Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Power and Dominion.
97 (A)The Lord [a]reigns, may the (B)earth rejoice;
May the many [b](C)islands be joyful.
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
(E)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before Him
And (G)burns up His enemies all around.
4 His (H)lightning lit up the world;
The earth saw it and (I)trembled.
5 The mountains (J)melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the (K)Lord of the whole earth.
6 The (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
And (M)all the peoples have seen His glory.
7 May all those be ashamed who serve (N)carved images,
Who boast in (O)idols;
[c](P)Worship Him, all you [d]gods.
8 Zion [e]heard this and (Q)was joyful,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, Lord.
9 For You are the Lord (R)Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far (S)above all [f]gods.
10 (T)Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who (U)watches over the souls of His godly ones;
He (V)saves them from the hand of the wicked.
11 (W)Light is sown like seed for the righteous,
And (X)gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be (Y)joyful in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And (Z)praise [g]the mention of His holy name.
Praise to the Lord for His Faithfulness to Israel.
99 (A)The Lord reigns, [a]the peoples tremble!
He (B)sits enthroned above the cherubim, [b]the earth quakes!
2 The Lord [c]is (C)great in Zion,
And He is (D)exalted above all the peoples.
3 May they praise Your (E)great and awesome name;
(F)Holy is [d]He.
4 The [e]strength of the King (G)loves [f]justice;
You have established [g](H)order;
You have (I)executed [h]justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 [i](J)Exalt the Lord our God
And (K)worship at His footstool;
(L)Holy is He.
6 (M)Moses and Aaron were among His (N)priests,
And (O)Samuel was among those who (P)called on His name;
They (Q)called upon the Lord and He answered them.
7 He (R)spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They (S)kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
8 Lord our God, You (T)answered them;
You were a (U)forgiving God to them,
And yet an (V)avenger of their evil deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill,
For the Lord our God is holy.
All People Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm for [j]Thanksgiving.
The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.
94 Lord, God of [a](A)vengeance,
God of [b]vengeance, [c](B)shine forth!
2 (C)Rise up, (D)Judge of the earth,
Pay back retribution (E)to the proud.
3 How long, Lord, shall the wicked—
How long shall the (F)wicked triumph?
4 They pour out words, they (G)speak arrogantly;
All who do injustice (H)boast.
5 They (I)crush Your people, Lord,
And (J)afflict Your inheritance.
6 They (K)kill the widow and the stranger
And murder the orphans.
7 (L)They have said, “[d]The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob perceive.”
8 Pay attention, you (M)stupid ones among the people;
And when will you understand, (N)foolish ones?
9 He who (O)planted the ear, [e]does He not hear?
Or He who formed the eye, [f]does He not see?
10 He who [g](P)disciplines the nations, will He not rebuke,
He who (Q)teaches mankind knowledge?
11 The Lord (R)knows human thoughts,
[h]That they are mere breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom (S)You discipline, [i]Lord,
And (T)whom You teach from Your Law,
13 So that You may grant him (U)relief from the (V)days of adversity,
Until (W)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For (X)the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He (Y)abandon His inheritance.
15 For [j](Z)judgment [k]will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart [l]will follow it.
16 Who will (AA)stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me (AB)against those who do injustice?
17 If (AC)the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 If I should say, “(AD)My foot has slipped,”
Your faithfulness, Lord, will support me.
19 When my anxious thoughts [m]multiply within me,
Your (AE)comfort delights my soul.
20 Can a [n](AF)throne of destruction be allied with You,
One (AG)which devises [o]mischief by decree?
21 They (AH)band themselves together against the [p]life of the righteous
And (AI)condemn [q]the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has been my (AJ)refuge,
And my God the (AK)rock of my refuge.
23 He has (AL)brought back their injustice upon them,
And He will [r](AM)destroy them in their evil;
The Lord our God will [s]destroy them.
Praise to the Lord and Warning against Unbelief.
95 Come, let’s (AN)sing for joy to the Lord,
Let’s shout joyfully to (AO)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let’s (AP)come before His presence (AQ)with a song of thanksgiving,
Let’s shout joyfully to Him (AR)in songs with instruments.
3 For the Lord is a (AS)great God
And a great King (AT)above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the (AU)depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are also His.
5 [t]The sea is His, for it was He (AV)who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let’s (AW)worship and bow down,
Let’s (AX)kneel before the Lord our (AY)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (AZ)we are the people of His [u](BA)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(BB)Today, [v]if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as at [w](BC)Meribah,
As on the day of [x](BD)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (BE)put Me to the test,
They tested Me, though they had seen My work.
10 For (BF)forty years I was disgusted with that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 Therefore I (BG)swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My (BH)rest.”
Philistines Oppress Again
13 Now the sons of Israel (A)again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
2 And there was a man of (B)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. 3 (C)Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are infertile and have not given birth; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 And now, be careful (D)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [a]unclean thing. 5 (E)For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a (F)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “(G)A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [b]unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Lord, please let (H)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again so that he may teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and (I)the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and ran, and told her [c]husband, “Behold, (J)the man who [d]came the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you (K)the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words [e]are fulfilled, what shall be the boy’s way of life and his vocation?” 13 And (L)the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “(M)The woman shall pay attention [f]to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the (N)vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”
15 Then Manoah said to (O)the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”
27 When they had brought them, they had them stand [a]before (A)the Council. The high priest interrogated them, 28 saying, “We gave you (B)strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and [b]yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and (C)intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “(D)We must obey God rather than men. 30 (E)The God of our fathers (F)raised up Jesus, whom you (G)put to death by hanging Him on [c](H)a cross. 31 (I)He is the One whom God exalted [d]to His right hand as a [e](J)Prince and a (K)Savior, to grant (L)repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are (M)witnesses [f]of these things; and (N)so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Gamaliel’s Counsel
33 But when they heard this, they became (O)infuriated and nearly decided to execute them. 34 But a Pharisee named (P)Gamaliel, a (Q)teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in (R)the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, be careful as to what you are about to do with these men. 36 For, some time ago Theudas appeared, (S)claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined him. [g]But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee appeared in the days of (T)the census and drew away some people after him; he also perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. 38 And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or [h]movement (U)is men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found (V)fighting against God.”
40 They followed his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they (W)flogged them and ordered them not to [i]speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the [j](X)Council, (Y)rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame (Z)for His name. 42 (AA)And every day, in the temple and [k]from house to house, they did not stop teaching and (AB)preaching the good news of Jesus as the [l]Christ.
John the Baptist’s Last Testimony
22 After these things Jesus and His (A)disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and (B)baptizing. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— 24 for (C)John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about [a](D)purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “(E)Rabbi, He who was with you (F)beyond the Jordan, to whom you (G)have testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.” 27 John replied, “(H)A person can receive not even one thing unless it (I)has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves [b]are my witnesses that I said, ‘(J)I am not the [c]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is (K)the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this (L)joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must [d]increase, but I must [e]decrease.
31 “(M)He who comes from above is above all; (N)the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. (O)He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of this He (P)testifies; and (Q)no one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony (R)has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God (S)sent speaks the words of God; (T)for He does not give the Spirit [f]sparingly. 35 (U)The Father loves the Son and (V)has entrusted all things to His hand. 36 The one who (W)believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who (X)does not [g]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
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