Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Reigns
97 (A)The Lord reigns, (B)let the earth rejoice;
let the many (C)coastlands be glad!
2 (D)Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
(E)righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 (F)Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all around.
4 His (G)lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and (H)trembles.
5 The mountains (I)melt like (J)wax before the Lord,
before (K)the Lord of all the earth.
6 (L)The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all (M)the peoples see his glory.
7 All worshipers of images are (N)put to shame,
who make their boast in (O)worthless idols;
(P)worship him, all you gods!
The Lord Our God Is Holy
99 (A)The Lord reigns; (B)let the peoples tremble!
He (C)sits enthroned upon the cherubim; (D)let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is (E)great in Zion;
he is (F)exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your (G)great and awesome name!
(H)Holy is he!
4 (I)The King in his might (J)loves justice.[a]
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 (K)Exalt the Lord our God;
(L)worship at his (M)footstool!
(N)Holy is he!
6 (O)Moses and Aaron were among his (P)priests,
Samuel also was among those who (Q)called upon his name.
They (R)called to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 In (S)the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they (T)kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were (U)a forgiving God to them,
but (V)an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his (W)holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy!
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
A Psalm for (X)giving thanks.
100 (Y)Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 (Z)Serve the Lord with gladness!
(AA)Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that (AB)the Lord, he is God!
It is he who (AC)made us, and (AD)we are his;[b]
we are his (AE)people, and (AF)the sheep of his pasture.
The Lord Will Not Forsake His People
94 O Lord, God of (A)vengeance,
O God of vengeance, (B)shine forth!
2 (C)Rise up, O (D)judge of the earth;
repay to the (E)proud what they deserve!
3 O Lord, (F)how long shall the wicked,
how long shall (G)the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their (H)arrogant words;
all (I)the evildoers boast.
5 They (J)crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill (K)the widow and the sojourner,
and murder (L)the fatherless;
7 (M)and they say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8 (N)Understand, O dullest of the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
9 (O)He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who (P)disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who (Q)teaches man knowledge—
11 (R)the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are (S)but a breath.[a]
12 (T)Blessed is the man whom you (U)discipline, O Lord,
and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him (V)rest from (W)days of trouble,
until (X)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 (Y)For the Lord will not forsake his (Z)people;
he will not abandon his (AA)heritage;
15 for (AB)justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will (AC)follow it.
16 (AD)Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 (AE)If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of (AF)silence.
18 When I thought, (AG)“My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, (AH)held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can (AI)wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who frame[b] injustice by (AJ)statute?
21 They (AK)band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn (AL)the innocent to death.[c]
22 But the Lord has become my (AM)stronghold,
and my God (AN)the rock of my (AO)refuge.
23 He will bring back on them (AP)their iniquity
and (AQ)wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.
Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us (AR)make a joyful noise to (AS)the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us (AT)come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us (AU)make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is (AV)a great God,
and a great King (AW)above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for (AX)he made it,
and his hands formed (AY)the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us (AZ)kneel before the Lord, our (BA)Maker!
7 For he is our (BB)God,
and we are the people of his (BC)pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
(BD)Today, if you (BE)hear his voice,
8 (BF)do not harden your hearts, as at (BG)Meribah,
as on the day at (BH)Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the (BI)test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my (BJ)work.
10 (BK)For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known (BL)my ways.”
11 Therefore I (BM)swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter (BN)my rest.”
Absalom Returns to Jerusalem
14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew (A)that the king's heart went out to Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to (B)Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. (C)Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. 3 Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab (D)put the words in her mouth.
4 When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, (E)she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, (F)“Save me, O king.” 5 And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, (G)“Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would (H)destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor (I)remnant on the face of the earth.”
8 Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, (J)“On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.” 10 The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the Lord your God, that (K)the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, (L)“As the Lord lives, (M)not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”
12 Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” 13 And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against (N)the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring (O)his banished one home again. 14 We must all die; we are (P)like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means (Q)so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. 15 Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. 16 For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from (R)the heritage of God.’ 17 And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is (S)like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!”
18 Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, (T)“As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; (U)it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of (V)the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”
Paul Goes to Jerusalem
21 And when (A)we had parted from them and set sail, we (B)came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.[a] 2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And (C)through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, (D)accompanied us until we were outside the city. And (E)kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.
7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted (F)the brothers[b] and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of (G)Philip (H)the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, (I)who prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named (J)Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he (K)took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, (L)“Thus says the Holy Spirit, (M)‘This is how the Jews[c] at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and (N)deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there (O)urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, (P)“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For (Q)I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem (R)for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, (S)we ceased and said, (T)“Let the will of the Lord be done.”
Teaching About Divorce
10 (A)And he left there and went (B)to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
2 And Pharisees came up and in order (C)to test him asked, (D)“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, (E)“Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your (F)hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But (G)from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them (H)male and female.’ 7 (I)‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,[a] 8 and (J)the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 (K)What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, (L)“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and (M)if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Let the Children Come to Me
13 (N)And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples (O)rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, (P)“Let the children come to me; (Q)do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 (R)Truly, I say to you, whoever does not (S)receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And (T)he took them in his arms and blessed them, (U)laying his hands on them.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.