Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[k] and demonstrates great loyal love.[l]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[m]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[n]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[o]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[p] over his faithful followers.[q]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[r] is from the west,[s]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[t] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[u]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[v]
14 For he knows what we are made of;[w]
he realizes[x] we are made of clay.[y]
15 A person’s life is like grass.[z]
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16 but when the hot wind[aa] blows, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,[ab]
and is faithful to their descendants,[ac]
18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands.[ad]
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything.[ae]
20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees
and obey his orders.[af]
21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,[ag]
you servants of his who carry out his desires.[ah]
22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made,[ai]
in all the regions[aj] of his kingdom.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Psalm 114[a]
114 When Israel left Egypt,
when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,[b]
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;[c]
the Jordan River[d] turned back.[e]
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.[f]
5 Why do you flee, O sea?
Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord—
before the God of Jacob,
8 who turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into springs of water.[g]
Psalm 115[h]
115 Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name bring honor,[i]
for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness.[j]
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does whatever he pleases.[k]
4 Their[l] idols are made of silver and gold—
they are man-made.[m]
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
6 ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell,
7 hands, but cannot touch,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot even clear their throats.[n]
8 Those who make them will end up[o] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[p] and protector.[q]
10 O family[r] of Aaron, trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[s] and protector.[t]
11 You loyal followers of the Lord,[u] trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[v] and protector.[w]
12 The Lord takes notice of us;[x] he will bless[y]—
he will bless the family[z] of Israel,
he will bless the family of Aaron.
13 He will bless his loyal followers,[aa]
both young and old.[ab]
14 May he increase your numbers,
yours and your children’s.[ac]
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Creator[ad] of heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord,[ae]
but the earth he has given to mankind.[af]
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death.[ag]
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will not be redeemed for money.”
4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;
Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.
5 And now, what do we have here?”[a] says the Lord.
“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,
those who rule over them taunt,”[b] says the Lord,
“and my name is constantly slandered[c] all day long.
6 For this reason my people will know my name;
for this reason they will know[d] at that time[e] that I am the one who says,
‘Here I am.’”
To the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write the following:[a]
“This is the solemn pronouncement of[b] the one who has a firm grasp on[c] the seven stars in his right hand[d]—the one who walks among the seven golden[e] lampstands: 2 ‘I know your works as well as your[f] labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate[g] evil. You have even put to the test[h] those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not), and have discovered that they are false. 3 I am also aware[i] that you have persisted steadfastly,[j] endured much for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: You have departed[k] from your first love! 5 Therefore, remember from what high state[l] you have fallen and repent! Do[m] the deeds you did at the first;[n] if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—that is, if you do not repent.[o] 6 But you do have this going for you:[p] You hate what the Nicolaitans[q] practice[r]—practices I also hate. 7 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers,[s] I will permit[t] him to eat from the tree of life that is[u] in the paradise of God.’[v]
Turning Water into Wine
2 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.[a] Jesus’ mother[b] was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.[c] 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”[d] 4 Jesus replied,[e] “Woman,[f] why are you saying this to me?[g] My time[h] has not yet come.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”[i]
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing,[j] each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[k] 7 Jesus told the servants,[l] “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,”[m] and they did. 9 When[n] the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from[o] (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he[p] called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone[q] serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper[r] wine when the guests[s] are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs,[t] in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed[u] his glory, and his disciples believed in him.[v]
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