Book of Common Prayer

The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride

To the Chief Musician. ^(A)Set to ^[a]“The Lilies.” A ^[b]Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

Praise to God, the Ruler of the Earth

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

The Glory of God in Zion

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

God’s Covenant with Abram^(A)

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram ^(B)in a vision, saying, ^(C)“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your ^(D)shield, ^[a]your exceedingly ^(E)great reward.”

^2 (F)But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, ^(G)seeing I ^[b]go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed ^(H)one^[c] born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who ^(I)will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and ^(J)count the ^(K)stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, ^(L)“So shall your ^(M)descendants be.”

⁶ And he ^(N)believed in the Lord, and He ^(O)accounted it to him for righteousness.

⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who ^(P)brought you out of ^(Q)Ur of the Chaldeans, ^(R)to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ And he said, “Lord God, ^(S)how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and ^(T)cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut ^(U)the birds in two. ¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that ^(A)passed between those pieces. ¹⁸ On the same day the Lord ^(B)made a covenant with Abram, saying:

^(C)“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— ¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

The Earthly Sanctuary^(A)

9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and ^(B)the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the ^[a]sanctuary; ^3 (C)and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the ^(D)golden censer and ^(E)the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were ^(F)the golden pot that had the manna, ^(G)Aaron’s rod that budded, and ^(H)the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and ^(I)above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, ^(J)the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone ^(K)once a year, not without blood, which he offered for ^(L)himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that ^(M)the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(N)which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ¹⁰ concerned only with ^(O)foods and drinks, ^(P)various ^[b]washings, ^(Q)and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of ^(R)the good things ^[c]to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not ^(S)with the blood of goats and calves, but ^(T)with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place ^(U)once for all, ^(V)having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(W)the blood of bulls and goats and ^(X)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ^[d]sanctifies for the ^[e]purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without ^[f]spot to God, ^(Y)cleanse your conscience from ^(Z)dead works ^(AA)to serve the living God?

A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

5 After ^(A)this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus ^(B)went up to Jerusalem. ² Now there is in Jerusalem ^(C)by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, ^[a]Bethesda, having five porches. ³ In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, ^[b]paralyzed, ^[c]waiting for the moving of the water. ⁴ For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. ⁵ Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

⁸ Jesus said to him, ^(D)“Rise, take up your bed and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And ^(E)that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; ^(F)it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

¹¹ He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

¹² Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ But the one who was ^(G)healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. ^(H)Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

¹⁵ The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Honor the Father and the Son

¹⁶ For this reason the Jews ^(I)persecuted Jesus, ^[d]and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, ^(J)“My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

¹⁸ Therefore the Jews ^(K)sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, ^(L)making Himself equal with God.