
A Psalm.
98 O sing to the Lord a (A)new song,
For He has done (B)wonderful things,
His (C)right hand and His (D)holy arm have [a]gained the victory for Him.
2 (E)The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has (F)revealed His [b]righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has (G)remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(H)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His (B)holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And (C)forget none of His benefits;
3 Who (D)pardons all your iniquities,
Who (E)heals all your diseases;
4 Who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
Who (G)crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who (H)satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is (I)renewed like the eagle.
6 The Lord (J)performs [b]righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are (K)oppressed.
7 He (L)made known His ways to Moses,
His (M)acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is (N)compassionate and gracious,
(O)Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He (P)will not always strive with us,
Nor will He (Q)keep His anger forever.
10 He has (R)not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high (S)as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (T)removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just (U)as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him.
14 For (V)He Himself knows [e]our frame;
He (W)is mindful that we are but (X)dust.
15 As for man, his days are (Y)like grass;
As a (Z)flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the (AA)wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its (AB)place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the (AC)lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [f]fear Him,
And His [g]righteousness (AD)to children’s children,
18 To (AE)those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The Lord has established His (AF)throne in the heavens,
And His [h](AG)sovereignty rules over [i]all.
20 Bless the Lord, you (AH)His angels,
(AI)Mighty in strength, who (AJ)perform His word,
(AK)Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you (AL)His hosts,
You (AM)who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, (AN)all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
2 Now Abram was (A)very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. 3 He went [a]on his journeys from the [b]Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, (B)between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the (C)altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5 Now (D)Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 And (E)the land could not [c]sustain them [d]while dwelling together, (F)for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. 7 (G)And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now (H)the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.
8 (I)So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.” 10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the [e](J)valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord (K)destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like (L)the garden of the Lord, (M)like the land of Egypt as you go to (N)Zoar. 11 So Lot chose for himself all the [f]valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram [g]settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot [h]settled in (O)the cities of the [i]valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 Now (P)the men of Sodom were wicked [j]exceedingly and (Q)sinners against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “(R)Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, (S)northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 (T)for all the land which you see, (U)I will give it to you and to your [k]descendants forever. 16 I will make your [l]descendants (V)as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your [m]descendants can also be numbered. 17 Arise, (W)walk about the land through its length and breadth; for (X)I will give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the [n](Y)oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built (Z)an altar to the Lord.
The Council at Jerusalem
2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I (A)went up again to Jerusalem with (B)Barnabas, taking (C)Titus along also. 2 [a]It was because of a (D)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the (E)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be (F)running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even (G)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was (H)compelled to be circumcised. 4 But it was because of the (I)false brethren secretly brought in, who (J)had sneaked in to spy out our (K)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to (L)bring us into bondage. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that (M)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But from those who [b]were of high (N)reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; (O)God [c]shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been (P)entrusted with the (Q)gospel [d]to the uncircumcised, just as (R)Peter had been [e]to the circumcised 8 (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his (S)apostleship [f]to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing (T)the grace that had been given to me, [g](U)James and (V)Cephas and John, who were (W)reputed to be (X)pillars, gave to me and (Y)Barnabas the (Z)right [h]hand of fellowship, so that we might (AA)go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor—(AB)the very thing I also was eager to do.
31 (A)Again He went out from the region of (B)Tyre, and came through Sidon to (C)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of (D)Decapolis. 32 They *brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they *implored Him to (E)lay His hand on him. 33 (F)Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after (G)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep (H)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 And his ears were opened, and the [a]impediment of his tongue [b]was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And (I)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they (J)continued to proclaim it. 37 They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
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