Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
may the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 may He send you help from the sanctuary,
and strengthen you from Zion;
3 may He remember all your offerings,
and accept your burnt offering. Selah
4 May He grant you according to your own heart,
and fulfill all your counsel.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
and in the name of our God we will set up our banners;
may the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
with the saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen,
but we arise and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.
Psalm 21
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 The king will rejoice in Your strength, O Lord,
and in Your salvation how greatly will he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked life of You, and You gave it him,
length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in Your salvation;
honor and majesty You set on him.
6 For You place blessings on him forever;
You make him rejoice with gladness with Your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
and by the lovingkindness of the Most High
he will not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate You.
9 You will make them as a fiery oven
in the time of Your appearance;
the Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
and fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth,
and their descendants from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against You;
they devised evil thoughts they will not be able to accomplish.
12 For You will make them turn their back,
when You aim with Your bowstrings against their face.
13 Be exalted, Lord, by Your strength;
may we sing and make music to Your might.
Psalm 110
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
until I make your enemies
your footstool.”
2 The Lord shall send your mighty scepter out of Zion;
rule in the midst of your enemies.
3 Your people will follow you
in the day of your battle;
on the holy mountains
at dawn of the morning,
the dew of your youth belongs to you.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
He shall strike down kings in the day of His wrath.
6 He shall judge among the nations; He shall fill them with dead bodies;
He shall scatter heads all over the land.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the path;
then He shall lift up the head.
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice
and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death encircled me,
and the pains of Sheol took hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I plead with You, deliver my soul.”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
indeed, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord protects the simple;
I was brought low, and He helped me.
7 Return to your rest, O my soul;
for the Lord has vindicated you.
8 For You have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, indeed I have spoken:
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 I said in my haste,
“All men are liars.”
12 What shall I render unto the Lord
for all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord.
14 I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all His people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His godly ones.
16 O Lord, I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your female servant;
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and will call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all His people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Exalt Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
31 When the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul and he sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. For you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
34 David said to Saul, “Your servant was a shepherd for my father’s flock, and the lion came and the bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. 35 And I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I took hold of his beard, struck him, and killed him. 36 Your servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has reviled the armies of the living God.” 37 David said, “The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
38 Saul clothed David with his armor. And he put a helmet of bronze on his head. He also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David secured his sword to his armor and tried to walk, but he was not used to it, for he had not tested them.
And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. 40 He took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook. And he put them in his shepherd’s bag, even in a pouch. And his sling was in his hand. Then he drew near to the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came walking and drew near to David, and the man bearing the shield went before him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him. For he was a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the field.”
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have reviled. 46 This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand. And I will strike you down and cut off your head. Then I will give the corpses of the Philistine camp this day to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And then all this assembly will know that it is not by sword and spear that the Lord saves. For the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will give you into our hands.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in his bag and took from there a stone. And he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead. Therefore the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the ground.
Peter’s Report to the Church in Jerusalem
11 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised disputed with him, 3 saying, “You went in and ate with uncircumcised men!”
4 Peter began explaining it to them in order, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying. And in a trance I saw a vision: A vessel like a great sheet was descending, let down from heaven by four corners, and it came to me. 6 I considered what I had observed and saw four-footed creatures and wild beasts and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’
8 “I said, ‘Not at all, Lord. For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’
9 “The voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times. And again everything was taken up into heaven.
11 “And immediately three men sent from Caesarea to me came to the house where I was. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. Moreover these six brothers came with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter. 14 He will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as He fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’[a] 17 If then God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”
18 When they heard these things, they were silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life.”
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry(A)
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.”
The Calling of the First Disciples(B)
16 As He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, throwing a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 Immediately He called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed Him.
The Man With an Unclean Spirit(C)
21 They went to Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 In their synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit. 24 And he cried out, “Leave us alone! What do You have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God.”
25 Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” 26 When the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, it came out of him.
27 They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, “What is this? What new teaching is this? With authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28 Immediately His fame spread everywhere throughout the region surrounding Galilee.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.