Book of Common Prayer
How Awesome Are Your Deeds
To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
(B)give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, (C)“How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies (D)come cringing to you.
4 (E)All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 (F)Come and see what God has done:
(G)he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 He (H)turned the sea into dry land;
they (I)passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose (J)eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and (K)has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have (L)tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into (M)the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men (N)ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through (O)water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will (P)perform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised (Q)when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 (R)Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on[a] my tongue.[b]
18 If I had (S)cherished iniquity in my heart,
(T)the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly (U)God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Make Your Face Shine upon Us
To the choirmaster: with (V)stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 May God (W)be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to (X)shine upon us, Selah
2 that (Y)your way may be known on earth,
your (Z)saving power among all nations.
3 (AA)Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
I Love the Lord
116 I (A)love the Lord, because he has (B)heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he (C)inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 (D)The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then (E)I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 (F)Gracious is the Lord, and (G)righteous;
our God is (H)merciful.
6 The Lord preserves (I)the simple;
when (J)I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your (K)rest;
for the Lord has (L)dealt bountifully with you.
8 For (M)you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
(N)in the land of the living.
10 (O)I believed, (P)even when[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 (Q)I said in my alarm,
(R)“All mankind are liars.”
12 What shall I (S)render to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up (T)the cup of salvation
and (U)call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will (V)pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 (W)Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his (X)saints.
16 O Lord, I am your (Y)servant;
I am your servant, (Z)the son of your maidservant.
You have (AA)loosed my bonds.
17 I will (AB)offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and (AC)call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will (AD)pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in (AE)the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
(AF)Praise the Lord!
The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever
10 In that day (A)the root of (B)Jesse, who shall stand as (C)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
11 (D)In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, (E)from Assyria, (F)from Egypt, from (G)Pathros, from (H)Cush,[a] from (I)Elam, from (J)Shinar, from (K)Hamath, and from (L)the coastlands of the sea.
12 He will raise (M)a signal for the nations
and will assemble (N)the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13 (O)The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 (P)But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
and together they shall plunder (Q)the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand (R)against (S)Edom and (T)Moab,
and (U)the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy[b]
(V)the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over (W)the River[c]
with his scorching breath,[d]
and strike it into seven channels,
and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be (X)a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that remains of his people,
(Y)as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.
Judgment Before the Great White Throne
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence (A)earth and sky fled away, and (B)no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and (C)books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is (D)the book of life. And (E)the dead were judged by what was written in the books, (F)according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, (G)Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, (H)according to what they had done. 14 Then (I)Death and Hades (J)were thrown into the lake of fire. This is (K)the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, (L)he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21 Then I saw (M)a new heaven and a new earth, for (N)the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw (O)the holy city, (P)new Jerusalem, (Q)coming down out of heaven from God, (R)prepared (S)as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, (T)the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will (U)dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 (V)He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and (W)death shall be no more, (X)neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And (Y)he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I (Z)am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for (AA)these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, (AB)“It is done! (AC)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (AD)To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 (AE)The one who conquers will have this heritage, and (AF)I will be his God and (AG)he will be my son. 8 (AH)But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, (AI)their portion will be in (AJ)the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is (AK)the second death.”
Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[a] (B)of (C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both (D)righteous before God, walking (E)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because (F)Elizabeth was barren, and (G)both were advanced in years.
8 Now (H)while he was serving as priest before God when (I)his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot (J)to enter (K)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people (L)were praying (M)outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of (N)the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and (O)fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for (P)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and (Q)you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will (R)rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be (S)great before the Lord. And (T)he must not drink wine or strong (U)drink, and (V)he will be (W)filled with the Holy Spirit, (X)even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and (Y)he will go before him (Z)in the spirit and power of Elijah, (AA)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and (AB)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, (AC)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, (AD)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am (AE)Gabriel. (AF)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, (AG)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in (AH)the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in (AI)the temple. And (AJ)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And (AK)when his time of (AL)service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, (AM)to take away my reproach among people.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.