Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66
To the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm.
1 Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth;
2 Sing forth the honor and glory of His name; make His praise glorious!
3 Say to God, How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to You [with feigned and reluctant obedience].
4 All the earth shall bow down to You and sing [praises] to You; they shall praise Your name in song. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
5 Come and see the works of God; see how [to save His people He smites their foes; He is] terrible in His doings toward the children of men.
6 He turned the sea into dry land, they crossed through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in Him.
7 He rules by His might forever, His eyes observe and keep watch over the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
8 Bless our God, O peoples, give Him grateful thanks and make the voice of His praise be heard,
9 Who put and kept us among the living, and has not allowed our feet to slip.
10 For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified.
11 You brought us into the net (the prison fortress, the dungeon); You laid a heavy burden upon our loins.
12 You caused men to ride over our heads [when we were prostrate]; we went through fire and through water, but You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air].
13 I will come into Your house with burnt offerings [of entire consecration]; I will pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in distress.
15 I will offer to You burnt offerings of fat lambs, with rams consumed in sweet-smelling smoke; I will offer bullocks and he-goats. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
16 Come and hear, all you who reverently and worshipfully fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me!
17 I cried aloud to Him; He was extolled and high praise was under my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me;(A)
19 But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, Who has not rejected my prayer nor removed His mercy and loving-kindness from being [as it always is] with me.
Psalm 67
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
1 God be merciful and gracious to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us and among us—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—
2 That Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power (Your deliverances and Your salvation) among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples fairly and guide, lead, or drive the nations upon earth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
5 Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You!
6 The earth has yielded its harvest [in evidence of God’s approval]; God, even our own God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall reverently fear Him.
Psalm 19
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork.(A)
2 Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor spoken word [from the stars]; their voice is not heard.
4 Yet their voice [in evidence] goes out through all the earth, their sayings to the end of the world. Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun,(B)
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; and it rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its going forth is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the ends of it; and nothing [yes, no one] is hidden from the heat of it.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure and bright, enlightening the eyes.
9 The [reverent] fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even than much fine gold; they are sweeter also than honey and drippings from the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his lapses and errors? Clear me from hidden [and unconscious] faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 46
To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah, set to treble voices. A song.
1 God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas,
3 Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early [at the dawn of the morning].
6 The nations raged, the kingdoms tottered and were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our Fortress and High Tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth.
9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two; He burns the chariots in the fire.
10 Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our High Tower and Stronghold). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 Judah mourns and her gates languish; [her people] sit in black [mourning garb] upon the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3 And their nobles send their little ones and their inferiors for water; they come to the cisterns and find no water. They return with empty vessels; they are put to shame and confounded and cover their heads.
4 Because the ground is cracked and the tillers are dismayed, since there has been no rain on the land, the plowmen are put to shame, and they cover their heads.
5 Yes, even the hind gives birth to her calf in the field and forsakes it, because there is no grass or herbage.
6 And the wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals or crocodiles; their eyesight fails because there is no grass.
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us [prays Jeremiah], deal and work with us for Your own name’s sake [that the heathen may witness Your might and faithfulness]! For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.
8 O Hope of Israel, her Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land and like a wayfaring man who turns aside and spreads his tent to tarry [only] for a night?
9 Why should You be [hesitant and inactive] like a man stunned and confused, like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name; do not leave us!
17 Therefore [Jeremiah] you shall say to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people has been smitten with a great wound, with a very grievous blow.
18 If I go out into the field, then behold, those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, then behold, those tormented with the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest go about not knowing what to do or as beggars [exiled] in a land that they know not, and they have no knowledge.
19 [O Lord] have You utterly rejected Judah? Do You loathe Zion? Why have You smitten us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace and completeness, but no good came, and for a time of healing, but behold, dismay, disaster, and terror!
20 We know and acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor, condemn, and spurn us, for Your name’s sake; do not dishonor, debase, and lightly esteem Your glorious throne; [earnestly] remember, break not Your covenant or solemn pledge with us.
22 Are there any among the false gods of the nations who can cause rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Are You [alone] not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait [expectantly] for You, for You have made all these things [the heavens and the rain].
21 Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid and one by the free woman.(A)
23 But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.
24 Now all this is an allegory; these [two women] represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] and bears [children destined] for slavery; this is Hagar.
25 Now Hagar is (stands for) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to and belongs in the same category with the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage together with her children.
26 But the Jerusalem above ([a]the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother.
27 For it is written in the Scriptures, Rejoice, O barren woman, who has not given birth to children; break forth into a joyful shout, you who are not feeling birth pangs, for the desolate woman has many more children than she who has a husband.(B)
28 But we, brethren, are children [[b]not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born [c]in virtue of promise.
29 Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also.(C)
30 But what does the Scripture say? Cast out and send away the slave woman and her son, for never shall the son of the slave woman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.(D)
31 So, brethren, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave woman [[d]the natural], but of the free [[e]the supernatural].
5 In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with and question Him, demanding from Him a sign (an attesting miracle from heaven) [maliciously] to test Him.
12 And He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, Why does this generation demand a sign? Positively I say to you, no sign shall be given this generation.
13 And He went away and left them and, getting into the boat again, He departed to the other side.
14 Now they had [[a]completely] forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15 And Jesus [repeatedly and expressly] charged and admonished them, saying, Look out; keep on your guard and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod [b]and the Herodians.
16 And they discussed it and reasoned with one another, It is because we have no bread.
17 And being aware [of it], Jesus said to them, Why are you reasoning and saying it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet discern or understand? Are your hearts in [a settled state of] hardness?(A)
18 Having eyes, do you not see [with them], and having ears, do you not hear and perceive and understand the sense of what is said? And do you not remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many [[c]small hand] baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? They said to Him, Twelve.
20 And [when I broke] the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many [[d]large provision] baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to Him, Seven.
21 And He [e]kept repeating, Do you not yet understand?
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