Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 24
Entrance into the Temple
Of David. A Psalm.
1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it,(A)
2 for he has founded it on the seas
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?(B)
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false
and do not swear deceitfully.(C)
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from the God of their salvation.(D)
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[a] Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in!(E)
8 Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.(F)
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in!(G)
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory. Selah
Psalm 29
The Voice of God in a Great Storm
A Psalm of David.
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,[a]
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.(A)
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendor.(B)
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.(C)
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.(D)
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.(E)
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion like a young wild ox.(F)
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.(G)
Psalm 8
Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.(A)
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.(B)
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;(C)
4 what are humans that you are mindful of them,
mortals[a] that you care for them?(D)
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God[b]
and crowned them with glory and honor.(E)
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,(F)
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(G)
Psalm 84
The Joy of Worship in the Temple
To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!(A)
2 My soul longs, indeed it faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.(B)
3 Even the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.(C)
4 Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah(D)
5 Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[a](E)
6 As they go through the valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.(F)
7 They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.(G)
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.(H)
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.(I)
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.(J)
12 O Lord of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.(K)
The Lord Answers Job
38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:(A)
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.(A)
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?(B)
21 Surely you know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!(C)
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,(D)
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?(E)
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?(F)
25 “Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,(G)
26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
on the desert, which is empty of human life,(H)
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?(I)
28 “Has the rain a father,
or who has fathered the drops of dew?(J)
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?(K)
30 The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?(L)
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?(M)
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?(N)
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, ‘Here we are’?(O)
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts[a]
or given understanding to the mind?[b](P)
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
The Fall of Babylon
18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined by his splendor.(A) 2 He called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
It has become a dwelling place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul bird,
a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.[a](B)
3 For all the nations have fallen[b]
from the wine of the wrath of her prostitution,
and the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality[c] with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power[d] of her luxury.”(C)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
so that you do not take part in her sins
and so that you do not share in her plagues,(D)
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.(E)
6 Render to her as she herself has rendered,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double dose for her in the cup she mixed.(F)
7 As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
so give her a like measure of torment and grief.
Since in her heart she says,
‘I rule as a queen;
I am no widow,
and I will never see grief,’(G)
8 therefore her plagues will come in a single day—
pestilence and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned with fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”(H)
Concerning Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’(A) 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,[a] you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult[b] a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell[c] of fire.(B) 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,(C) 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court[d] with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.(D) 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.