Book of Common Prayer
My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David, (A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, you are my God; (B)earnestly I seek you;
(C)my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in (D)a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding (E)your power and glory.
3 Because your (F)steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you (G)as long as I live;
in your (H)name I will (I)lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be (J)satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you (K)upon my bed,
and meditate on you in (L)the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in (M)the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul (N)clings to you;
your right hand (O)upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
(P)shall go down into (Q)the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But (R)the king shall rejoice in God;
all who (S)swear by him shall exult,
(T)for the mouths of (U)liars will be stopped.
Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord
A Psalm.
98 Oh sing to the Lord (A)a new song,
for he has done (B)marvelous things!
His (C)right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has (D)made known his salvation;
he has (E)revealed his righteousness in (F)the sight of the nations.
3 He has (G)remembered his (H)steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All (I)the ends of the earth have seen
(J)the salvation of our God.
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 (B)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and (C)forget not all his benefits,
3 who (D)forgives all your iniquity,
who (E)heals all your diseases,
4 who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
who (G)crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who (H)satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like (I)the eagle's.
6 The Lord works (J)righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his (K)ways to Moses,
his (L)acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is (M)merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 (N)He will not always chide,
nor will he (O)keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us (P)according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For (Q)as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his (R)steadfast love toward (S)those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he (T)remove our transgressions from us.
13 As (U)a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion (V)to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;[a]
he (W)remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like (X)grass;
he flourishes like (Y)a flower of the field;
16 for (Z)the wind passes over it, and (AA)it is gone,
and (AB)its place knows it no more.
17 But (AC)the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on (AD)those who fear him,
and his righteousness to (AE)children's children,
18 to those who (AF)keep his covenant
and (AG)remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has (AH)established his throne in the heavens,
and his (AI)kingdom rules over all.
The Command to Rebuild the Temple
1 (A)In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to (B)Zerubbabel the son of (C)Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to (D)Joshua the son of (E)Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came (F)by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 (G)“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while (H)this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: (I)Consider your ways. 6 (J)You have sown much, and harvested little. (K)You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who (L)earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: (M)Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that (N)I may take pleasure in it and that (O)I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 (P)You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, (Q)I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house (R)that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore (S)the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And (T)I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on (U)the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and (V)on all their labors.”
The People Obey the Lord
12 (W)Then (X)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and (Y)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all (Z)the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, (AA)“I am with you, declares the Lord.” 14 And (AB)the Lord stirred up the spirit of (AC)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of (AD)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all (AE)the remnant of the people. And they came and (AF)worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 (AG)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
The Coming Glory of the Temple
2 (AH)In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to (AI)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to (AJ)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 (AK)‘Who is left among you who saw this house (AL)in its former glory? How do you see it now? (AM)Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now (AN)be strong, O (AO)Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. (AP)Be strong, O (AQ)Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. (AR)Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. (AS)Work, for (AT)I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 (AU)according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. (AV)My Spirit remains in your midst. (AW)Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: (AX)Yet once more, in a little while, (AY)I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and (AZ)I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 (BA)The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 (BB)The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And (BC)in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus
24 Now a Jew named (A)Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, (B)competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in (C)the way of the Lord. And (D)being fervent in spirit,[a] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only (E)the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when (F)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him (G)the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to (H)Achaia, (I)the brothers encouraged him and (J)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, (K)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures (L)that the Christ was Jesus.
Paul in Ephesus
19 And it happened that while (M)Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed (N)through the inland[b] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, (O)“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, (P)we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, (Q)“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into (R)John's baptism.” 4 And Paul said, (S)“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people (T)to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, (U)they were baptized in[c] the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And (V)when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and (W)they began speaking in tongues and (X)prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 (A)And behold, a (B)lawyer stood up to (C)put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to (D)inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, (E)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and (F)your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; (G)do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, (H)desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man (I)was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a (J)priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise (K)a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a (L)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and (M)bound up his wounds, pouring on (N)oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two (O)denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.