Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
139 Lord, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [e]when I sit down and [f]when I get up;
You (X)understand my thought from far away.
3 You [g](Y)scrutinize my [h]path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 [i]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, Lord, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)encircled me behind and in front,
And (AB)placed Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [j]Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will [k]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even (AJ)darkness is not dark [l]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AK)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AL)created my innermost parts;
You (AM)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, because [m]I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
(AN)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [n](AO)frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the (AP)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AQ)eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in (AR)Your book were written
All the (AS)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your (AT)thoughts for me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would (AU)outnumber the sand.
When (AV)I awake, I am still with You.
19 If only You would (AW)put the wicked to death, God;
(AX)Leave me, (AY)you men of bloodshed.
20 For they (AZ)speak [o]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [p](BA)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BB)hate those who hate You, Lord?
And do I not (BC)loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.
147 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
For (A)it is good to sing praises to our God;
For [c]it is pleasant and praise is [d](B)beautiful.
2 The Lord (C)builds up Jerusalem;
He (D)gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the (E)brokenhearted
And (F)binds up their [e]wounds.
4 He (G)counts the number of the stars;
He [f](H)gives names to all of them.
5 (I)Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His (J)understanding is [g]infinite.
6 The Lord [h](K)supports the afflicted;
He brings the wicked down to the ground.
7 (L)Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God on the lyre;
8 It is He who (M)covers the heavens with clouds,
Who (N)provides rain for the earth,
Who (O)makes grass sprout on the mountains.
9 It is He who (P)gives an animal its food,
And feeds (Q)young ravens that cry.
10 He does not delight in [i]the strength of the (R)horse;
He (S)does not take pleasure in the [j]legs of a man.
11 The Lord (T)favors those who fear Him,
(U)Those who wait for His [k]faithfulness.
12 Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Praise your God, Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the (V)bars of your gates;
He has (W)blessed your sons among you.
14 He (X)makes [l]peace in your borders;
He (Y)satisfies you with (Z)the [m]finest of the wheat.
15 He sends His (AA)command to the earth;
His (AB)word runs very swiftly.
16 He [n]showers (AC)snow like wool;
He scatters the (AD)frost like ashes.
17 He hurls His (AE)ice as fragments;
Who can stand before His (AF)cold?
18 He (AG)sends His word and makes them melt;
He (AH)makes His wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He (AI)declares His words to Jacob,
His (AJ)statutes and His judgments to Israel.
20 He (AK)has not dealt this way with any other nation;
And as for His judgments, [o]they have (AL)not known them.
[p]Praise [q]the Lord!
The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch
23 “(A)Woe to the shepherds who are causing the (B)sheep of My pasture to (C)perish and are scattering them!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says concerning the shepherds who are [a]tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not been concerned about them; behold, I am going to (D)call you to account for the (E)evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. 3 “Then I Myself will (F)gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will also raise up (G)shepherds over them and they will [b]tend them; and they will (H)not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, (I)nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.
5 “Behold, the (J)days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous [c](K)Branch;
And He will (L)reign as king and [d]act wisely
And (M)do justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And (N)Israel will live securely;
And this is His (O)name by which He will be called,
‘The (P)Lord Our Righteousness.’
7 “(Q)Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought the sons of Israel up from the land of Egypt,’ 8 (R)but, ‘As the Lord lives, who (S)brought up and led the descendants of the household of Israel back from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”
8 (A)See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through (B)philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the (C)elementary principles of the world, [a]rather than in accordance with Christ. 9 For in Him all the (D)fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been (E)made [b]complete, and (F)He is the head [c]over every (G)ruler and authority; 11 and in Him (H)you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of (I)the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been (J)buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also (K)raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who (L)raised Him from the dead. 13 And [d]when you were (M)dead [e]in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He (N)made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, 14 having canceled (O)the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and (P)He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had [f](Q)disarmed the (R)rulers and authorities, He (S)made a public display of them, having (T)triumphed over them through [g]Him.
16 Therefore, no one is to [h](U)act as your judge in regard to (V)food and (W)drink, or in respect to a (X)festival or a (Y)new moon, or a (Z)Sabbath [i]day— 17 things which are only a (AA)shadow of what is to come; but the [j]substance [k]belongs to Christ. 18 Take care that no one keeps [l](AB)defrauding you of your prize by (AC)delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, [m]taking his stand on visions he has seen, [n](AD)inflated without cause by his (AE)fleshly mind, 19 and not holding firmly to (AF)the head, from whom (AG)the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and [o]ligaments, grows with a growth [p]which is from God.
20 (AH)If you have died with Christ [q]to the (AI)elementary principles of the world, (AJ)why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to (AK)decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer (AL)to things destined to perish [r]with use)—in accordance with the (AM)commandments and teachings of man? 23 These are matters which do have the [s]appearance of wisdom in [t](AN)self-made religion and humility and (AO)severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against (AP)fleshly indulgence.
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am (A)the door of the sheep. 8 All those who came before Me are (B)thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 (C)I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they (D)would have life, and [a]have it abundantly.
11 “(E)I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd (F)lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a (G)shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. 14 (H)I am the good shepherd, and (I)I know My own, and My own know Me, 15 just as (J)the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and (K)I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And I have (L)other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become (M)one flock, with (N)one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I (O)lay down My life so that I may take it back.
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