Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 24[a]
A psalm of David.
24 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established[b] it upon the ocean currents.[c]
3 Who is allowed to ascend[d] the mountain of the Lord?[e]
Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?
4 The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure,[f]
who does not lie,[g]
or make promises with no intention of keeping them.[h]
5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord,[i]
and vindicated by the God who delivers them.[j]
6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,
Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him.[k] (Selah)
7 Look up,[l] you gates.
Rise up,[m] you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king[n] will enter.[o]
8 Who is this majestic king?[p]
The Lord who is strong and mighty.
The Lord who is mighty in battle.
9 Look up, you gates.
Rise up, you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king will enter.
10 Who is this majestic king?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[q]
He is the majestic king. (Selah)
Psalm 29[a]
A psalm of David.
29 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings,[b]
acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power.[c]
2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation.[d]
Worship the Lord in holy attire.[e]
3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water;[f]
the majestic God thunders,[g]
the Lord appears over the surging water.[h]
4 The Lord’s shout is powerful,[i]
the Lord’s shout is majestic.[j]
5 The Lord’s shout breaks[k] the cedars,
the Lord shatters[l] the cedars of Lebanon.[m]
6 He makes them skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion[n] like a young ox.[o]
7 The Lord’s shout strikes[p] with flaming fire.[q]
8 The Lord’s shout shakes[r] the wilderness,
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.[s]
9 The Lord’s shout bends[t] the large trees[u]
and strips[v] the leaves from the forests.[w]
Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!”[x]
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the engulfing waters,[y]
the Lord sits enthroned[z] as the eternal king.
11 The Lord gives[aa] his people strength;[ab]
the Lord grants his people security.[ac]
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.
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
Look! Your king is coming to you:
He is legitimate[a] and victorious,[b]
humble and riding on a donkey[c]—
on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.
10 I will remove[d] the chariot from Ephraim
and the warhorse from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be removed.
Then he will announce peace to the nations.
His dominion will be from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates River[e] to the ends of the earth.
11 Moreover, as for you, because of our covenant relationship secured with blood, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to the stronghold, you prisoners, with hope; today I declare that I will return double what was taken from you.
9 So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations[a] that come against Jerusalem.
10 “I will pour out on the kingship[b] of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me,[c] the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.[d] 11 On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great as the lamentation at Hadad Rimmon[e] in the plain of Megiddo.
7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered;[a]
I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
8 It will happen in all the land,” says the Lord,
“that two-thirds of the people[b] in it will be cut off and die,
but one-third will be left in it.[c]
9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;
I will refine them like silver is refined
and will test them like gold is tested.
They will call on my name and I will answer;
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”[d]
12 Compete well[a] for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession[b] for[c] in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you[d] before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession[e] before Pontius Pilate, 14 to obey[f] this command[g] without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ 15 —whose appearing[h] the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time. 16 He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.
Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment
41 Now[a] when Jesus[b] approached[c] and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had only known on this day,[d] even you, the things that make for peace![e] But now they are hidden[f] from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build[g] an embankment[h] against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will demolish you[i]—you and your children within your walls[j]—and they will not leave within you one stone[k] on top of another,[l] because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”[m]
Cleansing the Temple
45 Then[n] Jesus[o] entered the temple courts[p] and began to drive out those who were selling things there,[q] 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’[r] but you have turned it into a den[s] of robbers!”[t]
47 Jesus[u] was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law[v] and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate[w] him, 48 but[x] they could not find a way to do it,[y] for all the people hung on his words.[z]
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