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.
Title
1 The words of the Teacher,[a] the son[b] of David, king[c] in Jerusalem:[d]
Introduction: Utter Futility
Futility Illustrated from Nature
3 What benefit[j] do people[k] get from all the effort
which[l] they expend[m] on earth?[n]
4 A generation comes[o] and a generation goes,[p]
but the earth remains[q] the same[r] through the ages.[s]
5 The sun rises[t] and the sun sets;[u]
it hurries away[v] to a place from which it rises[w] again.[x]
6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north;
round and round[y] the wind goes and on its rounds it returns.[z]
7 All the streams flow[aa] into the sea, but the sea is not full,
and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.[ab]
8 All this[ac] monotony[ad] is tiresome; no one can bear[ae] to describe it.[af]
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content[ag] with hearing.
9 What exists now[ah] is what will be,[ai]
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new on earth.[aj]
10 Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new”?[ak]
It was already[al] done long ago,[am] before our time.[an]
11 No one remembers the former events,[ao]
nor will anyone remember[ap] the events that are yet to happen;[aq]
they will not be remembered by the future generations.[ar]
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Then an angel of the Lord[a] said to Philip,[b] “Get up and go south[c] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert[d] road.)[e] 27 So[f] he got up[g] and went. There[h] he met[i] an Ethiopian eunuch,[j] a court official of Candace,[k] queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He[l] had come to Jerusalem to worship,[m] 28 and was returning home, sitting[n] in his chariot, reading[o] the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran up[p] to it[q] and heard the man[r] reading the prophet Isaiah. He[s] asked him,[t] “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 31 The man[u] replied, “How in the world can I,[v] unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture the man[w] was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did[x] not open his mouth.
33 In humiliation[y] justice was taken from him.[z]
Who can describe his posterity?[aa]
For his life was taken away[ab] from the earth.”[ac]
34 Then the eunuch said[ad] to Philip, “Please tell me,[ae] who is the prophet saying this about—himself or someone else?”[af] 35 So Philip started speaking,[ag] and beginning with this scripture[ah] proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water! What is to stop me[ai] from being baptized?”[aj] 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water,[ak] and Philip baptized[al] him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but[am] went on his way rejoicing.[an] 40 Philip, however, found himself[ao] at Azotus,[ap] and as he passed through the area,[aq] he proclaimed the good news[ar] to all the towns[as] until he came to Caesarea.[at]
Instructions on Prayer
11 Now[a] Jesus[b] was praying in a certain place. When[c] he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John[d] taught[e] his disciples.” 2 So he said to them, “When you pray,[f] say:
Father,[g] may your name be honored;[h]
may your kingdom come.[i]
3 Give us each day our daily bread,[j]
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins[k] against us.
And do not lead us into temptation.”[l]
5 Then[m] he said to them, “Suppose one of you[n] has a friend, and you go to him[o] at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,[p] 6 because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey,[q] and I have nothing to set before[r] him.’ 7 Then[s] he will reply[t] from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed.[u] I cannot get up and give you anything.’[v] 8 I tell you, even though the man inside[w] will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s[x] sheer persistence[y] he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 “So[z] I tell you: Ask,[aa] and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door[ab] will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks[ac] receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door[ad] will be opened. 11 What father among you, if your[ae] son asks for[af] a fish, will give him a snake[ag] instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?[ah] 13 If you then, although you are[ai] evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit[aj] to those who ask him!”
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