Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving to God for His Works
For the music director. A song. A psalm.[a]
66 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.
2 Sing the glory of his name.
Set forth his glorious praise.[b]
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your works!
Because of the greatness of your strength,
your enemies will cringe before you.
4 All the earth will bow in worship to you,
and sing praise to you.
They will sing the praise of your name.” Selah
5 Come and consider[c] the works of God;
he is awesome in his dealings[d] with the children of humankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry ground;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him.
7 He rules by his might forever;
his eyes keep watch on the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.[e] Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples,
and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,
9 the one who has kept our soul among the living,
and has not allowed our foot to slip.
10 For you have tested us, O God;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you placed a heavy burden[f] on our backs.
12 You let men[g] ride over our heads.
We went through fire and through water,
but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.[h]
13 I will come into your house[i] with burnt offerings.
I will pay to you my vows
14 that my lips uttered,
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fat animals I will offer to you,
with the smoke of rams.
I will do[j] cattle with rams. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you God-fearers, and I will tell
what he has done for me.[k]
17 I called to him with my mouth,
and he was extolled with my tongue.[l]
18 If I had considered evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 However, God has listened;
he has attended to the sound of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
who has not turned aside my prayer,
or his loyal love from me.
A Prayer of Blessing
For the music director, with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.[m]
67 May God be gracious to us and bless us.
May he cause his face to shine toward us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on the earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all of the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
because you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its produce.
God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
116 I love him, because Yahweh has heard
the voice of my supplications.[a]
2 Because he has inclined his ear to me,
I will call all my days.[b]
3 The ropes of death encircled me,
and the distresses of Sheol found me.
I found trouble and grief.
4 Then I called on the name of Yahweh:
“O Yahweh, please save my life!”
5 Gracious is Yahweh and righteous,
and our God is merciful.
6 Yahweh watches over the simple.
I was brought low, but he gave me victory.
7 Return, O my soul, to your repose,
for Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have rescued me[c] from death,
my eyes[d] from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk before Yahweh
in the land[e] of the living.
10 I believed when I spoke,
“I am afflicted greatly.”
11 I said in my haste,
“Everyone[f] is a liar.”
12 What shall I give back to Yahweh
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and proclaim the name of Yahweh.
14 I will pay my vows made to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people.
15 Costly in Yahweh’s view[g] is
the death of his faithful ones.
16 Ah, Yahweh, I am indeed your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and proclaim the name of Yahweh.
18 I will pay my vows made to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house[h] of Yahweh,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise Yah![i]
Let All Peoples Praise Yahweh
117 Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For his loyal love is mighty on our behalf,
and the faithfulness of Yahweh is forever.
Praise Yah![j]
10 And this shall happen on that day:
the nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse,
which shall be standing as a signal to the peoples,
and his resting place shall be glorious.
The Regathered Remnant
11 And this shall happen on that day:
The Lord will again extend his hand a second time
to acquire the remnant of his people that is left,
from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea,
12 and he will raise a signal for the nations.
And he will gather the outcasts of Israel,
and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners[a] of the earth.
13 And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off.
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop[b] upon the Philistine shoulder,[c] westward.[d]
Together they shall plunder the sons of the east.
Edom and Moab will be under their command,[e]
and the sons of Ammon will be their subjugated people.
15 And Yahweh will divide[f] the tongue[g] of the sea of Egypt,[h]
and he will wave his hand over the river[i] with his scorching wind;
and he will strike it into seven streams,
and he will make it passable by foot.[j]
16 So there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains,
as there was for Israel when[k] it went up from the land of Egypt.
The Judgment at the Great White Throne
11 And I saw a great white throne and the one who was seated on it, from whose presence[a] earth and heaven fled, and a place was not found for them. 12 And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each one was judged according to their deeds. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem
21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea did not exist any longer. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, the dwelling of God is with humanity,
and he will take up residence with them,
and they will be his people
and God himself will be with them.[b]
4 And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death will not exist any longer,
and[c] mourning or wailing or pain will not exist any longer.
The former things[d] have passed away.”
5 And the one seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new!” And he said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am[e] the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water from the spring of the water of life freely.[f] 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God[g] and he will be my son[h]. 8 But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.
The Prediction of John the Baptist’s Birth
5 It happened that in the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest, Zechariah by name, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife[a] from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous in the sight of God, living blamelessly in all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 And they did not have[b] a child, because Elizabeth was barren. And they were both advanced in years.[c]
8 And it happened that while[d] he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood he was chosen by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. 10 And the whole crowd of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was terrified when he[e] saw the angel,[f] and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him,
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard,
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you will call his name John.
14 And you will experience joy and exultation,[g]
and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord,
and he must never drink wine or beer,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
while he is[h] still in his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel
to the Lord their God.
17 And he will go on before him
in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous,
to prepare for the Lord a people made ready.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “By what will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years!”[i] 19 And the angel answered and[j] said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because[k] you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and began to wonder[l] when[m] he was delayed in the temple. 22 And when he[n] came out he was not able to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them, and remained unable to speak. 23 And it happened that when the days of his service came to an end, he went away to his home.
24 Now after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days in which he has concerned himself with me,[o] to take away my disgrace among people.”
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