Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97[a]
97 The Lord reigns.
Let the earth be happy.
Let the many coastlands rejoice.
2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne.[b]
3 Fire goes before him;
on every side[c] it burns up his enemies.
4 His lightning bolts light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The sky declares his justice,
and all the nations see his splendor.
7 All who worship idols are ashamed,
those who boast about worthless idols.
All the gods bow down before him.[d]
8 Zion hears and rejoices,
the towns[e] of Judah are happy,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are the Most High[f] over the whole earth;
you are elevated high above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He protects[g] the lives of his faithful followers;
he delivers them from the power[h] of the wicked.
11 The godly bask in the light;
the morally upright experience joy.[i]
12 You godly ones, rejoice in the Lord.
Give thanks to his holy name.[j]
Psalm 99[a]
99 The Lord reigns!
The nations tremble.[b]
He sits enthroned above the cherubim;[c]
the earth shakes.[d]
2 The Lord is elevated[e] in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
He[f] is holy!
4 The king is strong;
he loves justice.[g]
You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly;[h]
you promote justice and equity in Jacob.
5 Praise[i] the Lord our God.
Worship[j] before his footstool.
He is holy!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;
Samuel was one of those who prayed to him.[k]
They[l] prayed to the Lord and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from a pillar of cloud;[m]
they obeyed his regulations and the ordinance he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them.
They found you to be a forgiving God,
but also one who punished their sinful deeds.[n]
9 Praise[o] the Lord our God!
Worship on his holy hill,
for the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 100[p]
A thanksgiving psalm.
100 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship[q] the Lord with joy.
Enter his presence with joyful singing.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us and we belong to him,[r]
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give him thanks.
Praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His loyal love endures,[s]
and he is faithful through all generations.[t]
Psalm 94[a]
94 O Lord, the God who avenges!
O God who avenges, reveal your splendor.[b]
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth.
Pay back the proud.
3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked celebrate?[c]
4 They spew out threats[d] and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast.[e]
5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you.[f]
6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner,
and they murder the fatherless.[g]
7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.”[h]
8 Take notice of this,[i] you ignorant people.[j]
You fools, when will you ever understand?
9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see?[k]
10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
11 The Lord knows that peoples’ thoughts
are morally bankrupt.[l]
12 How blessed is the one[m] whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
13 in order to protect him from times of trouble,[n]
until the wicked are destroyed.[o]
14 Certainly[p] the Lord does not forsake his people;
he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.[q]
15 For justice will prevail,[r]
and all the morally upright[s] will be vindicated.[t]
16 Who will rise up to defend me[u] against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?[v]
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.[w]
18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,[x]
your soothing touch makes me happy.[y]
20 Cruel rulers[z] are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws.[aa]
21 They conspire against[ab] the blameless,[ac]
and condemn to death the innocent.[ad]
22 But the Lord will protect me,[ae]
and my God will shelter me.[af]
23 He will pay them back for their sin.[ag]
He will destroy them because of[ah] their evil;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95[ai]
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.[aj]
2 Let us enter his presence[ak] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.[al]
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to[am] all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,[an]
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.[ao]
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.[ap]
Today, if only you would obey him.[aq]
8 He says,[ar] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,[as]
like they were that day at Massah[at] in the wilderness,[au]
9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,[av]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was continually disgusted[aw] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;[ax]
they do not obey my commands.’[ay]
11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”[az]
The Judgment on the Rebels
20 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 21 “Separate yourselves[a] from among this community,[b] that I may consume them in an instant.” 22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground[c] and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people,[d] will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”[e]
23 So the Lord spoke to Moses: 24 “Tell the community: ‘Get away[f] from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 25 Then Moses got up[g] and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. 26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked[h] men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because[i] of all their sins.”[j] 27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves[k] in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. 28 Then Moses said, “This is how[l] you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.[m] 29 If these men die a natural death,[n] or if they share the fate[o] of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord does something entirely new,[p] and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up[q] along with all that they have, and they[r] go down alive to the grave,[s] then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”
31 When he had finished[t] speaking[u] all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community. 34 All the Israelites[v] who were around them fled at their cry,[w] for they said, “What if[x] the earth swallows us too?” 35 Then a fire[y] went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.
The Illustration of Justification
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh,[a] has discovered regarding this matter?[b] 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous[c] by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited[d] to him as righteousness.”[e] 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.[f] 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous,[g] his faith is credited as righteousness.
6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed[h] are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the one[i] against whom the Lord will never count[j] sin.”[k]
9 Is this blessedness[l] then for[m] the circumcision[n] or also for[o] the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”[p] 10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised,[q] so that he would become[r] the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised,[s] that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of the circumcised,[t] who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.[u]
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth,[a] it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven! 24 Again I say,[b] it is easier for a camel[c] to go through the eye of a needle[d] than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” 25 The[e] disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said, “Then who can be saved?”[f] 26 Jesus[g] looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans,[h] but for God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said[i] to him, “Look,[j] we have left everything to follow you![k] What then will there be for us?” 28 Jesus[l] said to them, “I tell you the truth:[m] In the age when all things are renewed,[n] when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging[o] the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much[p] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
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