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 Yet I have been the (A)Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (B)any god except Me,
For there is no savior (C)besides Me.
5 I [a](D)cared for you in the wilderness,
(E)In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became (F)satisfied,
And as they became satisfied, their (G)heart became proud;
Therefore they (H)forgot Me.
7 So I will be (I)like a lion to them;
Like a (J)leopard I will [b]lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will confront them (K)like a bear deprived of her cubs,
And I will tear open [c]their chests;
I will also (L)devour them there like a lioness,
As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.
9 [d]It is to your own destruction, Israel,
That you are (M)against Me, against your (N)help.
10 Where then is your (O)king,
That he might save you in all your cities;
And your (P)judges, to whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I (Q)gave you a king in My anger,
And (R)took him away in My wrath.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up;
His sin is (S)stored up.
13 The pains of (T)childbirth come on him;
He is (U)not a wise son,
For [e]it is not the time that he should (V)delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I (W)ransom them from the [f]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
(X)Death, where are your [g]thorns?
Sheol, where is your sting?
(Y)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are (A)mature; a wisdom, however, not of (B)this age nor of the rulers of (C)this age, who are (D)passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a (E)mystery, the hidden wisdom which God (F)predestined before the (G)ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom (H)which none of the rulers of (I)this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified (J)the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written:
“(K)Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the human heart,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 [a](L)For to us God revealed them (M)through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the (N)depths of God. 11 For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the (O)spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we (P)have not received the spirit of (Q)the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, (R)not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [b]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But [c]a (S)natural person (T)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (U)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But the one who is (V)spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is [d]discerned by no one. 16 For (W)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But (X)we have the mind of Christ.
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 [a](A)At that time [b](B)Herod [c]the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, 2 and said to his servants, “(C)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For when (D)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him (E)in prison because of (F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 For John had been saying to him, “(G)It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded [d]John as (H)a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of (I)Herodias danced [e]before them and pleased (J)Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 And after being prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and [f]his dinner guests. 10 He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 [g]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried [h]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.