Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 117
Praise the Lord
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Worship him, every race of people.[a]
2 For his mercy overwhelms us,
and the faithfulness[b] of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 118
The Stone the Builders Rejected
Introduction
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
4 Let those who fear the Lord say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
Trust During Distress
5 Under pressure I cried to the Lord.[c]
The Lord answered me.
He set me in a wide-open space.
6 The Lord is with me.
I will not be afraid.
What can people do to me?
7 The Lord, who is with me, is my helper,
so I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in human benefactors.[d]
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.[e]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees,
but they were extinguished as quickly as a fire of thorns.
In the name of the Lord I cut them off.
13 You pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.
The Messiah’s Joy in Victory
14 My strength and song is the Lord,
and he has become salvation for me.
15 Loud shouts of victory are heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord has done a mighty deed!
16 The right hand of the Lord is lifted high!
The right hand of the Lord has done a mighty deed!”
17 I will not die. No, I will live,
and I will proclaim the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not handed me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness.
I will enter them. I will give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate to the Lord.
The righteous enter it.
21 I will give you thanks,
because you answered me,
and you have become salvation for me.
The Joy in Victory of Messiah’s Followers
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.[f]
23 This is from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Lord, please save us now.[g]
O Lord, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he makes light shine on us.
Bind the festival with branches as far as the horns of the altar.[h]
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God, and I will exalt you.
Conclusion
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Psalm 112
The Man Who Fears the Lord
The Man Who Fears the Lord
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
How blessed is a man who fears the Lord.
In his commands he delights greatly.
2 His descendants will be mighty in the land.
The circle of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness stands forever.
4 In darkness, light dawns for the upright.
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 Good things will come to the man
who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his business with justice.
6 Surely he will never fall.
The righteous will be remembered forever.
7 He will not fear bad news.
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is secure.
He will have no fear, until he looks in triumph on his foes.
9 He scatters seed—he gives to the poor.
His righteousness stands forever.
His horn[b] will be lifted high in glory.
The End of the Wicked
10 The wicked person will see and be frustrated.
He will gnash his teeth and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 113
The Mighty Deliverer
Invitation to Praise
1 Praise the Lord.[c]
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 Let the name of the Lord be blessed, from now to eternity.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Basis for Praise
4 High above all the nations is the Lord.
His glory towers above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God?
He is seated on high.
6 He bends down to look at the heavens and at the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dust.
He lifts the needy from the garbage pile
8 to seat them with nobles,
with the nobles of his people.
9 He is the one who settles the barren woman in her home
as a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord.
15 The truth is missing,
and anyone who turns from evil makes himself prey.[a]
The Lord looked and saw something evil—
there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one.
He was appalled that there was no one who could intervene.
So his own arm worked salvation for him,
and his own righteousness supported him.
17 He clothed himself with righteousness like armor
and wore a helmet of salvation on his head.
He dressed in garments for vengeance,
and he wrapped himself with zeal like a cloak.
18 He will repay in full what they have earned,
namely, wrath to his foes and full payment to his enemies.
He will repay even the distant coastlands.
19 From the west they will fear the Lord’s name,
and from the rising of the sun they will fear his glory,
for he will come like a raging river,
driven by the Spirit[b] of the Lord.
20 Then a redeemer will come for Zion
and for those in Jacob who turn from rebellion.
This is the declaration of the Lord.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. My Spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouth of your offspring or from the mouth of their offspring, from this time forward and forever, says the Lord.
Letter to the Church in Smyrna
8 To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write:
The First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again, says this:
9 I know[a] your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy that comes from those who say they are Jews but are not; rather, they are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear anything that[b] you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will suffer for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Letter to the Church in Pergamum
12 To the messenger of the church in Pergamum write:
The one who has the sharp, two-edged sword says this:
13 I know[c] where you live—where the throne of Satan is. And I know that you hold fast to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me even in the days when Antipas, my faithful witness,[d] was put to death near you, the place where Satan lives.
14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block in front of the children of Israel so that they would eat things offered to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have some people who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore,[e] repent! If not, I will come to you soon, and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give some of the hidden manna.[f] I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one will know except the one who receives it.
46 Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.
In Capernaum, there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, because his son was about to die.
48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you certainly will not believe.”
49 The royal official said to him, “Lord, come down before my little boy dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son is going to live.”
The man believed this word that Jesus spoke to him and left.
51 Already as he was going down, his servants met him with the news that his boy was going to live. 52 So he asked them what time his son got better. They told him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour[a] the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that was the exact time when Jesus had told him, “Your son is going to live.” And he himself and his whole household believed.
54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did after he came from Judea into Galilee.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.