Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72[a]
For[b] Solomon.
72 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions.[c]
Grant the king’s son[d] the ability to make fair decisions.[e]
2 Then he will judge[f] your people fairly,
and your oppressed ones[g] equitably.
3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,
and the hills will announce justice.[h]
4 He will defend[i] the oppressed among the people;
he will deliver[j] the children[k] of the poor
and crush the oppressor.
5 People will fear[l] you[m] as long as the sun and moon remain in the sky,
for generation after generation.[n]
6 He[o] will descend like rain on the mown grass,[p]
like showers that drench[q] the earth.[r]
7 During his days the godly will flourish;[s]
peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky.[t]
8 May he rule[u] from sea to sea,[v]
and from the Euphrates River[w] to the ends of the earth.
9 Before him the coastlands[x] will bow down,
and his enemies will lick the dust.[y]
10 The kings of Tarshish[z] and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba[aa] and Seba[ab] will bring tribute.
11 All kings will bow down to him;
all nations will serve him.
12 For he will rescue the needy[ac] when they cry out for help,
and the oppressed[ad] who have no defender.
13 He will take pity[ae] on the poor and needy;
the lives of the needy he will save.
14 From harm and violence he will defend them;[af]
he will value their lives.[ag]
15 May he live![ah] May they offer him gold from Sheba.[ai]
May they continually pray for him.
May they pronounce blessings on him all day long.[aj]
16 May there be[ak] an abundance[al] of grain in the earth;
on the tops[am] of the mountains may it[an] sway.[ao]
May its[ap] fruit trees[aq] flourish[ar] like the forests of Lebanon.[as]
May its crops[at] be as abundant[au] as the grass of the earth.[av]
17 May his fame endure.[aw]
May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky.[ax]
May they use his name when they formulate their blessings.[ay]
May all nations consider him to be favored by God.[az]
18 The Lord God, the God of Israel, deserves praise.[ba]
He alone accomplishes amazing things.[bb]
19 His glorious name deserves praise[bc] forevermore.
May his majestic splendor[bd] fill the whole earth.
We agree! We agree![be]
20 This collection of the prayers of David son of Jesse ends here.[bf]
Psalm 111[a]
111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited[b] by all who desire them.
3 His work is majestic and glorious,[c]
and his faithfulness endures[d] forever.
4 He does[e] amazing things that will be remembered;[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
5 He gives[g] food to his faithful followers;[h]
he always remembers his covenant.[i]
6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.[j]
7 His acts are characterized by[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.[l]
8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.[m]
9 He delivered his people;[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.[q]
He will receive praise forever.[r]
Psalm 113[a]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[c]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[d]
6 He bends down to look[e]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[f]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[g]
a happy mother of children.[h]
Praise the Lord.
9 Who is the Lord[a] trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining a message?[b]
To those just weaned from milk!
To those just taken from their mother’s breast![c]
10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.[d]
11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue
he will speak to these people.[e]
12 In the past he said to them,[f]
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted.
This is where rest can be found.”[g]
But they refused to listen.
13 So the Lord’s message to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.[h]
As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk,[i]
and be injured, ensnared, and captured.[j]
The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem
14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s message,
you who mock,
you rulers of these people
who reside in Jerusalem.
15 For you say,
“We have made a treaty with death,
with Sheol[k] we have made an agreement.[l]
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by[m]
it will not reach us.
For we have made a lie our refuge,
we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.”[n]
16 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord, says:
“Look, I am laying[o] a stone in Zion,
an approved[p] stone,
set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation.[q]
The one who maintains his faith will not panic.[r]
17 I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge,[s]
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved;[t]
your agreement[u] with Sheol will not last.[v]
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by,[w]
you will be overrun by it.[x]
19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed,[y] every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.”[z]
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself.[aa]
21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim;[ab]
he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon,[ac]
to accomplish his work,
his peculiar work,
to perform his task,
his strange task.[ad]
22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies against the entire land.[ae]
The New Jerusalem Descends
9 Then[a] one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and spoke to me,[b] saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!” 10 So[c] he took me away in the Spirit[d] to a huge, majestic mountain[e] and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 The city possesses[f] the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.[g] 12 It has[h] a massive, high wall[i] with twelve gates,[j] with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel[k] are written on the gates.[l] 13 There are[m] three gates on the east side, three gates on the north side, three gates on the south side and three gates on the west side.[n] 14 The[o] wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel[p] who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall. 16 Now[q] the city is laid out as a square,[r] its length and width the same. He[s] measured the city with the measuring rod[t] at 1,400 miles[u] (its length and width and height are equal). 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits[v] according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s.[w] 18 The city’s[x] wall is made[y] of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.[z] 19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated[aa] with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate,[ab] the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx,[ac] the sixth carnelian,[ad] the seventh chrysolite,[ae] the eighth beryl,[af] the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase,[ag] the eleventh jacinth,[ah] and the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls—each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The[ai] main street[aj] of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.
Birth Announcement of Jesus the Messiah
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,[a] the angel Gabriel[b] was sent by[c] God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,[d] 27 to a virgin engaged[e] to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David,[f] and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The[g] angel[h] came[i] to her and said, “Greetings, favored one,[j] the Lord is with you!”[k] 29 But[l] she was greatly troubled[m] by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting.[n] 30 So[o] the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,[p] Mary, for you have found favor[q] with God! 31 Listen:[r] You will become pregnant[s] and give birth to[t] a son, and you will name him[u] Jesus.[v] 32 He[w] will be great,[x] and will be called the Son of the Most High,[y] and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father[z] David. 33 He[aa] will reign over the house of Jacob[ab] forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 34 Mary[ac] said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not been intimate with[ad] a man?” 35 The angel replied,[ae] “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow[af] you. Therefore the child[ag] to be born[ah] will be holy;[ai] he will be called the Son of God.
36 “And look,[aj] your relative[ak] Elizabeth has also become pregnant with[al] a son in her old age—although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month![am] 37 For nothing[an] will be impossible with God.” 38 So[ao] Mary said, “Yes,[ap] I am a servant[aq] of the Lord; let this happen to me[ar] according to your word.”[as] Then[at] the angel departed from her.
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