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 111[a]
111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited[b] by all who desire them.
3 His work is majestic and glorious,[c]
and his faithfulness endures[d] forever.
4 He does[e] amazing things that will be remembered;[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
5 He gives[g] food to his faithful followers;[h]
he always remembers his covenant.[i]
6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.[j]
7 His acts are characterized by[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.[l]
8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.[m]
9 He delivered his people;[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.[q]
He will receive praise forever.[r]
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]
The Lord Will Not Abandon His People
18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you.[a]
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.[b]
19 For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem you will weep no more.[c]
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you.[d]
20 The Lord[e] will give you distress to eat
and suffering to drink;[f]
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them.[g]
21 You[h] will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,
“This is the correct[i] way, walk in it,”
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt[a] that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified[b] both Lord[c] and Christ.”[d]
The Response to Peter’s Address
37 Now when they heard this,[e] they were acutely distressed[f] and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized[g] in the name of Jesus Christ[h] for[i] the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.[j] 39 For the promise[k] is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40 With many other words he testified[l] and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse[m] generation!” 41 So those who accepted[n] his message[o] were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people[p] were added.[q]
The Fellowship of the Early Believers
42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,[r] to the breaking of bread and to prayer.[s] 43 Reverential awe[t] came over everyone,[u] and many wonders and miraculous signs[v] came about by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and held[w] everything in common, 45 and they began selling[x] their property[y] and possessions and distributing the proceeds[z] to everyone, as anyone had need. 46 Every day[aa] they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts,[ab] breaking bread from[ac] house to house, sharing their food with glad[ad] and humble hearts,[ae] 47 praising God and having the good will[af] of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day[ag] those who were being saved.
Teaching on the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will obey[a] my commandments.[b] 16 Then[c] I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate[d] to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,[e] because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides[f] with you and will be[g] in you.
18 “I will not abandon[h] you as orphans,[i] I will come to you.[j] 19 In a little while[k] the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too. 20 You will know at that time[l] that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. 21 The person who has my commandments and obeys[m] them is the one who loves me.[n] The one[o] who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal[p] myself to him.”
22 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot)[q] said,[r] “what has happened that you are going to reveal[s] yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied,[t] “If anyone loves me, he will obey[u] my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.[v] 24 The person who does not love me does not obey[w] my words. And the word[x] you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “I have spoken these things while staying[y] with you. 26 But the Advocate,[z] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you[aa] everything,[ab] and will cause you to remember everything[ac] I said to you.
27 “Peace I leave with you;[ad] my peace I give to you; I do not give it[ae] to you as the world does.[af] Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage.[ag] 28 You heard me say to you,[ah] ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad[ai] that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.[aj] 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.[ak] 30 I will not speak with you much longer,[al] for the ruler of this world is coming.[am] He has no power over me,[an] 31 but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know[ao] that I love the Father.[ap] Get up, let us go from here.[aq]
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