Book of Common Prayer
Joy in the Fellowship of God
A Psalm of David (A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
(B)My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see (C)Your power and Your glory.
3 (D)Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will (E)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with [a]marrow and [b]fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
6 When (F)I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall [c]fall by the sword;
They shall be [d]a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
(G)Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
A Song of Praise to the Lord for His Salvation and Judgment
A Psalm.
98 Oh, (A)sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has (B)done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 (C)The Lord has made known His salvation;
(D)His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the [a]nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(E)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies
A Psalm of David.
103 Bless (A)the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 (B)Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who (C)heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
(D)Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that (E)your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 (F)He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 (G)The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 (H)He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 (I)He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (J)removed our transgressions from us.
13 (K)As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He [a]knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, (L)his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 (M)For the wind passes over it, and it is [b]gone,
And (N)its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 (O)To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And (P)His kingdom rules over all.
20 (Q)Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who (R)do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
(S)You [c]ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
3 (A)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O (B)Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 (C)we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 (D)Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, (E)righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 (F)To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
Bringing Many Sons to Glory
10 For it was fitting for Him, (A)for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation (B)perfect through sufferings. 11 For (C)both He who [a]sanctifies and those who are being sanctified (D)are all of one, for which reason (E)He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:
(F)“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
(G)“I will put My trust in Him.”
And again:
(H)“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He (I)Himself likewise shared in the same, (J)that through death He might destroy him who had the power of (K)death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who (L)through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not [b]give aid to angels, but He does [c]give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had (M)to be made like His brethren, that He might be (N)a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 (O)For in that He Himself has suffered, being [d]tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
44 Then Jesus cried out and said, (A)“He who believes in Me, (B)believes not in Me (C)but in Him who sent Me. 45 And (D)he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 (E)I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not [a]believe, (F)I do not judge him; for (G)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 (H)He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—(I)the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For (J)I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, (K)what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I (L)speak.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.