Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.
118 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, for (B)He is good;
For His mercy is everlasting.
2 Let (C)Israel say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
3 Oh let the (D)house of Aaron say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
4 Let those (E)who [a]fear the Lord say,
“His mercy is everlasting.”
5 From my (F)distress I called upon [b]the Lord;
[c]The Lord answered me and (G)put me in an open space.
6 The Lord is (H)for me; I will (I)not fear;
(J)What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is for me (K)among those who help me;
Therefore I will (L)look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8 It is (M)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in people.
9 It is (N)better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in noblemen.
10 All nations (O)surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will certainly (P)fend them off.
11 They (Q)surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
In the name of the Lord I will certainly fend them off.
12 They surrounded me (R)like bees;
They were extinguished like a (S)fire of thorn bushes;
In the name of the Lord I will certainly fend them off.
13 You (T)pushed me violently so that I [d]was falling,
But the Lord (U)helped me.
14 [e](V)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become (W)my salvation.
15 The sound of (X)joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The (Y)right hand of the Lord performs valiantly.
16 The (Z)right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord performs valiantly.
17 I (AA)will not die, but live,
And (AB)tell of the works of [f]the Lord.
18 [g]The Lord has (AC)disciplined me severely,
But He has (AD)not turned me over to death.
19 (AE)Open the gates of righteousness to me;
I will enter through them, I will give thanks to [h]the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
The (AF)righteous will enter through it.
21 I will give thanks to You, for You have (AG)answered me,
And You have (AH)become my salvation.
22 A (AI)stone which the builders rejected
Has become the [i]chief cornerstone.
23 This came about from the Lord;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let’s (AJ)rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, O Lord, (AK)do save us;
Please, O Lord, do send (AL)prosperity!
26 (AM)Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have (AN)blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 (AO)The Lord is God, and He has given us (AP)light;
Bind the festival sacrifice [j]to the (AQ)horns of the altar with cords.
28 (AR)You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, (AS)I exalt You.
29 (AT)Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His mercy is everlasting.
The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)exalt You, (B)my God, the King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation will praise Your works to another,
And will declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 People will speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They will burst forth [c]in speaking of Your (L)abundant goodness,
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and compassionate;
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is (O)good to all,
And His (P)mercies are over all His works.
10 (Q)All Your works will give thanks to You, Lord,
And Your (R)godly ones will bless You.
11 They will speak of the (S)glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your might,
12 To (T)make known to the sons of mankind [d]Your mighty acts,
And the (U)glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is [f]an (V)everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[g]The Lord is faithful in His words,
And holy in all His works.
14 The Lord (W)supports all who fall,
And (X)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all [h]look to You,
And You (Y)give them their food in due time.
16 You (Z)open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (AA)righteous in all His ways,
And kind in all His works.
18 The Lord is (AB)near to all who call on Him,
To all who call on Him (AC)in truth.
19 He will (AD)fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also (AE)hear their cry for help and save them.
20 The Lord (AF)watches over all who love Him,
But He will destroy all the (AG)wicked.
21 My (AH)mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And (AI)all flesh will (AJ)bless His holy name forever and ever.
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [a]Red Sea, to (A)go around the land of Edom; and the [b]people became impatient because of the journey. 5 So the people spoke against God and Moses: “(B)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no [c]food and no water, and [d](C)we are disgusted with [e]this miserable food.”
The Bronze Serpent
6 (D)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and (E)they bit the people, so that (F)many people of Israel died. 7 (G)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; (H)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “[f]Make a (I)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” 9 So Moses made a (J)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Two Victories
21 (A)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “(B)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” 23 (C)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to (D)Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then (E)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the (F)border of the sons of Ammon was [a]Jazer. 25 Israel took all these cities, and (G)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her [b]villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 For that reason those who use proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!
So let the city of Sihon be established.
28 (H)For a fire spread from Heshbon,
A flame from the town of Sihon;
It devoured (I)Ar of Moab,
The [c](J)dominant [d]heights of the Arnon.
29 (K)Woe to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, people of (L)Chemosh!
(M)He has given his sons as fugitives,
(N)And his daughters into captivity,
To an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 But we have shot them down with arrows,
Heshbon is destroyed as far as (O)Dibon,
Then we have laid waste as far as Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”
31 So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Now Moses sent men to spy out (P)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
33 (Q)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them [e]with all his people, for battle at (R)Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “(S)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 35 So (T)they [f]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.
12 Therefore, (A)many of them believed, [a]along with a significant number of (B)prominent Greek (C)women and men. 13 But when the Jews of (D)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in (E)Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then immediately (F)the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and (G)Silas and (H)Timothy remained there. 15 Now (I)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as (J)Athens; and receiving a command for (K)Silas and Timothy to (L)come to him as soon as possible, they left.
Paul in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in (M)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning (N)in the synagogue with the Jews and (O)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were [b]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could (P)this [c]scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching (Q)Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they (R)took him and brought him [d]to the [e](S)Areopagus, saying, “May we know what (T)this new teaching is [f]which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers (U)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Sermon on Mars Hill
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the [g]Areopagus and said, “Men of (V)Athens, I see that you are very (W)religious in all respects. 23 For while I was passing through and examining the (X)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what (Y)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 24 (Z)The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is (AA)Lord of heaven and earth, does not (AB)dwell in temples made by hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, (AC)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and (AD)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having (AE)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, (AF)though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for (AG)in Him we live and move and [h]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we (AH)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. 30 So having (AI)overlooked (AJ)the times of ignorance, God is (AK)now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, 31 because He has set (AL)a day on which (AM)He will judge [i](AN)the world in righteousness [j]through a Man whom He has (AO)appointed, having furnished proof to all people [k]by (AP)raising Him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of (AQ)the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you [l]again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out from among them. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the (AR)Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Healing on the Sabbath
10 Now Jesus was (A)teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And [a]there was a woman who for eighteen years had had (B)a [b]sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over double, and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13 And He (C)laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood up straight again, and began (D)glorifying God. 14 But (E)the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus (F)had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “(G)There are six days during which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But (H)the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, (I)does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? 16 And this woman, (J)a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom (K)Satan has bound for [c]eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?” 17 And as He said this, all His opponents were being [d]humiliated; and (L)the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.
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