Book of Common Prayer
The King of Glory Entering Zion.
[a]A Psalm of David.
24 The earth [b]is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it,
The world, and those who dwell in it.(A)
2
For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the streams and the rivers.
3
Who may ascend onto the [c]mountain of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
4
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to what is false,
Nor has sworn [oaths] deceitfully.(B)
5
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6
This is the generation (description) of those who diligently seek Him and require Him as their greatest need,
Who seek Your face, even [as did] Jacob.(C) Selah.
7
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.
8
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
9
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift them up, ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.
10
Who is [He then] this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory [who rules over all creation with His heavenly armies]. Selah.
The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.
A Psalm of David.
29 [a]Ascribe to the Lord, O [b]sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].
3
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
4
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion (Mount Hermon) like a young, wild ox.
7
The voice of the Lord rakes flames of fire (lightning).
8
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9
The voice of the Lord [c]makes the doe labor and give birth
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple all are saying, “Glory!”
10
The Lord sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.
11
The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
To the Chief Musician; set to [a]a Philistine lute [or perhaps to a particular Hittite tune]. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.
2
Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.(A)
3
When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established,
4
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
5
Yet You have made him a little lower than [b]God,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6
You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,(B)
7
All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Longing for the Temple Worship.
To the Chief Musician; set to a [a]Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O Lord of hosts!
2
My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3
The bird has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4
Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence;
They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.
5
Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You,
In [b]whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6
Passing through the Valley of Weeping ([c]Baca), they make it a place of springs;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
7
They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];
Each of them appears before God in Zion.
8
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.
9
See our shield, O God,
And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].
10
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];
I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.
11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord bestows grace and favor and honor;
No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12
O Lord of hosts,
How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].
Jeremiah’s Call and Commission
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, [one] of the priests who were in [a]Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came during the thirteenth year (627 b.c.) of the reign of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 3 It came [to Jeremiah] also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [continuing] until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [and continuing] until the exile of [the people of] Jerusalem in the fifth month (July-August, 586 b.c.).(A)
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument],
And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own];
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”(B)
6
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
For I am [only] a young man.”(C)
7
But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am [only] a young man,’
Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8
“Do not be afraid of them [or their hostile faces],
For I am with you [always] to protect you and deliver you,” says the Lord.
9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Behold (hear Me), I have put My words in your mouth.
10
“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To uproot and break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.”
11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will be clearly shown [for what it is]; for the day [of judgment] will disclose it, because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality and character and worth of each person’s work.(A) 14 If any person’s work which he has built [on this foundation, that is, any outcome of his effort] remains [and survives this test], he will receive a reward. 15 But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire.(B)
16 [a]Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God [corrupting it with false doctrine], God will destroy the destroyer; for the temple of God is holy (sacred), and that is what you are.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.(C) 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness (absurdity, stupidity) before God; for it is written [in Scripture], “[He is] The one who catches the wise and clever in their craftiness;”(D) 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the [humanly] wise, that they are useless.”(E) 21 So let no one boast in men [about their wisdom, or of having this or that one as a leader]. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things are yours, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called for Him.(A) 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.” 33 And He replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For [a]whoever does the will of God [by believing in Me, and following Me], he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Parable of the Sower and Soils
4 Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.(B) 2 And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them, 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow seed; 4 and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up [b]because the soil had no depth. 6 And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown].” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
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