Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]
63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.[c]
My soul thirsts[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched[e] land where there is no water.
2 Yes,[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,[g]
and witnessed[h] your power and splendor.
3 Because[i] experiencing[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reason[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.[l]
5 As with choice meat[m] you satisfy my soul.[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,[o]
6 whenever[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;[q]
under your wings[r] I rejoice.
8 My soul[s] pursues you;[t]
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.[v]
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.[x]
11 But the king[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.[aa]
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.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin[a] to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. 22 But God told Shemaiah the prophet,[b] 23 “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the rest of the people, 24 ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home. Indeed this thing has happened because of me.”’” So they obeyed the Lord’s message. They went home in keeping with the Lord’s message.
Jeroboam Makes Golden Calves
25 [c] Jeroboam built up Shechem in the Ephraimite hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel. 26 Jeroboam then thought to himself:[d] “Now the Davidic dynasty could regain the kingdom.[e] 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, their loyalty could shift to their former master,[f] King Rehoboam of Judah. They might kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” 28 After the king had consulted with his advisers,[g] he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people,[h] “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30 This caused Israel to sin;[i] the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves.[j]
31 He built temples[k] on the high places and appointed as priests common people who were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,[l] like the festival celebrated in Judah.[m] On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made.[n] In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.
A Prophet from Judah Visits Bethel
33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen)[o] Jeroboam[p] offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices.
18 And they called them in and ordered[a] them not to speak or teach at all in the name[b] of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied,[c] “Whether it is right before God to obey[d] you rather than God, you decide, 20 for it is impossible[e] for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising[f] God for what had happened. 22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign[g] of healing had been performed,[h] was over forty years old.
The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness
23 When they were released, Peter and John[i] went to their fellow believers[j] and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind[k] and said, “Master of all,[l] you who made the heaven, the earth,[m] the sea, and everything that is in them, 25 who said by the Holy Spirit through[n] your servant David our forefather,[o]
‘Why do the nations[p] rage,[q]
and the peoples plot foolish[r] things?
26 The kings of the earth stood together,[s]
and the rulers assembled together,
against the Lord and against his[t] Christ.’[u]
27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against[v] your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,[w] 28 to do as much as your power[x] and your plan[y] had decided beforehand[z] would happen. 29 And now, Lord, pay attention to[aa] their threats, and grant[ab] to your servants[ac] to speak your message[ad] with great courage,[ae] 30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs[af] and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When[ag] they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken,[ah] and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak[ai] the word of God[aj] courageously.[ak]
31 The Jewish leaders[a] picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 32 Jesus said to them,[b] “I have shown you many good deeds[c] from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jewish leaders[d] replied,[e] “We are not going to stone you for a good deed[f] but for blasphemy,[g] because[h] you, a man, are claiming to be God.”[i]
34 Jesus answered,[j] “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?[k] 35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken),[l] 36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart[m] and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform[n] the deeds[o] of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds,[p] so that you may come to know[q] and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 39 Then[r] they attempted[s] again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.[t]
40 Jesus[u] went back across the Jordan River[v] again to the place where John[w] had been baptizing at an earlier time,[x] and he stayed there. 41 Many[y] came to him and began to say, “John[z] performed[aa] no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man[ab] was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus[ac] there.
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