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 98[a]
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,[b]
for he performs[c] amazing deeds.
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance.[d]
2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;[e]
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.[f]
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.[g]
4 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out in a joyful shout and sing!
5 Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,
accompanied by a harp and the sound of music.
6 With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,
shout out praises before the king, the Lord.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,
along with the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
9 before the Lord.
For he comes to judge the earth.
He judges the world fairly,[h]
and the nations in a just manner.
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.
The Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty
11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut[a] of David.
I will seal its[b] gaps,
repair its[c] ruins,
and restore it to what it was like in days gone by.[d]
12 As a result they[e] will conquer those left in Edom[f]
and all the nations subject to my rule.”[g]
The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking.
13 “Be sure of this,[h] the time is[i] coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper,[j]
and the one who stomps the grapes[k] will overtake[l] the planter.[m]
Juice will run down the slopes;[n]
it will flow down all the hillsides.[o]
14 I will bring back my people, Israel;[p]
they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble[q] and settle down.[r]
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce;[s]
they will grow orchards[t] and eat the fruit they produce.[u]
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted from the[v] land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
The Day of the Lord
2 Now regarding the arrival[a] of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him,[b] we ask you, brothers and sisters,[c] 2 not to be easily[d] shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us,[e] to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes[f] and the man of lawlessness[g] is revealed, the son of destruction.[h]
Call to Stand Firm
13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters[a] loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning[b] for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 He called you to this salvation[c] through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.[d] 15 Therefore, brothers and sisters,[e] stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.[f] 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you[g] in every good thing you do or say.[h]
30 I can do nothing on my own initiative.[a] Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,[b] because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.[c]
More Testimony About Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another[d] who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. 33 You have sent to John,[e] and he has testified to the truth. 34 (I do not accept[f] human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining,[g] and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time[h] in his light.
36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds[i] that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds[j] I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people[k] have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,[l] 38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 39 You study the scriptures thoroughly[m] because you think in them you possess eternal life,[n] and it is these same scriptures[o] that testify about me, 40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept[p] praise[q] from people,[r] 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God[s] within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept[t] me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept[u] him. 44 How can you believe, if you accept praise[v] from one another and don’t seek the praise[w] that comes from the only God?[x]
45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.[y] 46 If[z] you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses[aa] wrote, how will you believe my words?”
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