Book of Common Prayer

63 A psalm of David when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judea.

O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you! ² How I wish I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory, ³ for your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. How I praise you! ⁴ I will bless you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. ⁵ At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise you with great joy.

⁶ I lie awake at night thinking of you— ⁷ of how much you have helped me—and how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of your wings. ⁸ I follow close behind you, protected by your strong right arm. ⁹ But those plotting to destroy me shall go down to the depths of hell. ¹⁰ They are doomed to die by the sword, to become the food of jackals. ¹¹ But I^[a] will rejoice in God. All who trust in him exult, while liars shall be silenced.

98 Sing a new song to the Lord telling about his mighty deeds! For he has won a mighty victory by his power and holiness. ^2-3 He has announced this victory and revealed it to every nation by fulfilling his promise to be kind to Israel. The whole earth has seen God’s salvation of his people. ⁴ That is why the earth breaks out in praise to God and sings for utter joy!

⁵ Sing your praise accompanied by music from the harp. ⁶ Let the cornets and trumpets shout! Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King! ⁷ Let the sea in all its vastness roar with praise! Let the earth and all those living on it shout, “Glory to the Lord.”

^8-9 Let the waves clap their hands in glee and the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the world with perfect justice.

103 I bless the holy name of God with all my heart. ² Yes, I will bless the Lord and not forget the glorious things he does for me.

³ He forgives all my sins. He heals me. ⁴ He ransoms me from hell. He surrounds me with loving-kindness and tender mercies. ⁵ He fills my life with good things! My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! ⁶ He gives justice to all who are treated unfairly. ⁷ He revealed his will and nature to Moses and the people of Israel.

⁸ He is merciful and tender toward those who don’t deserve it; he is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love. ⁹ He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever. ¹⁰ He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, ¹¹ for his mercy toward those who fear and honor him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. ¹² He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. ¹³ He is like a father to us, tender and sympathetic to those who reverence him. ¹⁴ For he knows we are but dust ¹⁵ and that our days are few and brief, like grass, like flowers, ¹⁶ blown by the wind and gone forever.

^17-18 But the loving-kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who reverence him; his salvation is to children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant and remember to obey him!

¹⁹ The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything there is. ²⁰ Bless the Lord, you mighty angels of his who carry out his orders, listening for each of his commands. ²¹ Yes, bless the Lord, you armies of his angels who serve him constantly.

²² Let everything everywhere bless the Lord. And how I bless him too!

5 And now, a word to you elders of the church. I, too, am an elder; with my own eyes I saw Christ dying on the cross; and I, too, will share his glory and his honor when he returns. Fellow elders, this is my plea to you: ² Feed the flock of God; care for it willingly, not grudgingly; not for what you will get out of it but because you are eager to serve the Lord. ³ Don’t be tyrants, but lead them by your good example, ⁴ and when the Head Shepherd comes, your reward will be a never-ending share in his glory and honor.

⁵ You younger men, follow the leadership of those who are older. And all of you serve each other with humble spirits, for God gives special blessings to those who are humble, but sets himself against those who are proud. ⁶ If you will humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in his good time he will lift you up.

⁷ Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.

⁸ Be careful—watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart. ⁹ Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too.

¹⁰ After you have suffered a little while, our God, who is full of kindness through Christ, will give you his eternal glory. He personally will come and pick you up, and set you firmly in place, and make you stronger than ever. ¹¹ To him be all power over all things, forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁵ “Beware of false teachers who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are wolves and will tear you apart. ¹⁶ You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You need never confuse grapevines with thorn bushes or figs with thistles. ¹⁷ Different kinds of fruit trees can quickly be identified by examining their fruit. ¹⁸ A variety that produces delicious fruit never produces an inedible kind. And a tree producing an inedible kind can’t produce what is good. ¹⁹ So the trees having the inedible fruit are chopped down and thrown on the fire. ²⁰ Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person^[a] is by the kind of fruit produced.

²¹ “Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but still won’t get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven. ²² At the Judgment^[b] many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.’ ²³ But I will reply, ‘You have never been mine.^[c] Go away, for your deeds are evil.’

²⁴ “All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won’t collapse, for it is built on rock.

²⁶ “But those who hear my instructions and ignore them are foolish, like a man who builds his house on sand. ²⁷ For when the rains and floods come, and storm winds beat against his house, it will fall with a mighty crash.” ²⁸ The crowds were amazed at Jesus’ sermons, ²⁹ for he taught as one who had great authority, and not as their Jewish leaders.^[d]