Book of Common Prayer
Praise for God’s mighty deeds and for his answer to prayer.
For the Chief Musician. A Song, a Psalm.
66 Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth:
2 Sing forth the glory of his name:
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say unto God, How terrible are thy works!
Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies [a]submit themselves unto thee.
4 All the earth shall worship thee,
And shall sing unto thee;
They shall sing to thy name. Selah
5 Come, and see the works of God;
He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
They went through the river on foot:
There [b]did we rejoice in him.
7 He ruleth by his might for ever;
His eyes observe the nations:
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Oh bless our God, ye peoples,
And make the voice of his praise to be heard;
9 Who [c]holdeth our soul in life,
And suffereth not our feet to be moved.
10 For thou, O God, hast proved us:
Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
11 Thou broughtest us into the net;
Thou layedst a sore burden upon our loins.
12 Thou didst cause men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But thou broughtest us out into [d]a wealthy place.
13 I will come into thy house with burnt-offerings;
I will pay thee my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered,
And my mouth spake, when I was in distress.
15 I will offer unto thee burnt-offerings of fatlings,
With the incense of rams;
I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah
16 Come, and hear, all ye that fear God,
And I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
17 I cried unto him with my mouth,
And [e]he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I [f]regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord [g]will not hear:
19 But verily God hath heard;
He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who hath not turned away my prayer,
Nor his lovingkindness from me.
2 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak with thee. 2 And the Spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet; and I heard him that spake unto me. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day. 4 And the children are impudent and stiffhearted: [a]I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah. 5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.
11 Now the apostles and the brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. 4 But Peter began, and expounded the matter unto them in order, saying, 5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even unto me: 6 upon which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw the fourfooted beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the heaven. 7 And I heard also a voice saying unto me, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. 8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth. 9 But a voice answered the second time out of heaven, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. 10 And this was done thrice: and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, forthwith three men stood before the house in which we were, having been sent from Caesarea unto me. 12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, making no distinction. And these six brethren also accompanied me; and we entered into the man’s house: 13 and he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, Send to Joppa, and fetch Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14 who shall speak unto thee words, whereby thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house. 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized [a]in the Holy Spirit. 17 If then God gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God? 18 And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life.
Jehovah’s power and dominion.
97 Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 A fire goeth before him,
And burneth up his adversaries round about.
4 His lightnings lightened the world:
The earth saw, and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of Jehovah,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen his glory.
7 Let all them be put to shame that serve graven images,
That boast themselves of idols:
Worship him, all ye gods.
8 Zion heard and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoiced,
Because of thy judgments, O Jehovah.
9 For thou, Jehovah, art most high above all the earth:
Thou art exalted far above all gods.
10 O ye that love Jehovah, hate evil:
He preserveth the souls of his saints;
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be glad in Jehovah, ye righteous;
And give thanks to his holy memorial name.
Thanksgiving for Jehovah’s favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 I will give thee thanks with my whole heart:
Before the gods will I sing praises unto thee.
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple,
And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth:
For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3 In the day that I called thou answeredst me,
Thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall give thee thanks, O Jehovah,
For they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah;
For great is the glory of Jehovah.
6 For though Jehovah is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly;
But the haughty he knoweth from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me;
Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies,
And thy right hand will save me.
8 Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me:
Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever;
Forsake not the works of thine own hands.
2 Then after the space of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. 2 And I went up by revelation; and I laid before them the [a]gospel which I preach among the Gentiles but privately before them who [b]were of repute, lest by any means I should be running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4 [c]and that because of the false brethren privily brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5 to whom we gave place in the way of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the [d]gospel might continue with you. 6 But from those who [e]were reputed to be somewhat [f](whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth not man’s person)—they, I say, who were of repute imparted nothing to me: 7 but contrariwise, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the [g]gospel of the uncircumcision, even as Peter with the [h]gospel of the circumcision 8 (for he that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for me also unto the Gentiles); 9 and when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, [i]James and Cephas and John, they who [j]were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision;
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