Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 75[a]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.
75 We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks.
You reveal your presence;[c]
people tell about your amazing deeds.
2 God says,[d]
“At the appointed times,[e]
I judge[f] fairly.
3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear,[g]
I make its pillars secure.”[h] (Selah)
4 [i] I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,”
and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory.[j]
5 Do not be so certain you have won.[k]
Do not speak with your head held so high.[l]
6 For victory does not come from the east or west,
or from the wilderness.[m]
7 For God is the judge.[n]
He brings one down and exalts another.[o]
8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices,[p]
and pours it out.[q]
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”[r]
9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done;[s]
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 God says,[t]
“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;
the godly will be victorious.”[u]
Psalm 76[v]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of Asaph, a song.
76 God has revealed himself in Judah;[w]
in Israel his reputation[x] is great.
2 He lives in Salem;[y]
he dwells in Zion.[z]
3 There he shattered the arrows,[aa]
the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war.[ab] (Selah)
4 You shine brightly and reveal your majesty,
as you descend from the hills where you killed your prey.[ac]
5 The bravehearted[ad] were plundered;[ae]
they “fell asleep.”[af]
All the warriors were helpless.[ag]
6 At the sound of your battle cry,[ah] O God of Jacob,
both rider[ai] and horse “fell asleep.”[aj]
7 You are awesome! Yes, you!
Who can withstand your intense anger?[ak]
8 From heaven you announced what their punishment would be.[al]
The earth[am] was afraid and silent
9 when God arose to execute judgment,
and to deliver all the oppressed of the earth. (Selah)
10 Certainly[an] your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise;[ao]
you reveal your anger in full measure.[ap]
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and repay them.
Let all those who surround him[aq] bring tribute to the awesome one.
12 He humbles princes;[ar]
the kings of the earth regard him as awesome.[as]
Psalm 23[a]
A psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd,[b]
I lack nothing.[c]
2 He takes me to lush pastures,[d]
he leads me to refreshing water.[e]
3 He restores my strength.[f]
He leads me down[g] the right paths[h]
for the sake of his reputation.[i]
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,[j]
I fear[k] no danger,[l]
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.[m]
5 You prepare a feast before me[n]
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh[o] my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.[p]
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness[q] will pursue[r] me all my days,[s]
and I will live in[t] the Lord’s house[u] for the rest of my life.[v]
Psalm 27[a]
By David.
27 The Lord is my light[b] and my salvation.
I fear no one.[c]
The Lord protects my life.
I am afraid of no one.[d]
2 When evil men attack me[e]
to devour my flesh,[f]
when my adversaries and enemies attack me,[g]
they stumble and fall.[h]
3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear.[i]
Even when war is imminent,[j]
I remain confident.[k]
4 I have asked the Lord for one thing—
this is what I desire!
I want to live[l] in the Lord’s house[m] all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor[n] of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
5 He will surely[o] give me shelter[p] in the day of danger;[q]
he will hide me in his home.[r]
He will place me[s] on an inaccessible rocky summit.[t]
6 Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me.[u]
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy.[v]
I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear me,[w] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
8 My heart tells me to pray to you,[x]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.[y]
9 Do not reject me.[z]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.[aa]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me,[ab]
the Lord would take me in.[ac]
11 Teach me how you want me to live,[ad] Lord;
lead me along a level path[ae] because of those who wait to ambush me.[af]
12 Do not turn me over to my enemies,[ag]
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.[ah]
13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?[ai]
14 Rely[aj] on the Lord!
Be strong and confident![ak]
Rely on the Lord!
The Feast of Horn Blasts
23 The Lord spoke to Moses: 24 “Tell the Israelites, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a complete rest, a memorial announced by loud horn blasts,[a] a holy assembly. 25 You must not do any regular work, but[b] you must present a gift to the Lord.’”
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 27 “The[c] tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.[d] It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves[e] and present a gift to the Lord. 28 You must not do any work on this particular day,[f] because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves[g] before the Lord your God. 29 Indeed,[h] any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people.[i] 30 As for any person[j] who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate[k] that person from the midst of his people[l]— 31 you must not do any work! This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations[m] in all the places where you live. 32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.”[n]
The Feast of Temporary Shelters
33 The Lord spoke to Moses: 34 “Tell the Israelites, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Feast of Shelters[o] for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day is a holy assembly; you must do no regular work.[p] 36 For seven days you must present a gift to the Lord. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly day;[q] you must not do any regular work.
37 “‘These are the appointed times of the Lord that you must proclaim as holy assemblies to present a gift to the Lord—burnt offering, grain offering, sacrifice, and drink offerings,[r] each day according to its regulation,[s] 38 besides[t] the Sabbaths of the Lord and all your gifts, votive offerings, and freewill offerings which you must give to the Lord.
39 “‘On[u] the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you must celebrate a pilgrim festival of the Lord for seven days. On the first day is a complete rest and on the eighth day is complete rest. 40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees[v]—palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook—and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the Lord for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations;[w] you must celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You must live in temporary shelters[x] for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in shelters, 43 so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
44 So Moses spoke to the Israelites about the appointed times of the Lord.[y]
Request for Prayer
3 Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters,[a] that the Lord’s message[b] may spread quickly and be honored[c] as in fact it was among you, 2 and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he[d] will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident about you in the Lord that you are both doing—and will do—what we are commanding. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God[e] and the endurance of Christ.[f]
Response to the Undisciplined
6 But we command you, brothers and sisters,[g] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined[h] life[i] and not according to the tradition they[j] received from us. 7 For you know yourselves how you must imitate us, because we did not behave without discipline[k] among you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s food without paying.[l] Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked[m] night and day in order not to burden any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate.[n] 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.” 11 For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life,[o] not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others.[p] 12 Now such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and so provide their own food to eat.[q] 13 But you, brothers and sisters,[r] do not grow weary in doing what is right. 14 But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.[s]
Conclusion
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all. 17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, which is how I write in every letter.[t] 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.[u]
The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter[a] through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 How[b] narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life,[c] and there are few who find it!
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Watch out for false prophets,[d] who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.[e] 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered[f] from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?[g] 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad[h] tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.
Judgment of Pretenders
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’[i] will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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