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.
15 On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn[a] and marched around the city as before—only this time they marched around it seven times.[b] 16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns, and Joshua told the army,[c] “Give the battle cry,[d] for the Lord is handing the city over to you![e] 17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord;[f] only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies[g] we sent. 18 But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for God. If you take any of it, then you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster.[h] 19 All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord.[i] They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”
20 The rams’ horns sounded,[j] and when the army[k] heard the signal,[l] they gave a loud battle cry.[m] The wall collapsed,[n] and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.[o] 21 They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city,[p] including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys. 22 Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house[q] and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.”[r] 23 So the young spies went and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and took them to a place outside[s] the Israelite camp. 24 But they burned[t] the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord’s house.[u] 25 Yet Joshua spared[v] Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family,[w] and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel[x] to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho. 26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration:[y] “The man who attempts to rebuild[z] this city of Jericho[aa] will stand condemned before the Lord.[ab] He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!”[ac] 27 The Lord was with Joshua and he became famous throughout the land.[ad]
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, because the commanding officer[a] wanted to know the true reason[b] Paul[c] was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council[d] to assemble. He then brought[e] Paul down and had him stand before them.
23 Paul looked directly[f] at the council[g] and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience[h] before God to this day.” 2 At that[i] the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near[j] Paul[k] to strike[l] him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall![m] Do[n] you sit there judging me according to the law,[o] and in violation of the law[p] you order me to be struck?” 4 Those standing near him[q] said, “Do you dare insult[r] God’s high priest?” 5 Paul replied,[s] “I did not realize,[t] brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”[u]
6 Then when Paul noticed[v] that part of them were Sadducees[w] and the others Pharisees,[x] he shouted out in the council,[y] “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection[z] of the dead!” 7 When he said this,[aa] an argument[ab] began[ac] between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)[ad] 9 There was a great commotion,[ae] and some experts in the law[af] from the party of the Pharisees stood up[ag] and protested strongly,[ah] “We find nothing wrong[ai] with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 When the argument became[aj] so great the commanding officer[ak] feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,[al] he ordered the detachment[am] to go down, take him away from them by force,[an] and bring him into the barracks.[ao]
11 The following night the Lord[ap] stood near[aq] Paul[ar] and said, “Have courage,[as] for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”[at]
Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic
2 Now[a] after some days, when he returned to Capernaum,[b] the news spread[c] that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by[d] the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some people[e] came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.[f] 4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof[g] above Jesus.[h] Then,[i] after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their[j] faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”[k] 6 Now some of the experts in the law[l] were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds:[m] 7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming![n] Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Now[o] immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts,[p] he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?[q] 9 Which is easier,[r] to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know[s] that the Son of Man[t] has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic[u]— 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”[v] 12 And immediately the man[w] stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
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