Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95[a]
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.[b]
2 Let us enter his presence[c] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.[d]
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to[e] all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,[f]
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship.[g]
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.
7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns.[h]
Today, if only you would obey him.[i]
8 He says,[j] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,[k]
like they were that day at Massah[l] in the wilderness,[m]
9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,[n]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was continually disgusted[o] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;[p]
they do not obey my commands.’[q]
11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”[r]
Psalm 102[a]
The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.
102 O Lord, hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my cry for help.[b]
2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble.[c]
Listen to me.[d]
When I call out to you, quickly answer me.
3 For my days go up in smoke,[e]
and my bones are charred as in a fireplace.[f]
4 My heart is parched[g] and withered like grass,
for I am unable[h] to eat food.[i]
5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin.[j]
6 I am like an owl[k] in the wilderness;
I am like a screech owl[l] among the ruins.[m]
7 I stay awake;[n]
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who mock me use my name in their curses.[o]
9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread,[p]
and mix my drink with my tears,[q]
10 because of your anger and raging fury.
Indeed,[r] you pick me up and throw me away.
11 My days are coming to an end,[s]
and I am withered like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, rule forever,[t]
and your reputation endures.[u]
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion.[v]
For it is time to have mercy on her,
for the appointed time has come.
14 Indeed,[w] your servants take delight in her stones,
and feel compassion for[x] the dust of her ruins.[y]
15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord,[z]
and all the kings of the earth will respect[aa] his splendor,
16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,
and reveals his splendor,
17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute,[ab]
and does not reject[ac] their request.[ad]
18 The account of his intervention[ae] will be recorded for future generations;
people yet to be born[af] will praise the Lord.
19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above;[ag]
from heaven the Lord will look toward earth,[ah]
20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,
and to set free those condemned to die,[ai]
21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,
and praise him[aj] in Jerusalem,
22 when the nations gather together,
and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord.[ak]
23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life;[al]
he has cut short my days.
24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life.[am]
You endure through all generations.[an]
25 In earlier times you established the earth;
the skies are your handiwork.
26 They will perish,
but you will endure.[ao]
They will wear out like a garment;
like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear.[ap]
27 But you remain;[aq]
your years do not come to an end.
28 The children of your servants will settle down here,
and their descendants[ar] will live securely in your presence.”[as]
Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)
Psalm 107[a]
107 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,[c]
those whom he delivered[d] from the power[e] of the enemy,
3 and gathered from foreign lands,[f]
from east and west,
from north and south.
4 They wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland;[g]
they found no road to a city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty;
they fainted from exhaustion.[h]
6 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a level road,[i]
that they might find a city in which to live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[j]
9 For he has satisfied those who thirst,[k]
and those who hunger he has filled with food.[l]
10 They sat in utter darkness,[m]
bound in painful iron chains,[n]
11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands,[o]
and rejected the instructions of the Most High.[p]
12 So he used suffering to humble them;[q]
they stumbled and no one helped them up.
13 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the utter darkness,[r]
and tore off their shackles.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[s]
16 For he shattered the bronze gates,
and hacked through the iron bars.[t]
17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways,[u]
and suffered because of their sins.
18 They lost their appetite for all food,[v]
and they drew near the gates of death.
19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
20 He sent them an assuring word[w] and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.[x]
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[y]
22 Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done.[z]
23 [aa] Some traveled on[ab] the sea in ships,
and carried cargo over the vast waters.[ac]
24 They witnessed the acts of the Lord,
his amazing feats on the deep water.
25 He gave the order for a windstorm,[ad]
and it stirred up the waves of the sea.[ae]
26 They[af] reached up to the sky,
then dropped into the depths.
The sailors’ strength[ag] left them[ah] because the danger was so great.[ai]
27 They swayed[aj] and staggered like drunks,
and all their skill proved ineffective.[ak]
28 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
29 He calmed the storm,[al]
and the waves[am] grew silent.
30 The sailors[an] rejoiced because the waves[ao] grew quiet,
and he led them to the harbor[ap] they desired.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[aq]
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people.
Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside.[ar]
The Birth of the Deliverer
2 [a] A man from the household[b] of Levi married[c] a woman who was a descendant of Levi.[d] 2 The woman became pregnant[e] and gave birth to a son. When[f] she saw that[g] he was a healthy[h] child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket[i] for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile.[j] 4 His sister stationed herself[k] at a distance to find out[l] what would[m] happen to him.
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh[n] came down to wash herself[o] by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river,[p] and she saw the basket among the reeds. She sent one of her attendants,[q] took it,[r] 6 opened it,[s] and saw the child[t]—a boy,[u] crying![v]—and she felt compassion[w] for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get[x] a nursing woman[y] for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse[z] the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes, do so.”[aa] So the young girl[ab] went and got[ac] the child’s mother.[ad] 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child[ae] and nurse him for me, and I will pay your[af] wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
10 When the child grew older[ag] she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.[ah] She named him Moses, saying, “Because I drew him from the water.”[ai]
The Presumption of the Deliverer
11 [aj] In those days,[ak] when[al] Moses had grown up, he went out to his people[am] and observed[an] their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking[ao] a Hebrew man, one of his own people.[ap] 12 He looked this way and that[aq] and saw that no one was there,[ar] and then he attacked[as] the Egyptian and concealed the body[at] in the sand. 13 When he went out[au] the next day,[av] there were[aw] two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong,[ax] “Why are you attacking[ay] your fellow Hebrew?”[az]
14 The man[ba] replied, “Who made you a ruler[bb] and a judge over us? Are you planning[bc] to kill me like you killed that[bd] Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking,[be] “Surely what I did[bf] has become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard[bg] about this event,[bh] he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled[bi] from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian,[bj] and he settled[bk] by a certain well.[bl]
16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and began to draw[bm] water[bn] and fill[bo] the troughs in order to water their father’s flock. 17 When some[bp] shepherds came and drove them away,[bq] Moses came up and defended them[br] and then watered their flock. 18 So when they came home[bs] to their father Reuel,[bt] he asked, “Why have you come home so early[bu] today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian man rescued us[bv] from the shepherds,[bw] and he actually[bx] drew water for us and watered the flock!” 20 He said[by] to his daughters, “So where is he?[bz] Why in the world[ca] did you leave the man? Call him, so that he may eat[cb] a meal[cc] with us.”
21 Moses agreed[cd] to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.[ce] 22 When she bore[cf] a son, Moses[cg] named him Gershom, for he said, “I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land.”[ch]
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues. 29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? 30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?[a] 31 But you should be eager for the greater gifts.
And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison.[b]
The Way of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast,[c] but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
The Transfiguration
2 Six days later[a] Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately. And he was transfigured before them,[b] 3 and his clothes became radiantly white, more so than any launderer in the world could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah appeared before them along with Moses,[c] and they were talking with Jesus. 5 So[d] Peter said to Jesus,[e] “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters[f]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 (For they were afraid, and he did not know what to say.)[g] 7 Then[h] a cloud[i] overshadowed them,[j] and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my one dear Son.[k] Listen to him!”[l] 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this statement to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant.
11 Then[m] they asked him,[n] “Why do the experts in the law[o] say that Elijah must come first?” 12 He said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has certainly come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.