Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]
63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.[c]
My soul thirsts[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched[e] land where there is no water.
2 Yes,[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,[g]
and witnessed[h] your power and splendor.
3 Because[i] experiencing[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reason[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.[l]
5 As with choice meat[m] you satisfy my soul.[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,[o]
6 whenever[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;[q]
under your wings[r] I rejoice.
8 My soul[s] pursues you;[t]
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.[v]
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.[x]
11 But the king[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.[aa]
Psalm 98[a]
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,[b]
for he performs[c] amazing deeds.
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance.[d]
2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;[e]
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.[f]
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.[g]
4 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out in a joyful shout and sing!
5 Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,
accompanied by a harp and the sound of music.
6 With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,
shout out praises before the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,
along with the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
9 before the Lord.
For he comes to judge the earth.
He judges the world fairly,[h]
and the nations in a just manner.
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[k] and demonstrates great loyal love.[l]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[m]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[n]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[o]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[p] over his faithful followers.[q]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[r] is from the west,[s]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[t] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[u]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[v]
14 For he knows what we are made of;[w]
he realizes[x] we are made of clay.[y]
15 A person’s life is like grass.[z]
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16 but when the hot wind[aa] blows, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,[ab]
and is faithful to their descendants,[ac]
18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands.[ad]
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything.[ae]
20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees
and obey his orders.[af]
21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,[ag]
you servants of his who carry out his desires.[ah]
22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made,[ai]
in all the regions[aj] of his kingdom.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
The Clothing of the Priests
28 [a] “And you, bring near[b] to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests[c]—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2 You must make holy garments[d] for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty.[e] 3 You[f] are to speak to all who are specially skilled,[g] whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,[h] so that they may make[i] Aaron’s garments to set him apart[j] to minister as my priest. 4 Now these are the garments that they are to make: a breastpiece,[k] an ephod,[l] a robe, a fitted[m] tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and for his sons, that they may minister as my priests.
30 “You are to put the Urim and the Thummim[a] into the breastpiece of decision; and they are to be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. Aaron is to bear the decisions[b] of the Israelites over his heart before the Lord continually.
31 “You are to make the robe[c] of the ephod completely blue. 32 There is to be an opening[d] in its top[e] in the center of it, with an edge all around the opening, the work of a weaver,[f] like the opening of a collar,[g] so that it cannot be torn.[h] 33 You are to make pomegranates[i] of blue, purple, and scarlet all around its hem[j] and bells of gold between them all around. 34 The pattern is to be[k] a gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe. 35 The robe[l] is to be on Aaron as he ministers,[m] and his sound will be heard[n] when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he leaves, so that he does not die.
36 “You are to make a plate[o] of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved:[p] ‘Holiness to the Lord.’[q] 37 You are to attach to it a blue cord so that it will be[r] on the turban; it is to be[s] on the front of the turban. 38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things,[t] which the Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts;[u] it will always be on his forehead, for their acceptance[v] before the Lord.
Warning About False Teachers
18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists[a] have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained[b] with us. But[c] they went out from us[d] to demonstrate[e] that all of them do not belong to us.[f]
20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.[g] 21 I have not written to you that[h] you do not know the truth, but that[i] you do know it, and that[j] no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ[k] ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.[l]
24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain[m] in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 Now this[n] is the promise that he[o] himself made to[p] us: eternal life.[q] 26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.[r]
27 Now as for you, the anointing[s] that you received from him[t] resides[u] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his[v] anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as[w] it[x] has taught you, you reside[y] in him.
Children of God
28 And now, little children, remain[z] in him,[aa] so that when[ab] he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.[ac] 29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know[ad] that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered[ae] by him.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
30 Then[a] the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat[b] to some remote place. 33 But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot[c] from all the towns[d] and arrived there ahead of them.[e] 34 As Jesus[f] came ashore[g] he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So[h] he taught them many things.
35 When it was already late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place[i] and it is already very late. 36 Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them,[j] “You[k] give them something to eat.” And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for 200 silver coins[l] and give it to them to eat?” 38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” 39 Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He[m] gave them to his[n] disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up the broken pieces and fish that were left over, twelve baskets full. 44 Now[o] there were 5,000 men[p] who ate the bread.[q]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.