Book of Common Prayer
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.
Birth Announcement of John the Baptist
5 During the reign[a] of Herod[b] king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to[c] the priestly division of Abijah,[d] and he had a wife named Elizabeth,[e] who was a descendant of Aaron.[f] 6 They[g] were both righteous in the sight of God, following[h] all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.[i] 7 But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren,[j] and they were both very old.[k]
8 Now[l] while Zechariah[m] was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,[n] 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood,[o] to enter[p] the Holy Place[q] of the Lord and burn incense. 10 Now[r] the whole crowd[s] of people were praying[t] outside at the hour of the incense offering.[u] 11 An[v] angel of the Lord,[w] standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared[x] to him. 12 And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel,[y] was seized with fear.[z] 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard,[aa] and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you[ab] will name him John.[ac] 14 Joy and gladness will come[ad] to you, and many will rejoice at[ae] his birth,[af] 15 for he will be great in the sight of[ag] the Lord. He[ah] must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.[ai] 16 He[aj] will turn[ak] many of the people[al] of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord[am] in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,[an] to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”
18 Zechariah[ao] said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this?[ap] For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.”[aq] 19 The[ar] angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands[as] in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring[at] you this good news. 20 And now,[au] because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time,[av] you will be silent, unable to speak,[aw] until the day these things take place.”
21 Now[ax] the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder[ay] why he was delayed in the Holy Place.[az] 22 When[ba] he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They[bb] realized that he had seen a vision[bc] in the Holy Place,[bd] because[be] he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak.[bf] 23 When his time of service was over,[bg] he went to his home.
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