Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 117[a]
The Nations Called to Praise
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!(A)
2 His mercy for us is strong;
the faithfulness of the Lord is forever.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 118[b]
Hymn of Thanksgiving
I
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,(B)
his mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
his mercy endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
his mercy endures forever.
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,(C)
his mercy endures forever.
II
5 In danger I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is with me; I am not afraid;
what can mortals do against me?(D)
7 The Lord is with me as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on my foes.
8 Better to take refuge in the Lord(E)
than to put one’s trust in mortals.
9 Better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put one’s trust in princes.
III
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side;
in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees;(F)
they burned up like fire among thorns;
in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
13 I was hard pressed and falling,
but the Lord came to my help.(G)
14 The Lord, my strength and might,
has become my savior.(H)
IV
15 The joyful shout of deliverance
is heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand works valiantly;
16 the Lord’s right hand is raised;
the Lord’s right hand works valiantly.”
17 I shall not die but live
and declare the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord chastised me harshly,
but did not hand me over to death.
V
19 Open the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and thank the Lord.(I)
20 This is the Lord’s own gate,
through it the righteous enter.
21 I thank you for you answered me;
you have been my savior.
22 [c]The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(J)
23 By the Lord has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice in it and be glad.
25 Lord, grant salvation![d]
Lord, grant good fortune!
VI
26 Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.(K)
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God and has enlightened us.
Join in procession with leafy branches
up to the horns of the altar.
VII
28 You are my God, I give you thanks;
my God, I offer you praise.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
his mercy endures forever.
Psalm 112[a]
The Blessings of the Just
1 Hallelujah!
Blessed the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commands.(A)
2 His descendants shall be mighty in the land,
a generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his righteousness[b] shall endure forever.
4 Light shines through the darkness for the upright;(B)
gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
5 It is good for the man gracious in lending,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For he shall never be shaken;
the righteous shall be remembered forever.(C)
7 He shall not fear an ill report;
his heart is steadfast, trusting the Lord.
8 His heart is tranquil, without fear,
till at last he looks down on his foes.
9 Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his righteousness shall endure forever;(D)
his horn[c] shall be exalted in honor.
10 The wicked sees and is angry;
gnashes his teeth and wastes away;
the desire of the wicked come to nothing.
Psalm 113[d]
Praise of God’s Care for the Poor
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.(E)
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
both now and forever.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting(F)
let the name of the Lord be praised.
II
4 High above all nations is the Lord;
above the heavens his glory.(G)
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
enthroned on high,
6 (H)looking down on heaven and earth?
7 He raises the needy from the dust,
lifts the poor from the ash heap,(I)
8 Seats them with princes,
the princes of the people,
9 Gives the childless wife a home,
the joyful mother of children.(J)
Hallelujah!
Chapter 17
Water from the Rock. 1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole Israelite community journeyed by stages, as the Lord directed, and encamped at Rephidim.(A)
But there was no water for the people to drink, 2 (B)and so they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to a test?” 3 Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why then did you bring us up out of Egypt? To have us die of thirst with our children and our livestock?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” 5 The Lord answered Moses: Go on ahead of the people, and take along with you some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the Nile. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.(C) Moses did this, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 The place was named Massah and Meribah,[a] because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”(D)
II. The Preeminence of Christ
His Person and Work
15 [a]He is the image[b] of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.(A)
16 For in him[c] were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.(B)
17 He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
18 He is the head of the body, the church.[d]
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.(C)
19 For in him all the fullness[e] was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross[f]
[through him], whether those on earth or those in heaven.(D)
21 [g]And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds(E) 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister.
Christ in Us.[h]
37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.(A) 38 Whoever believes in me, as scripture says:
39 He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet,[b] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.(C)
Discussion About the Origins of the Messiah.[c] 40 Some in the crowd who heard these words said, “This is truly the Prophet.”(D) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he? 42 Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”(E) 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.” 47 So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?(F) 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,(G) 51 “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?”(H) 52 They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
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