Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118[a]
118 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
3 Let the family[c] of Aaron say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
4 Let the loyal followers of the Lord[d] say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
5 In my distress[e] I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place.[f]
6 The Lord is on my side;[g] I am not afraid.
What can people do to me?[h]
7 The Lord is on my side[i] as my helper.[j]
I look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take shelter[k] in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me.[l]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord[m] I pushed them away.[n]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
12 They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly[o] as a fire among thorns.[p]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
13 “You aggressively attacked me[q] and tried to knock me down,[r]
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me;[s]
he has become my deliverer.”[t]
15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.[u]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.[v]
16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory;[w]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.[x]
18 The Lord severely[y] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.[z]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders discarded[aa]
has become the cornerstone.[ab]
23 This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing![ac]
24 This is the day the Lord has brought about.[ad]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
25 Please, Lord, deliver!
Please, Lord, grant us success![ae]
26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord[af] be blessed.
We will pronounce blessings on you[ag] in the Lord’s temple.[ah]
27 The Lord is God, and he has delivered us.[ai]
Tie the offering[aj] with ropes
to the horns of the altar.[ak]
28 You are my[al] God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God and I will praise you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures.[am]
Psalm 145[a]
A psalm of praise; by David.
145 I will extol you, my God, O King.
I will praise your name continually.[b]
2 Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name continually.[c]
3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise.
No one can fathom his greatness.[d]
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts.[e]
5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,
and your amazing deeds.[f]
6 They will proclaim[g] the power of your awesome acts.
I will declare your great deeds.
7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness,[h]
and sing about your justice.[i]
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient[j] and demonstrates great loyal love.[k]
9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made.[l]
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
12 so that mankind[m] might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,[n]
and your dominion endures through all generations.
14 [o] The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over.[p]
15 Everything looks to you in anticipation,[q]
and you provide them with food on a regular basis.[r]
16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food it desires.[s]
17 The Lord is just in all his actions,[t]
and exhibits love in all he does.[u]
18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,
all who cry out to him sincerely.[v]
19 He satisfies the desire[w] of his loyal followers;[x]
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
21 My mouth will praise the Lord.[y]
Let all who live[z] praise his holy name forever.
The Feast of Weeks
9 You must count seven weeks; you must begin to count them[a] from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain. 10 Then you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks[b] before the Lord your God with the voluntary offering[c] that you will bring, in proportion to how he[d] has blessed you. 11 You shall rejoice before him[e]—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages,[f] the resident foreigners,[g] the orphans, and the widows among you—in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name. 12 Furthermore, remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and so be careful to observe these statutes.
18 And they called them in and ordered[a] them not to speak or teach at all in the name[b] of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied,[c] “Whether it is right before God to obey[d] you rather than God, you decide, 20 for it is impossible[e] for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising[f] God for what had happened.
The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness
23 When they were released, Peter and John[a] went to their fellow believers[b] and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind[c] and said, “Master of all,[d] you who made the heaven, the earth,[e] the sea, and everything that is in them, 25 who said by the Holy Spirit through[f] your servant David our forefather,[g]
‘Why do the nations[h] rage,[i]
and the peoples plot foolish[j] things?
26 The kings of the earth stood together,[k]
and the rulers assembled together,
against the Lord and against his[l] Christ.’[m]
27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against[n] your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,[o] 28 to do as much as your power[p] and your plan[q] had decided beforehand[r] would happen. 29 And now, Lord, pay attention to[s] their threats, and grant[t] to your servants[u] to speak your message[v] with great courage,[w] 30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs[x] and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When[y] they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken,[z] and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak[aa] the word of God[ab] courageously.[ac]
Conditions Among the Early Believers
32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind,[ad] and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common.[ae] 33 With[af] great power the apostles were giving testimony[ag] to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see[a] that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,[b] and you people[c] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman,[d] a time[e] is coming when you will worship[f] the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people[g] worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.[h] 23 But a time[i] is coming—and now is here[j]—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks[k] such people to be[l] his worshipers.[m] 24 God is spirit,[n] and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ);[o] “whenever he[p] comes, he will tell[q] us everything.”[r] 26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”
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