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 Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel
4 Listen to the Lord’s message, you Israelites![a]
For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit[b] against the people of Israel.[c]
For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,
nor do they acknowledge God.[d]
2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.
They resort to violence and bloodshed.[e]
3 Therefore the land will mourn,
and all its inhabitants will perish.[f]
The wild animals,[g] the birds of the sky,
and even the fish in the sea will perish.
The Lord’s Dispute against the Sinful Priesthood
4 Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else:[h]
for my case is against you priests![i]
5 You stumble day and night,
and the false prophets stumble with you;
you have destroyed your own people.[j]
6 You have destroyed[k] my people
by failing to acknowledge me!
Because you refuse to acknowledge me,[l]
I will reject you as my priests.
Because you reject[m] the law of your God,
I will reject[n] your descendants.
7 The more the priests increased in numbers,
the more they rebelled against me.
They have turned[o] their glorious calling
into a shameful disgrace!
8 They feed on the sin offerings of my people;
their appetites long for their iniquity!
9 I will deal with the people and priests together:[p]
I will punish them both for their ways,
and I will repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat, but not be satisfied;
they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers;
because they have abandoned the Lord
by pursuing other gods.[q]
Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem
21 After[a] we[b] tore ourselves away[c] from them, we put out to sea,[d] and sailing a straight course,[e] we came to Cos,[f] on the next day to Rhodes,[g] and from there to Patara.[h] 2 We found[i] a ship crossing over to Phoenicia,[j] went aboard,[k] and put out to sea.[l] 3 After we sighted Cyprus[m] and left it behind on our port side,[n] we sailed on to Syria and put in[o] at Tyre,[p] because the ship was to unload its cargo there. 4 After we located[q] the disciples, we stayed there[r] seven days. They repeatedly told[s] Paul through the Spirit[t] not to set foot[u] in Jerusalem. 5 When[v] our time was over,[w] we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied[x] us outside of the city. After[y] kneeling down on the beach and praying,[z] 6 we said farewell[aa] to one another. Then[ab] we went aboard the ship, and they returned to their own homes.[ac] 7 We continued the voyage from Tyre[ad] and arrived at Ptolemais,[ae] and when we had greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day we left[af] and came to Caesarea,[ag] and entered[ah] the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven,[ai] and stayed with him. 9 (He had four unmarried[aj] daughters who prophesied.)[ak]
10 While we remained there for a number of days,[al] a prophet named Agabus[am] came down from Judea. 11 He came[an] to us, took[ao] Paul’s belt,[ap] tied[aq] his own hands and feet with it,[ar] and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over[as] to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, both we and the local people[at] begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking[au] my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up,[av] but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Because he could not be persuaded,[aw] we said no more except,[ax] “The Lord’s will be done.”[ay]
Healing a Leper
12 While[a] Jesus[b] was in one of the towns,[c] a man came[d] to him who was covered with[e] leprosy.[f] When[g] he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground[h] and begged him,[i] “Lord, if[j] you are willing, you can make me clean.” 13 So[k] he stretched out his hand and touched[l] him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Then[m] he ordered the man[n] to tell no one,[o] but commanded him,[p] “Go[q] and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering[r] for your cleansing, as Moses commanded,[s] as a testimony to them.”[t] 15 But the news about him spread even more,[u] and large crowds were gathering together to hear him[v] and to be healed of their illnesses. 16 Yet Jesus himself[w] frequently withdrew[x] to the wilderness[y] and prayed.
Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic
17 Now on[z] one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees[aa] and teachers of the law[ab] sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem),[ac] and the power of the Lord was with him[ad] to heal. 18 Just then[ae] some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man[af] on a stretcher.[ag] They[ah] were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.[ai] 19 But[aj] since they found[ak] no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof[al] and let him down on the stretcher[am] through the roof tiles[an] right[ao] in front of Jesus.[ap] 20 When[aq] Jesus[ar] saw their[as] faith he said, “Friend,[at] your sins are forgiven.”[au] 21 Then[av] the experts in the law[aw] and the Pharisees began to think[ax] to themselves,[ay] “Who is this man[az] who is uttering blasphemies?[ba] Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived[bb] their hostile thoughts,[bc] he said to them,[bd] “Why are you raising objections[be] within yourselves? 23 Which is easier,[bf] to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know[bg] that the Son of Man[bh] has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man[bi]—“I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher[bj] and go home.”[bk] 25 Immediately[bl] he stood up before them, picked[bm] up the stretcher[bn] he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying[bo] God. 26 Then[bp] astonishment[bq] seized them all, and they glorified[br] God. They were filled with awe,[bs] saying, “We have seen incredible[bt] things[bu] today.”[bv]
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