Book of Common Prayer
118 Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Israel should say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 The descendants of Aaron should say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Those who fear the Lord should say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5 During times of trouble I called on the Lord.
The Lord answered me ⌞and⌟ set me free ⌞from all of them⌟.
6 The Lord is on my side.
I am not afraid.
What can mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper.
I will see ⌞the defeat of⌟ those who hate me.
8 It is better to depend on the Lord
than to trust mortals.
9 It is better to depend on the Lord
than to trust influential people.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
⌞but armed⌟ with the name of the Lord, I defeated them.
11 They surrounded me. Yes, they surrounded me,
⌞but armed⌟ with the name of the Lord, I defeated them.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were extinguished like burning thornbushes.
⌞So armed⌟ with the name of the Lord, I defeated them.
13 They pushed hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song.
He is my savior.
15 The sound of joyful singing and victory is heard
in the tents of righteous people.
The right hand of the Lord displays strength.
16 The right hand of the Lord is held high.
The right hand of the Lord displays strength.
17 I will not die,
but I will live and tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord disciplined me severely,
but he did not allow me to be killed.
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me.
I will go through them ⌞and⌟ give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which righteous people will enter.
21 I give thanks to you,
because you have answered me.
You are my savior.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 The Lord is responsible for this,
and it is amazing for us to see.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
Let’s rejoice and be glad today!
25 We beg you, O Lord, save us!
We beg you, O Lord, give us success!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the Lord’s house.
27 The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
March in a festival procession
with branches to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I give thanks to you.
My God, I honor you highly.
29 Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
A song of praise by David.
145 I will highly praise you, my God, the king.
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 I will bless you every day.
I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great, and he should be highly praised.
His greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will praise your deeds to the next.
Each generation will talk about your mighty acts.
5 I will think about the glorious honor of your majesty
and the miraculous things you have done.
6 People will talk about the power of your terrifying deeds,
and I will tell about your greatness.
7 They will announce what they remember of your great goodness,
and they will joyfully sing about your righteousness.
8 The Lord is merciful, compassionate, patient,
and always ready to forgive.
9 The Lord is good to everyone
and has compassion for everything that he has made.
10 Everything that you have made will give thanks to you, O Lord,
and your faithful ones will praise you.
11 Everyone will talk about the glory of your kingdom
and will tell the descendants of Adam about your might
12 in order to make known your mighty deeds
and the glorious honor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
Your empire endures throughout every generation.
14 The Lord supports everyone who falls.
He straightens ⌞the backs⌟ of those who are bent over.
15 The eyes of all creatures look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand,
and you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is fair in all his ways
and faithful in everything he does.
18 The Lord is near to everyone who prays to him,
to every faithful person who prays to him.
19 He fills the needs of those who fear him.
He hears their cries for help and saves them.
20 The Lord protects everyone who loves him,
but he will destroy all wicked people.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all living creatures will praise his holy name
forever and ever.
4 “I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt.
You have known no god besides me.
There is no savior except me.
5 I took care of you [a] in the desert, in a dry land.
6 When I fed you, you were full.
When you were full, you became arrogant.
That is why you forgot me.
7 So I will be like a lion.
Like a leopard I will wait by the road to ambush you.
8 Like a bear that has lost her cubs, I will attack you.
I will rip you open.
Like a lion I will devour you.
Like a wild animal I will tear you apart.
9 You are destroying yourself, Israel.
You are against me, your helper.
10 “Where, now, is your king, the one who is supposed to save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges?
You said, ‘Give us kings and officials!’
11 I gave you a king when I was angry,
and I took him away when I was furious.
12 “Ephraim’s wickedness is on record.
The record of the people’s sins is safely stored away.
13 They have the opportunity to live again,
but they are not smart enough to take it.
They are like a baby who is about to be born
but won’t come out of its mother’s womb.
14 “I want to free them from the power of the grave.
I want to reclaim them from death.
Death, I want to be a plague to you.
Grave, I want to destroy you.[b]
I won’t even think of changing my plans.”
6 However, we do use wisdom to speak to those who are mature. It is a wisdom that doesn’t belong to this world or to the rulers of this world who are in power today and gone tomorrow. 7 We speak about the mystery of God’s wisdom. It is a wisdom that has been hidden, which God had planned for our glory before the world began. 8 Not one of the rulers of this world has known it. If they had, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as Scripture says:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
the things that God has prepared
for those who love him.”
10 God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God. 11 After all, who knows everything about a person except that person’s own spirit? In the same way, no one has known everything about God except God’s Spirit. 12 Now, we didn’t receive the spirit that belongs to the world. Instead, we received the Spirit who comes from God so that we could know the things which God has freely given us. 13 We don’t speak about these things using teachings that are based on intellectual arguments like people do. Instead, we use the Spirit’s teachings. We explain spiritual things to those who have the Spirit.[a]
14 A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them. 15 Spiritual people evaluate everything but are subject to no one’s evaluation.
16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord
so that he can teach him?”
However, we have the mind of Christ.
Recalling John’s Death(A)
14 At that time Herod, ruler of Galilee, heard the news about Jesus. 2 He said to his officials, “This is John the Baptizer! He has come back to life. That’s why he has the power to perform these miracles.”
3 Herod had arrested John, tied him up, and put him in prison. Herod did this for Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 John had been telling Herod, “It’s not right for you to be married to her.” 5 So Herod wanted to kill John. However, he was afraid of the people because they thought John was a prophet.
6 When Herod celebrated his birthday, Herodias’ daughter danced for his guests. Herod was so delighted with her that 7 he swore he would give her anything she wanted.
8 Urged by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.”
9 The king regretted his promise. But because of his oath and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted. 10 He had John’s head cut off in prison. 11 So the head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who took it to her mother.
12 John’s disciples came for the body and buried it. Then they went to tell Jesus.
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