Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66[a]
Praise of God, Israel’s Deliverer
1 For the leader. A song; a psalm.
I
2 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
sing of his glorious name;
give him glorious praise.(A)
3 Say to God: “How awesome your deeds!
Before your great strength your enemies cringe.
4 All the earth falls in worship before you;(B)
they sing of you, sing of your name!”
Selah
II
5 [b]Come and see the works of God,
awesome in deeds before the children of Adam.
6 He changed the sea to dry land;
through the river they passed on foot.(C)
There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
His eyes are fixed upon the nations.
Let no rebel rise to challenge!
Selah
8 Bless our God, you peoples;
loudly sound his praise,
9 Who has kept us alive
and not allowed our feet to slip.(D)
10 You tested us, O God,
tried us as silver tried by fire.(E)
11 You led us into a snare;
you bound us at the waist as captives.
12 [c]You let captors set foot on our neck;
we went through fire and water;
then you led us out to freedom.(F)
III
13 I will bring burnt offerings[d] to your house;
to you I will fulfill my vows,
14 Which my lips pronounced
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fatlings I will offer you
and sacrificial smoke of rams;
I will sacrifice oxen and goats.
Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
while I recount what has been done for me.
17 I called to him with my mouth;
praise was upon my tongue.
18 Had I cherished evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard.
19 But God did hear
and listened to my voice in prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who did not reject my prayer
and refuse his mercy.
Psalm 67[e]
Harvest Thanks and Petition
1 For the leader; with stringed instruments. A psalm; a song.
I
2 May God be gracious to us[f] and bless us;
may his face shine upon us.(G)
Selah
3 So shall your way be known upon the earth,
your victory among all the nations.(H)
4 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you!
II
5 May the nations be glad and rejoice;
for you judge the peoples with fairness,
you guide the nations upon the earth.(I)
Selah
6 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you!
III
7 The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.(J)
8 May God bless us still;
that the ends of the earth may revere him.
Psalm 116[a]
Thanksgiving to God Who Saves from Death
I
1 I love the Lord, who listened
to my voice in supplication,
2 Who turned an ear to me
on the day I called.
3 I was caught by the cords of death;[b](A)
the snares of Sheol had seized me;
I felt agony and dread.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, save my life!”
II
5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
yes, our God is merciful.(B)
6 The Lord protects the simple;
I was helpless, but he saved me.
7 Return, my soul, to your rest;
the Lord has been very good to you.(C)
8 For my soul has been freed from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.(D)
9 I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.[c](E)
III
10 [d]I kept faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted!”(F)
11 I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars!”(G)
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the great good done for me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation[e]
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 [f]Dear in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his devoted.(H)
16 Lord, I am your servant,
your servant, the child of your maidservant;(I)
you have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer a sacrifice of praise
and call on the name of the Lord.(J)
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord(K)
in the presence of all his people,
19 In the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 117[g]
The Nations Called to Praise
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!(L)
2 His mercy for us is strong;
the faithfulness of the Lord is forever.
Hallelujah!
Restoration[a]
10 On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the peoples—
Him the nations will seek out;
his dwelling shall be glorious.(A)
11 On that day,
The Lord shall again take it in hand
to reclaim the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria and Egypt,
Pathros, Ethiopia, and Elam,
Shinar, Hamath, and the isles of the sea.(B)
12 He shall raise a signal to the nations(C)
and gather the outcasts of Israel;
The dispersed of Judah he shall assemble
from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy of Ephraim shall pass away,
and those hostile to Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not be hostile to Ephraim;
14 But they shall swoop down on the foothills
of the Philistines to the west,
together they shall plunder the people of the east;[b]
Edom and Moab shall be their possessions,
and the Ammonites their subjects.
15 The Lord shall dry up the tongue[c] of the Sea of Egypt,
and wave his hand over the Euphrates with his fierce wind,
And divide it into seven streamlets,
so that it can be crossed in sandals.(D)
16 There shall be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
As there was for Israel
when it came up from the land of Egypt.(E)
11 Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them.(A) 12 I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life.[a] The dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls.(B) 13 The sea gave up its dead; then Death and Hades[b] gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their deeds. 14 (C)Then Death and Hades were thrown into the pool of fire. (This pool of fire is the second death.[c]) 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the pool of fire.
VI. The New Creation[d]
Chapter 21
The New Heaven and the New Earth. 1 (D)Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.[e] 2 I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,[f] coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.(E) 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.(F) He will dwell with them and they will be his people[g] and God himself will always be with them [as their God].[h] 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away.”(G)
5 The one who sat on the throne[i] said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.”(H) 6 He said to me, “They are accomplished.[j] I [am] the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water.(I) 7 The victor[k] will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son.(J) 8 But as for cowards,[l] the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”(K)
The New Jerusalem.[m]
II. The Infancy Narrative[a]
Announcement of the Birth of John. 5 In the days of Herod, King of Judea,[b] there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.(A) 6 Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. 7 But they had no child,[c] because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.(B) 8 Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God, 9 according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.(C) 10 Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, 11 the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid,[d] Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.(D) 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink.[e] He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,(E) 16 and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah[f] to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”(F) 18 Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel,[g] who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.(G) 20 But now you will be speechless and unable to talk[h] until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”(H)
21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute. 23 Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home. 24 After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”(I)
Announcement of the Birth of Jesus.[i]
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