Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Power and Dominion.
97 (A)The Lord [a]reigns, may the (B)earth rejoice;
May the many [b](C)islands be joyful.
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
(E)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before Him
And (G)burns up His enemies all around.
4 His (H)lightning lit up the world;
The earth saw it and (I)trembled.
5 The mountains (J)melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the (K)Lord of the whole earth.
6 The (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
And (M)all the peoples have seen His glory.
7 May all those be ashamed who serve (N)carved images,
Who boast in (O)idols;
[c](P)Worship Him, all you [d]gods.
8 Zion [e]heard this and (Q)was joyful,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, Lord.
9 For You are the Lord (R)Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far (S)above all [f]gods.
10 (T)Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
Who (U)watches over the souls of His godly ones;
He (V)saves them from the hand of the wicked.
11 (W)Light is sown like seed for the righteous,
And (X)gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be (Y)joyful in the Lord, you righteous ones,
And (Z)praise [g]the mention of His holy name.
Praise to the Lord for His Faithfulness to Israel.
99 (A)The Lord reigns, [a]the peoples tremble!
He (B)sits enthroned above the cherubim, [b]the earth quakes!
2 The Lord [c]is (C)great in Zion,
And He is (D)exalted above all the peoples.
3 May they praise Your (E)great and awesome name;
(F)Holy is [d]He.
4 The [e]strength of the King (G)loves [f]justice;
You have established [g](H)order;
You have (I)executed [h]justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 [i](J)Exalt the Lord our God
And (K)worship at His footstool;
(L)Holy is He.
6 (M)Moses and Aaron were among His (N)priests,
And (O)Samuel was among those who (P)called on His name;
They (Q)called upon the Lord and He answered them.
7 He (R)spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They (S)kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
8 Lord our God, You (T)answered them;
You were a (U)forgiving God to them,
And yet an (V)avenger of their evil deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill,
For the Lord our God is holy.
All People Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm for [j]Thanksgiving.
The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.
94 Lord, God of [a](A)vengeance,
God of [b]vengeance, [c](B)shine forth!
2 (C)Rise up, (D)Judge of the earth,
Pay back retribution (E)to the proud.
3 How long, Lord, shall the wicked—
How long shall the (F)wicked triumph?
4 They pour out words, they (G)speak arrogantly;
All who do injustice (H)boast.
5 They (I)crush Your people, Lord,
And (J)afflict Your inheritance.
6 They (K)kill the widow and the stranger
And murder the orphans.
7 (L)They have said, “[d]The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob perceive.”
8 Pay attention, you (M)stupid ones among the people;
And when will you understand, (N)foolish ones?
9 He who (O)planted the ear, [e]does He not hear?
Or He who formed the eye, [f]does He not see?
10 He who [g](P)disciplines the nations, will He not rebuke,
He who (Q)teaches mankind knowledge?
11 The Lord (R)knows human thoughts,
[h]That they are mere breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom (S)You discipline, [i]Lord,
And (T)whom You teach from Your Law,
13 So that You may grant him (U)relief from the (V)days of adversity,
Until (W)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For (X)the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He (Y)abandon His inheritance.
15 For [j](Z)judgment [k]will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart [l]will follow it.
16 Who will (AA)stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me (AB)against those who do injustice?
17 If (AC)the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 If I should say, “(AD)My foot has slipped,”
Your faithfulness, Lord, will support me.
19 When my anxious thoughts [m]multiply within me,
Your (AE)comfort delights my soul.
20 Can a [n](AF)throne of destruction be allied with You,
One (AG)which devises [o]mischief by decree?
21 They (AH)band themselves together against the [p]life of the righteous
And (AI)condemn [q]the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has been my (AJ)refuge,
And my God the (AK)rock of my refuge.
23 He has (AL)brought back their injustice upon them,
And He will [r](AM)destroy them in their evil;
The Lord our God will [s]destroy them.
Praise to the Lord and Warning against Unbelief.
95 Come, let’s (AN)sing for joy to the Lord,
Let’s shout joyfully to (AO)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let’s (AP)come before His presence (AQ)with a song of thanksgiving,
Let’s shout joyfully to Him (AR)in songs with instruments.
3 For the Lord is a (AS)great God
And a great King (AT)above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the (AU)depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are also His.
5 [t]The sea is His, for it was He (AV)who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let’s (AW)worship and bow down,
Let’s (AX)kneel before the Lord our (AY)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (AZ)we are the people of His [u](BA)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(BB)Today, [v]if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as at [w](BC)Meribah,
As on the day of [x](BD)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (BE)put Me to the test,
They tested Me, though they had seen My work.
10 For (BF)forty years I was disgusted with that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 Therefore I (BG)swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My (BH)rest.”
Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah
29 (A)Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 (B)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he (C)opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.
All Israel Invited to the Passover
30 Now Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to [a]celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided (A)to celebrate the Passover in the second month, 3 since they could not celebrate it (B)at that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem. 4 So the [b]decision was right in the sight of the king and all the assembly. 5 So they established a decree to circulate a [c]proclamation throughout Israel (C)from Beersheba to Dan, that they are to come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as was written. 6 (D)The [d]couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, “Sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from (E)the [e]hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 (F)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were untrue to the Lord God of their fathers, so that (G)He made them an object of horror, just as you see. 8 Now do not (H)stiffen your neck like your fathers, but [f]yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, (I)that His burning anger may turn away from you. 9 For (J)if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion in the presence of those who led them captive, and will return to this land. (K)For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
10 So the [g]couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but (L)they laughed at them with scorn and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless, (M)some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 The (N)hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord.
Passover Reinstituted
13 Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (O)in the second month, a very large assembly. 14 They got up and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also (P)removed all the incense altars and (Q)threw them into the brook Kidron. 15 Then (R)they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And (S)the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. 16 (T)They stood at their stations following their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, (U)the Levites were in charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord. 18 For a multitude of the people, (V)many from Ephraim and Manasseh, and Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, (W)yet they ate the Passover (X)contrary to what was written. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon 19 (Y)everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” 20 So the Lord heard Hezekiah and (Z)healed the people. 21 The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem (AA)celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests were praising the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. 22 Then Hezekiah (AB)spoke [h]encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and (AC)giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.
23 Then the whole assembly (AD)decided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy. 24 For (AE)Hezekiah king of Judah had contributed to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and (AF)a large number of priests consecrated themselves. 25 All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and (AG)all the assembly that came from Israel, both the strangers who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem (AH)since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. 27 Then (AI)the Levitical priests stood and (AJ)blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to (AK)His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
32 But I want you to be free from concern. One who is (A)unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; 33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but [a]to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
36 But if anyone thinks that he is acting dishonorably toward his virgin, if she is [b]past her youth and it ought to be so, let him do what he wishes, he is not sinning; let [c]them marry. 37 But the one who stands firm in his heart, [d]if he is not under constraint, but has authority [e]over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well. 38 So then, both the one who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage will do better.
39 (B)A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband [f]dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only (C)in the Lord. 40 But (D)in my opinion she is [g]happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Judging Others
7 “(A)Do not [a]judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and [b](B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you (C)look at the [c]speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 (D)Or how [d]can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the [e]speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the [f]speck out of your brother’s eye!
6 “(E)Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Prayer and the Golden Rule
7 “[g](F)Ask, and (G)it will be given to you; [h]seek, and you will find; [i]knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what person is there among you [j]who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, [k]will give him a stone? 10 Or [l]if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 So if you, despite being [m]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, (H)how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
12 “In everything, (I)therefore, [n]treat people the same way you want [o]them to treat you, for (J)this is the Law and the Prophets.
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