Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of the Lord.
93 The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty and splendor;
The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength;
the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.
2
Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
3
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their pounding waves.
4
More than the sounds of many waters,
More than the mighty breakers of the sea,
The Lord on high is mighty.
5
Your precepts are fully confirmed and completely reliable;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, forever.
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 O sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
3
Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works and wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.(A)
5
For all the gods of the peoples are [worthless, lifeless] idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6
Splendor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7
[a]Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
9
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
Tremble [in submissive wonder] before Him, all the earth.
10
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly and securely established, it shall not be moved;
He will judge and rule the people with fairness.”(B)
11
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all the things it contains;
12
Let the field be exultant, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13
Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.(C)
The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.
A Psalm of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.
34 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
The humble and downtrodden will hear it and rejoice.
3
O [a]magnify the Lord with me,
And let us lift up His name together.
4
I sought the Lord [on the authority of His word], and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.(A)
5
They looked to Him and were radiant;
Their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.
6
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him from all his troubles.
7
The [b]angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],
And He rescues [each of] them.(B)
8
O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.(C)
9
O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10
The young lions lack [food] and grow hungry,
But they who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.
11
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you to fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience].
12
Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14
Turn away from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous [those with moral courage and spiritual integrity]
And His ears are open to their cry.
16
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.(D)
17
When the righteous cry [for help], the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their distress and troubles.
18
The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).
19
Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous,
But the Lord rescues him from them all.
20
He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.(E)
21
Evil will cause the death of the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty and will be condemned.
22
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
A Scene of Heaven
15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful [a warning of terrifying and horrible events]: seven angels who had seven plagues (afflictions, calamities), which are the last, because with them the wrath of God is finished [that is, it is completely expressed and reaches its zenith].(A)
2 Then I saw something like a sea or large expanse of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and over his image and over the number corresponding to his name were standing on the sea or large expanse of glass, holding harps of God [worshiping Him].(B) 3 And they [a]sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and wonderful and awe-inspiring are Your works [in judgment],
O Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all];
Righteous and true are Your ways,
O King of the [b]nations!(C)
4
“Who will not fear [reverently] and glorify Your name, O Lord [giving You honor and praise in worship]?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts [Your just decrees and judgments] have been revealed and displayed.”(D)
5 After these things I looked, and the temple (sanctuary) of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities) came out of the temple, arrayed in linen, pure and gleaming, and wrapped around their chests were golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath and indignation of God, who lives forever and ever.(E) 8 And the temple was filled with [c]smoke from the glory and radiance and splendor of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.(F)
Rank in the Kingdom
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”(A) 2 He called a little child and set him before them, 3 and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever [a]humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives and welcomes one [b]child like this in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.(B)
Stumbling Blocks
7 “Woe (judgment is coming) to the world because of stumbling blocks and temptations to sin! It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person on whose account or through whom the stumbling block comes!(C)
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life with only one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell.
10 “See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven [are in the presence of and] continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven.(D) 11 [c][For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]
Ninety-nine Plus One
12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost?(E) 13 And if it turns out that he finds it, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. 14 So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones be lost.
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