Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72
A Prayer for the King
Of Solomon.(A)
1 God, give your justice to the king
and your righteousness to the king’s son.(B)
2 He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice.(C)
3 May the mountains bring well-being[a] to the people
and the hills, righteousness.(D)
4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor.(E)
5 May they fear you[b] while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.(F)
6 May the king be like rain that falls on the cut grass,
like spring showers that water the earth.(G)
7 May the righteous[c] flourish in his days
and well-being abound
until the moon is no more.(H)
8 May he rule from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates
to the ends of the earth.(I)
9 May desert tribes kneel before him
and his enemies lick the dust.(J)
10 May the kings of Tarshish
and the coasts and islands bring tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.(K)
11 Let all kings bow in homage to him,
all nations serve him.(L)
12 For he will rescue the poor who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.(M)
13 He will have pity on the poor and helpless
and save the lives of the poor.(N)
14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are[d] precious[e] in his sight.(O)
15 May he live long!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be offered for him continually,
and may he be blessed all day long.(P)
16 May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains.
May its crops be like Lebanon.
May people flourish in the cities
like the grass of the field.(Q)
17 May his name endure forever;
as long as the sun shines,
may his fame increase.
May all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.(R)
Psalm 111
Praise for the Lord’s Works
1 Hallelujah![a]
I will praise the Lord with all my heart
in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.(A)
2 The Lord’s works are great,
studied by all who delight in them.(B)
3 All that he does is splendid and majestic;(C)
his righteousness endures forever.(D)
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered.(E)
The Lord is gracious and compassionate.(F)
5 He has provided food for those who fear him;(G)
he remembers his covenant forever.(H)
6 He has shown his people the power of his works
by giving them the inheritance of the nations.(I)
7 The works of his hands are truth and justice;
all his instructions are trustworthy.(J)
8 They are established forever and ever,
enacted in truth and in uprightness.(K)
9 He has sent redemption to his people.(L)
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.(M)
Psalm 113
Praise to the Merciful God
1 Hallelujah!
Give praise, servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.(A)
2 Let the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and forever.(B)
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
let the name of the Lord be praised.(C)
4 The Lord is exalted above all the nations,(D)
his glory above the heavens.(E)
5 Who is like the Lord our God—
the one enthroned on high,(F)
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?(G)
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the trash heap(H)
8 in order to seat them with nobles—
with the nobles of his people.(I)
9 He gives the childless woman a household,
making her the joyful mother of children.(J)
Hallelujah!
9 Who is he trying to teach?
Who is he trying to instruct?
Infants[a] just weaned from milk?
Babies[b] removed from the breast?
10 “Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”[c]
11 For he will speak to this people
with stammering speech
and in a foreign language.(A)
12 He had said to them,
“This is the place of rest;
let the weary rest;(B)
this is the place of repose.”
But they would not listen.
13 The word of the Lord will come to them:
“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there,”
so they go stumbling backward,
to be broken, trapped, and captured.(C)
A Deal with Death
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(D) you scoffers(E)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming catastrophe[d] passes through,(F)
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone(G) in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;(H)
the one who believes will be unshakable.[e](I)
17 And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”(J)
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
you will be trampled.
19 Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning—
every day and every night.
Only terror(K) will cause you
to understand the message.[f]
20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim.(L)
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,(M)
to do his work, his unexpected work,
and to perform his task, his unfamiliar task.
22 So now, do not scoff,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord God of Armies
a decree of destruction for the whole land.(N)
The New Jerusalem
9 Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues,(A) came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 He then carried me away in the Spirit[a](B) to a great, high mountain(C) and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 arrayed with God’s glory.(D) Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.(E) 14 The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.
15 The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod(F) to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.(G) 16 The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia.[b] Its length, width, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used. 18 The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of jewel:(H) the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street[c] of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
Gabriel Predicts Jesus’s Birth
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel(A) was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,(B) 27 to a virgin engaged[a](C) to a man named Joseph, of the house of David.(D) The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”[b] 29 But she was deeply troubled(E) by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary,(F) for you have found favor with God.(G) 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.(H) 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High,(I) and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.(J) 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob(K) forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” (L)
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” [c]
35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,(M) and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.(N) 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”(O)
38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
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