Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 138
A Thankful Heart
Of David.
1 I will give you thanks with all my heart;(A)
I will sing your praise before the heavenly beings.[a](B)
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name
for your constant love and truth.
You have exalted your name
and your promise above everything else.[b](C)
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
you increased strength within me.[c](D)
4 All the kings on earth will give you thanks, Lord,
when they hear what you have promised.[d](E)
5 They will sing of the Lord’s ways,
for the Lord’s glory is great.(F)
6 Though the Lord is exalted,
he takes note of the humble;
but he knows the haughty from a distance.(G)
7 If I walk into the thick of danger,
you will preserve my life
from the anger of my enemies.(H)
You will extend your hand;
your right hand will save me.(I)
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.(J)
Lord, your faithful love endures forever;
do not abandon the work of your hands.(K)
Psalm 139
The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, you have searched me and known me.(L)
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.(M)
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways.(N)
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.(O)
5 You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.(P)
6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.(Q)
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?(R)
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;(S)
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.(T)
9 If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon,[e]
10 even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me.(U)
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”(V)—
12 even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to you.(W)
13 For it was you who created my inward parts;[f]
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.(X)
14 I will praise you
because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.[g][h]
Your works are wondrous,
and I know this very well.(Y)
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.(Z)
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began.(AA)
17 God, how precious[i] your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;(AB)
when I wake up,[j] I am still with you.(AC)
19 God, if only you would kill the wicked—
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me(AD)—
20 who invoke you deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by you falsely.(AE)
21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you,
and detest those who rebel against you?
22 I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.(AF)
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.(AG)
Psalm 147
God Restores Jerusalem
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.(A)
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;(B)
he gathers Israel’s exiled people.(C)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.(D)
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.(E)
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
his understanding is infinite.[a](F)
6 The Lord helps the oppressed
but brings the wicked to the ground.(G)
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
play the lyre to our God,(H)
8 who covers the sky with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
and causes grass to grow on the hills.(I)
9 He provides the animals with their food,
and the young ravens what they cry for.(J)
10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
he does not value the power of a warrior.[b](K)
11 The Lord values those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his faithful love.(L)
12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!(M)
13 For he strengthens the bars of your city gates
and blesses your children within you.(N)
14 He endows your territory with prosperity;[c](O)
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.(P)
The Lord and His Sheep
23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” (A) This is the Lord’s declaration. 2 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock,(B) banished them, and have not attended to them.(C) I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 3 “I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them,(D) and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.(E) 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them.(F) They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing.”(G) This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Righteous Branch of David
5 “Look, the days are coming”(H)—this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David.(I)
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.(J)
6 In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.(K)
This is the name he will be called:
The Lord Is Our Righteousness.[a](L)
7 “Look, the days are coming”(M)—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives(N) who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I[b] had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”(O)
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,(A) based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.(B) 9 For the entire fullness(C) of God’s nature dwells bodily[a] in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head(D) over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,(E) in the circumcision of Christ,(F) 12 when you were buried with him(G) in baptism, in which you were also raised with him(H) through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(I) 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.(J) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.[b](K)
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(L) you in regard to food and drink(M) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(N) or a Sabbath day.[c] 17 These are a shadow(O) of what was to come;(P) the substance is[d] Christ.(Q) 18 Let no one condemn[e] you(R) by delighting in ascetic practices(S) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated(T) by empty notions of their unspiritual[f] mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(U) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
20 If you died with Christ(V) to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom(W) by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[g](X)
7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am(A) the gate for the sheep.(B) 8 All who came before me[a] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal(C) and kill and destroy.(D) I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
11 “I am the good shepherd.(E) The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.(F) 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them[b] and runs away when he sees a wolf(G) coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.(H) I lay down my life(I) for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep(J) that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.(K) 17 This is why the Father loves me,(L) because I lay down my life(M) so that I may take it up again.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.