Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63[a]
Thirst for God
1 A psalm of David. When he was in the wilderness of Judah.[b]
2 O God, you are my God,
for whom I have been searching earnestly.[c]
My soul yearns for you
and my body thirsts for you,
like the earth when it is parched,
arid and without water.
3 I have gazed upon you in the sanctuary
so that I may behold your power[d] and your glory.
4 Your kindness[e] is a greater joy than life itself;
thus my lips will speak your praise.
5 I will bless you all my life;
with uplifted hands[f] I will call on your name.
6 My soul[g] will be satisfied as at a banquet
and with rejoicing lips my mouth will praise you.
7 I think of you while I lie upon my bed,[h]
and I meditate on you during the watches of the night.
8 For you are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.[i]
9 My soul clings tightly to you;
your right hand holds me fast.
10 [j]Those who seek my life will incur ruin;
they will sink down into the depths of the earth.
11 They will be slain by the sword
and their flesh will become food for jackals.[k]
12 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by him[l] will exult,
for the mouths of liars will be silenced.
Psalm 98[a]
Praise of the Lord, King and Judge
1 A psalm.
Sing to the Lord a new song,[b]
for he has accomplished marvelous deeds.
His right hand and his holy arm
have made him victorious.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has manifested his righteousness for all the nations to see.[c]
3 He has remembered his kindness[d] and his fidelity
to the house of Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth have witnessed
the salvation of our God.
4 Sing joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
raise your voices in songs of praise.
5 Sing praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious singing.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully to the King, the Lord.[e]
7 [f]Let the sea resound and everything in it,
the world[g] and all its inhabitants.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains shout for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord, who is coming,
coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and the nations with fairness.[h]
Psalm 103[a]
Praise of God’s Providence
1 Of David.
Bless the Lord, O my soul;[b]
my entire being, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits.
3 He forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases.[c]
4 He redeems[d] your life from the pit
and crowns you with kindness and mercy.
5 He satisfies your years with good things
and renews your youth like an eagle’s.[e]
6 The Lord performs acts of righteousness
and administers justice for all who are oppressed.
7 [f]He made known his ways[g] to Moses,
his wondrous deeds to the people of Israel.
8 [h]The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
9 He will not always rebuke,
nor will he remain angry forever.
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our offenses.
11 As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his kindness toward those who fear him.[i]
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.[j]
13 [k]As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were formed;
he remembers that we are only dust.[l]
15 The days of mortal man are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field.
16 The wind sweeps over him, and he is gone,
and his place never sees him again.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the kindness[m] of the Lord is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children,
18 with those who keep his covenant
and diligently observe his commandments.[n]
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.[o]
20 [p]Bless the Lord, O you his angels,[q]
you mighty in strength who do his bidding,
who obey his spoken word.
21 Bless the Lord, O you his hosts,
his ministers who do his will.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
everywhere in his domain.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.[r]
Chapter 47
The Fall of Babylon
1 Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans.
Never again will you be called
tender and delicate.[a]
2 Take the millstone and grind meal;
remove your veil,
strip off your skirt, bare your legs,
and wade through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness will be exposed
and your shame will be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will show clemency to no one.
4 Thus says our redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel,
whose name is the Lord of hosts.
5 Sit in silence and conceal yourself in darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans.
For never again will you be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
6 Because I was angry with my people
I profaned my inheritance
and gave them over into your power.
You showed them no mercy,
and you laid a very heavy yoke on the aged.
7 You said, “I will be a queen forever.”
Thus you did not reflect carefully on your actions
or give any consideration to their outcome.
8 Now listen to this, you voluptuous woman,
as you sit securely on your throne,
thinking to yourself,
“I am the only one who matters.
I will never be a widow
or experience the loss of children.”
9 However, both of these things will befall you,
suddenly, in a single day;
both the loss of children and widowhood
will come upon you in full measure
despite all your sorceries
and all your potent spells.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness
as you thought, “No one can see me.”
But your wisdom and your knowledge
led you astray,
and you said to yourself,
“I am the only one who matters.”
11 As a result, evil will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away,
disaster will befall you
that you will not be able to avert;
complete ruin which you did not foresee
will suddenly afflict you.
12 [b]But continue to persist in your spells
and your many sorceries
in which you have placed your confidence
throughout your life.
Perhaps you can succeed with them;
perhaps you can inspire terror.
13 You have exhausted yourself with consultations
ever since your youth.
Let the astrologers now come forth to save you,
those who seek the future in the stars
and who predict at each new moon
what will befall you next.
14 But they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them.
They cannot even deliver themselves
from the heat of the flames.
These flames are not meant to sit beside;
these glowing embers are not meant for keeping warm.
15 Of absolutely no use to you are your astrologers
upon whom you have depended from your youth.
Each of them follows his own path;
not one of them can save you.
Perseverance in Faith[a]
The Need To Stand Firm
19 Let Us Approach with Sincerity of Heart.[b] Therefore, brethren, the blood of Jesus has given us confidence to enter the sanctuary 20 by the new and living way that he has opened for us through the veil, that is, through his flesh. 21 Since we have a great priest over the household of God, 22 let us approach with sincerity of heart and the full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and bodies washed in pure water.
23 Let us remain firm in the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us consider how to spur one another to love and good works. 25 Do not neglect to attend your assemblies, as some do, but rather encourage one another, especially since you can see the Day[c] approaching.
26 Apostasy Remains Unforgiven.[d] If we deliberately persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, then there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins. 27 There is only a terrifying expectation of judgment and of a fierce fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who violates the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more punishment do you think is deserved by the one who has contempt for the Son of God, profanes the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said,
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,”
and
“The Lord will judge his people.”
31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
2 Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool that in Hebrew is called Bethesda.[a] It has five porticos, 3 and in these a large number of invalids used to lie, people who were blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the movement of the water.[b] [ 4 For occasionally an angel of the Lord would come down into the pool and stir up the water. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.][c]
5 A man who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and was aware that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The invalid answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am still on my way, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise! Take up your mat and walk!” 9 Immediately, the man was cured, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a Sabbath. 10 Therefore, the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “Today is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 He replied, “The man who cured me said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk!’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you to take it up and walk?” 13 But the man who had been cured did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that was there.
14 Later, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that Jesus was the man who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began to harass Jesus because he was doing such things on the Sabbath. 17 However, Jesus responded to them, saying,
“My Father is still working,
and I am at work as well.”
18 For this reason, the Jews became even more determined to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
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