Book of Common Prayer
How Awesome Are Your Deeds
To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
(B)give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, (C)“How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies (D)come cringing to you.
4 (E)All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 (F)Come and see what God has done:
(G)he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 He (H)turned the sea into dry land;
they (I)passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose (J)eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and (K)has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have (L)tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into (M)the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men (N)ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through (O)water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will (P)perform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised (Q)when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 (R)Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on[a] my tongue.[b]
18 If I had (S)cherished iniquity in my heart,
(T)the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly (U)God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Ezekiel's Call
2 And he said to me, (A)“Son of man,[a] (B)stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, (C)the Spirit entered into me and (D)set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to (E)nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. (F)They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are (G)impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And (H)whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are (I)a rebellious house) (J)they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, (K)be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, (L)though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on (M)scorpions.[b] Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, (N)whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.
Peter Reports to the Church
11 Now the apostles and (A)the brothers[a] who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, (B)the circumcision party[b] criticized him, saying, 3 (C)“You went to uncircumcised men and (D)ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 (E)“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, (F)making no distinction. (G)These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 (H)he will declare to you a message by which (I)you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, (J)the Holy Spirit fell on them (K)just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, (L)‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then (M)God gave (N)the same gift to them as he gave to us (O)when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, (P)who was I (Q)that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they (R)glorified God, saying, (S)“Then to the Gentiles also God has (T)granted (U)repentance that leads to life.”
The Lord Reigns
97 (A)The Lord reigns, (B)let the earth rejoice;
let the many (C)coastlands be glad!
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
(E)righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His (G)lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and (H)trembles.
5 The mountains (I)melt like (J)wax before the Lord,
before (K)the Lord of all the earth.
6 (L)The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all (M)the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are (N)put to shame,
who make their boast in (O)worthless idols;
(P)worship him, all you gods!
Give Thanks to the Lord
Of David.
138 (A)I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before (B)the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down (C)toward your (D)holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.[a]
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.[b]
4 (E)All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of (F)the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 (G)For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 (H)Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you (I)preserve my life;
you (J)stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your (K)right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will (L)fulfill his purpose for me;
(M)your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake (N)the work of your hands.
Paul Accepted by the Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those (A)who seemed influential) the gospel that (B)I proclaim among the Gentiles, (C)in order to make sure I was not running or had not (D)run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, (E)was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 (F)Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who (G)slipped in to spy out (H)our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, (I)so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that (J)the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those (K)who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; (L)God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential (M)added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been (N)entrusted with (O)the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, (P)who seemed to be (Q)pillars, perceived the (R)grace that was given to me, they (S)gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.