Book of Common Prayer
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His (B)holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And (C)forget none of His benefits;
3 Who (D)pardons all your iniquities,
Who (E)heals all your diseases;
4 Who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
Who (G)crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who (H)satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is (I)renewed like the eagle.
6 The Lord (J)performs [b]righteous deeds
And judgments for all who are (K)oppressed.
7 He (L)made known His ways to Moses,
His (M)acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is (N)compassionate and gracious,
(O)Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He (P)will not always strive with us,
Nor will He (Q)keep His anger forever.
10 He has (R)not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high (S)as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who [c]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (T)removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just (U)as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [d]fear Him.
14 For (V)He Himself knows [e]our frame;
He (W)is mindful that we are but (X)dust.
15 As for man, his days are (Y)like grass;
As a (Z)flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the (AA)wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its (AB)place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the (AC)lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [f]fear Him,
And His [g]righteousness (AD)to children’s children,
18 To (AE)those who keep His covenant
And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The Lord has established His (AF)throne in the heavens,
And His [h](AG)sovereignty rules over [i]all.
20 Bless the Lord, you (AH)His angels,
(AI)Mighty in strength, who (AJ)perform His word,
(AK)Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all you (AL)His hosts,
You (AM)who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the Lord, (AN)all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.
148 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise the Lord (A)from the heavens;
Praise Him (B)in the heights!
2 Praise Him, (C)all His angels;
Praise Him, (D)all His hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
4 Praise Him, [c](E)highest heavens,
And the (F)waters that are above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For (G)He commanded and they were created.
6 He has also (H)established them forever and ever;
He has made a (I)decree which will not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(J)Sea monsters and all (K)deeps;
8 (L)Fire and hail, (M)snow and (N)clouds;
(O)Stormy wind, (P)fulfilling His word;
9 (Q)Mountains and all hills;
Fruit (R)trees and all cedars;
10 (S)Beasts and all cattle;
(T)Creeping things and winged fowl;
11 (U)Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.
Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, (A)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am [a]God (B)Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be [b](C)blameless.
2 “I will [c]establish My (D)covenant between Me and you,
And I will (E)multiply you exceedingly.”
3 Abram (F)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a (G)multitude of nations.
5 “No longer shall your name be called [d]Abram,
But (H)your name shall be [e]Abraham;
For (I)I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and (J)kings will come forth from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your [f]descendants after you throughout their generations for an (K)everlasting covenant, (L)to be God to you and (M)to your [g]descendants after you. 8 (N)I will give to you and to your [h]descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and (O)I will be their God.”
9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, (P)you shall keep My covenant, you and your [i]descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 (Q)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your [j]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And (R)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 And every male among you who is (S)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your [k]descendants.
6 Therefore as you have received (A)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [a](B)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (C)rooted and now being (D)built up in Him and (E)established [b]in your faith, just as you (F)were instructed, and overflowing [c]with gratitude.
8 (G)See to it that no one takes you captive through (H)philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the (I)elementary principles of the world, [d]rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the (J)fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been (K)made [e]complete, and (L)He is the head [f]over all (M)rule and authority; 11 and in Him (N)you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of (O)the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been (P)buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also (Q)raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who (R)raised Him from the dead.
Prayer Promises
23 (A)In that day (B)you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, (C)if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 (D)Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your (E)joy may be made full.
25 “These things I have spoken to you in [a](F)figurative language; (G)an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in [b]figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 (H)In that day (I)you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27 for (J)the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and (K)have believed that (L)I came forth from the Father. 28 (M)I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and (N)going to the Father.”
29 His disciples *said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not [c]using (O)a figure of speech. 30 Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we (P)believe that You (Q)came from God.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.