Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 138[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Favor
1 Of David.
I offer you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;[b]
before the “gods” I sing your praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and I praise your name[c]
for your kindness and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
3 On the day I cried out, you answered me
and granted strength to my spirit.
4 [d]All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 They will sing of the ways of the Lord:
“How great is the Lord’s glory!”
6 For though the Lord is exalted, he cares for the lowly,[e]
but he remains far distant from the proud.
7 Although I walk in the midst of hostility,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and with your right hand[f] you deliver me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his plan for me.
Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever;
do not forsake the work of your hands.[g]
Psalm 139[h]
God’s Infinite Knowledge and Universal Power
1 For the director.[i] A psalm of David.
[j]O Lord, you have examined me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand;[k]
you perceive my thoughts from a distance.
3 You mark when I go out and when I lie down;
all my ways are open to you.
4 A word is not even on my tongue
and you, O Lord, are completely aware of it.
5 You enfold me from in front and from behind,
and you place your hand upon me.[l]
6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension,
far too sublime for me to attain.
7 [m]Where can I go to hide from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I take my rest in the netherworld, you are also there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn[n]
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your right hand will hold me fast.
11 [o]If I say, “Surely the darkness will conceal me
and the day around me will turn to night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for to you darkness and light are the same.
13 [p]You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am wonderfully made;
awesome are your works,
as I know very well.
15 My body was not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
you saw me in the womb.[q]
16 [r]The sum total of my days
were all recorded in your book.[s]
My life was fashioned
before it had come into being.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I were to attempt to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,[t]
I am still with you.
19 [u]If only you would slay the wicked, O God,
and the bloodthirsty would leave me![v]
20 They blaspheme your name
and treacherously rise up against you.[w]
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and loathe those who rise up against you?
22 My hatred for them is unlimited;
I regard them as my personal enemies.
23 Examine me, O God, and know my heart;[x]
test me and understand my thoughts.
Psalm 147[a]
Hymn to the City of God
1 [b]Alleluia.
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
how pleasant it is to give him fitting praise.[c]
2 The Lord restores Jerusalem
and gathers together the dispersed people of Israel.[d]
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.[e]
4 He fixes the number of the stars
and assigns a name to each.[f]
5 Great is our Lord and awesome in power;
his wisdom is without limit.[g]
6 The Lord sustains the poor
but humbles the wicked in the dust.[h]
7 [i]Offer songs of thanksgiving to the Lord;
play the lyre in honor of our God.
8 He veils the heavens with clouds,
supplies the earth with rain,
and makes the hills sprout with grass.[j]
9 He provides food for the animals
and for the young ravens when they call.[k]
10 [l]He takes no pleasure in the strength of the horse,
or delight in the fleetness of a runner.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
those who place their hope in his kindness.
12 [m]Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Glorify your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your children within you.[n]
14 He brings peace to your borders
and fills you with the finest of wheat.[o]
15 He sends a command to the earth;
his word runs with utmost speed.
16 He gives the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.[p]
17 He hurls down his hail like crumbs;
who can withstand his cold?[q]
18 He sends his word, and the ice melts;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
19 [r]He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his decrees and his judgments to Israel.
20 He has not done this for the other nations;
they are not aware of his judgments.
Alleluia.
Chapter 65
Punishment of the Idolaters
1 I was eager to respond
to those who did not consult me.
I was anxious to be approached
by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am! Here I am!”
to a nation that did not summon me.
2 Throughout each day I held out my hands
and appealed to a rebellious people
who walk along evil paths
in pursuit of their own desires.
3 [a]These people provoke me to anger
continually, to my face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on bricks.
4 They live in the midst of tombs
and spend the night in secret places,
eating the flesh of pigs
and filling their plates with unclean food,
5 as they cry out, “Keep away!
Do not touch me,
for I am too sacred for you.”
Such people to me are like choking smoke,
a fire that smolders throughout the day.
6 Their deeds have been inscribed in my memory;
I will not remain silent until I have repaid in full
7 your iniquities and those of your ancestors,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains
and shamed me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
the full payment that their deeds deserve.
Fate of Israel’s Righteous and Unfaithful
8 Thus says the Lord:
As in the harvest of grapes
juice is often still found in the cluster,
and people say, “Do not discard them,
for some good still remains in them,”
so I will act for the sake of my servants
and not destroy them all.
9 From Jacob I will bring forth descendants,
and from Judah those who will inherit my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land,
and my servants will settle there.
Chapter 3
To Sardis.[a] 1 “To the angel of the Church in Sardis,[b] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:
“ ‘ “I know your deeds. You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be on guard and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death. For I have not found any of your deeds perfect in the sight of my God. 3 Therefore, remember the teaching that you have received and heard. Hold on to it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you.
4 “ ‘ “However, there are still a few in Sardis who have not soiled their robes, and they will walk with me dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 Anyone who is victorious will be dressed like these in white robes, and I shall not blot his name from the book of life.[c] Rather, I shall acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and his angels.
6 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.” ’
The Bread of Life[a]
Chapter 6
Signs of Salvation
Jesus Feeds the Crowds.[b] 1 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias, 2 and a large crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he performed on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down there with his disciples. 4 The Jewish feast of Passover was approaching.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for them to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, because Jesus himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages[c] would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what help will they be among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they all had eaten enough, he said to the disciples, “Gather up the fragments that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
14 When the people saw the sign he had performed, they began to say, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
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