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.
3 So I turned my attention[a] to the Lord God[b] to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.[c] 4 I prayed to the Lord my God, confessing in this way:
“O Lord,[d] great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant[e] with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority[f] to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors,[g] and to all the inhabitants[h] of the land as well.
7 “You are righteous,[i] O Lord, but we are humiliated this day[j]—the people[k] of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 8 O Lord, we have been humiliated[l]—our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors—because we have sinned against you. 9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving,[m] even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We have not obeyed[n] the Lord our God by living according to[o] his laws[p] that he set before us through his servants the prophets.
10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist,[a] in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer[b] of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin,[c] and so[d] he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,[e] 12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers;[f] in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.”[g] 13 Again he says,[h] “I will be confident in him,” and again, “Here I am,[i] with[j] the children God has given me.”[k] 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in[l] their humanity,[m] so that through death he could destroy[n] the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. 16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 17 Therefore he had[o] to be made like his brothers and sisters[p] in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement[q] for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
Jesus’ Final Public Words
44 But Jesus shouted out,[a] “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me,[b] 45 and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.[c] 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone[d] hears my words and does not obey them,[e] I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.[f] 48 The one who rejects me and does not accept[g] my words has a judge;[h] the word[i] I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from my own authority,[j] but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me[k] what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life.[l] Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”[m]
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