Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 93[a]
God Is a Mighty King
1 The Lord is king,[b] robed with majesty;
the Lord is robed, girded with might.(A)
The world will surely stand in place,
never to be moved.(B)
2 Your throne stands firm from of old;
you are from everlasting.(C)
3 [c]The flood has raised up, Lord;
the flood has raised up its roar;
the flood has raised its pounding waves.
4 More powerful than the roar of many waters,
more powerful than the breakers of the sea,
powerful in the heavens is the Lord.
5 Your decrees are firmly established;
holiness befits your house, Lord,
for all the length of days.
Psalm 96[a]
God of the Universe
I
1 Sing to the Lord a new song;(A)
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his marvelous deeds.(B)
II
4 [b]For great is the Lord and highly to be praised,
to be feared above all gods.(C)
5 For the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.(D)
6 Splendor and power go before him;
power and grandeur are in his holy place.
III
7 Give to the Lord, you families of nations,
give to the Lord glory and might;
8 give to the Lord the glory due his name!(E)
Bring gifts and enter his courts;
9 bow down to the Lord, splendid in holiness.
Tremble before him, all the earth;
10 (F)declare among the nations: The Lord is king.
The world will surely stand fast, never to be shaken.
He rules the peoples with fairness.
IV
11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;(G)
12 let the plains be joyful and all that is in them.
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice
13 before the Lord who comes,
who comes to govern the earth,(H)
To govern the world with justice
and the peoples with faithfulness.
Psalm 34[a]
Thanksgiving to God Who Delivers the Just
1 Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech,[b] who drove him out and he went away.
I
2 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be always in my mouth.(A)
3 My soul will glory in the Lord;
let the poor hear and be glad.
4 Magnify the Lord with me;
and let us exalt his name together.
II
5 I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
delivered me from all my fears.
6 Look to him and be radiant,
and your faces may not blush for shame.
7 This poor one cried out and the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
8 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and he saves them.(B)
9 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the stalwart one who takes refuge in him.(C)
10 Fear the Lord, you his holy ones;
nothing is lacking to those who fear him.(D)
11 The rich grow poor and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
III
12 Come, children,[c] listen to me;(E)
I will teach you fear of the Lord.
13 Who is the man who delights in life,(F)
who loves to see the good days?
14 Keep your tongue from evil,
your lips from speaking lies.
15 Turn from evil and do good;(G)
seek peace and pursue it.
16 The eyes of the Lord are directed toward the righteous(H)
and his ears toward their cry.
17 The Lord’s face is against evildoers
to wipe out their memory from the earth.
18 The righteous cry out, the Lord hears
and he rescues them from all their afflictions.
19 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
21 He watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.(I)
22 Evil will slay the wicked;
those who hate the righteous are condemned.
23 The Lord is the redeemer of the souls of his servants;
and none are condemned who take refuge in him.
Chapter 44
Final Test.[a] 1 Then Joseph commanded his steward: “Fill the men’s bags with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his bag. 2 In the mouth of the youngest one’s bag put also my silver goblet, together with the money for his grain.” The steward did as Joseph said. 3 At daybreak the men and their donkeys were sent off. 4 They had not gone far out of the city when Joseph said to his steward: “Go at once after the men! When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why did you repay good with evil? Why did you steal my silver goblet? 5 Is it not the very one from which my master drinks and which he uses for divination?[b] What you have done is wrong.’”
6 When the steward overtook them and repeated these words to them, 7 they said to him: “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money that we found in the mouths of our bags. How could we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 9 If any of your servants is found to have the goblet, he shall die, and as for the rest of us, we shall become my lord’s slaves.” 10 But he replied, “Now what you propose is fair enough, but only the one who is found to have it shall become my slave, and the rest of you can go free.” 11 Then each of them quickly lowered his bag to the ground and opened it; 12 and when a search was made, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest, the goblet turned up in Benjamin’s bag. 13 At this, they tore their garments. Then, when each man had loaded his donkey again, they returned to the city.
14 When Judah and his brothers entered Joseph’s house, he was still there; so they flung themselves on the ground before him. 15 “How could you do such a thing?” Joseph asked them. “Did you not know that such a man as I could discern by divination what happened?” 16 Judah replied: “What can we say to my lord? How can we plead or how try to prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt.[c] Here we are, then, the slaves of my lord—the rest of us no less than the one in whose possession the goblet was found.” 17 Joseph said, “Far be it from me to act thus! Only the one in whose possession the goblet was found shall become my slave; the rest of you may go back unharmed to your father.”
Chapter 8
The Flesh and the Spirit.[a] 1 Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death.(A) 3 For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,(B) 4 so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.(C) 5 For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. 6 The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.(D) 7 For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;(E) 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.(F) 9 But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.(G) 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.(H)
25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(A) 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.(B) 27 And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.(C) 28 [a]Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice(D) 29 and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.(E)
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