Book of Common Prayer
The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David; when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You;
My [a]soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2
So I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.(A)
3
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4
So will I bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5
My [b]soul [my life, my very self] is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises [to You] with joyful lips.
6
When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate and thoughtfully focus on You in the night watches,
7
For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy.
8
My [c]soul [my life, my very self] clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9
But those who seek my life to destroy it
Will [be destroyed and] go into the depths of the earth [into the underworld].
10
They will be given over to the power of the sword;
They will be a prey for foxes.
11
But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him [honoring the true God, acknowledging His authority and majesty] will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.
A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.
A [a]Psalm.
98 O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done marvelous and wonderful things;
His right hand and His holy arm have [b]gained the victory for Him.
2
The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has [openly] revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.(A)
3
He has [graciously] remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have witnessed the salvation of our God.(B)
4
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Shout [in jubilation] and sing for joy and sing praises.
5
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
6
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout with joy before the King, the Lord.
7
Let the sea thunder and roar, and all the things it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
8
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the mountains sing together for joy and delight
9
Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with fairness.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name.
2
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
3
Who forgives all your sins,
Who heals all your diseases;
4
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy;
5
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.(A)
6
The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all the oppressed.
7
He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness.(B)
9
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10
He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve],
Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness.
11
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].
12
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13
Just as a father loves his children,
So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].
14
For He knows our [mortal] frame;
He remembers that we are [merely] dust.
15
As for man, his days are like grass;
Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16
For the wind passes over it and it is no more,
And its place knows it no longer.
17
But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [reverently] fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,(C)
18
To those who honor and keep His covenant,
And remember to do His commandments [imprinting His word on their hearts].
19
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all [the universe].
20
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
You mighty ones who do His commandments,
Obeying the voice of His word!
21
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him and do His will.
22
Bless the Lord, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion;
Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul!
Judgment on the Day of the Lord
6
Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!
It will come as [a]destruction from the [b]Almighty (All Sufficient One—Invincible God)!(A)
7
Therefore [c]all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
8
They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,
Pains and anguish will grip them;
They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.
They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,
Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].
9
Listen carefully, the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with wrath and raging anger,
To make the land a horror [of devastation];
And He shall exterminate its sinners from it.(B)
10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash with their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises,
And the moon will not shed its light.
11
In this way I will punish the world for its evil
And the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud
And will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.
12
I will make mortal man more rare than fine gold,
And mankind [scarcer] than the pure gold of Ophir.
13
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
And the earth will be shaken from its place
At the wrath of the Lord of hosts
In the day of His burning anger.
Contrast of Sinai and Zion
18 For you have not come [as did the Israelites in the wilderness] to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to gloom and darkness and a raging windstorm, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them.(A) 20 For they could not bear the command, “If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it will be stoned [to death].”(B) 21 In fact, so terrifying was the sight, that Moses said, “I am filled with fear and trembling.”(C) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], 23 and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], 24 and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].(D)
The Unshaken Kingdom
25 See to it that you do not refuse [to listen to] Him who is speaking [to you now]. For if those [sons of Israel] did not escape when they refused [to listen to] him who warned them on earth [revealing God’s will], how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on Him who warns from heaven?(E) 26 His voice shook the earth [at Mount Sinai] then, but now He has given a promise, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the [starry] heaven.”(F) 27 Now this [expression], “Yet once more,” indicates the removal and final transformation of all those things which can be shaken—that is, of that which has been created—so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.(G) 28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.(H)
John’s Last Testimony
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples went into the land of Judea, and there He spent time with them and baptized.(A) 23 Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Therefore there arose a controversy between John’s disciples and a Jew in regard to [a]purification (ceremonial washing). 26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi (Teacher), the Man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan [at the Jordan River crossing]—and to whom you have testified—look, He is baptizing too, and everyone is going to Him!” 27 John replied, “A man can receive nothing [he can claim nothing at all] unless it has been granted to him from heaven [for there is no other source than the sovereign will of God]. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, ‘I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ but, ‘I have [only] been sent ahead of Him [as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming].’(B) 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this pleasure and joy of mine is now complete.(C) 30 He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.(D)
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