Book of Common Prayer
The Lord, a Provider and Deliverer.
A Psalm of David when he [a]feigned madness before [b]Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.
34 I will (A)bless the Lord at all times;
His (B)praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will (C)make its boast in the Lord;
The (D)humble will hear it and rejoice.
3 O (E)magnify the Lord with me,
And let us (F)exalt His name together.
4 I (G)sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And (H)delivered me from all my fears.
5 They (I)looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will (J)never be ashamed.
6 This [c]poor man cried, and (K)the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The (L)angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
8 O (M)taste and see that the Lord is good;
How (N)blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 O fear the Lord, you (O)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is (P)no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall (Q)not be in want of any good thing.
11 (R)Come, you children, listen to me;
(S)I will teach you (T)the fear of the Lord.
12 (U)Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may (V)see good?
13 Keep (W)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking (X)deceit.
14 (Y)Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and (Z)pursue it.
15 The (AA)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The (AB)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (AC)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (AD)cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord (AE)is near to the (AF)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [d](AG)crushed in spirit.
19 (AH)Many are the (AI)afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord (AJ)delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
(AK)Not one of them is broken.
21 (AL)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (AM)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who (AN)take refuge in Him will be [f]condemned.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [d](AE)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [e]hoped in You.
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and [a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “(B)So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your [b]life as the [c]life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And he [d]was afraid and arose and ran for his [e]life and came to (C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a [f]juniper tree; and (D)he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my [g]life, for I am not better than my fathers.” 5 He lay down and slept under a [h]juniper tree; and behold, there was (E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” 6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food (F)forty days and forty nights to (G)Horeb, the mountain of God.
Unity of the Spirit
4 Therefore I, (A)the prisoner of the Lord, (B)implore you to (C)walk in a manner worthy of the (D)calling with which you have been (E)called, 2 with all (F)humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another (G)in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the (H)bond of peace. 4 There is (I)one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one (J)hope of your calling; 5 (K)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all (L)who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But (M)to each one of us (N)grace was given (O)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore [a]it says,
9 (Now this expression, “He (R)ascended,” what [b]does it mean except that He also [c]had descended into (S)the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended (T)far above all the heavens, so that He might (U)fill all things.) 11 And He (V)gave (W)some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as (X)evangelists, and some as pastors and (Y)teachers, 12 (Z)for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of (AA)the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to (AB)the unity of the faith, and of the [e](AC)knowledge of the Son of God, to a (AD)mature man, to the measure of the stature [f]which belongs to the (AE)fullness of Christ. 14 [g]As a result, we are (AF)no longer to be children, (AG)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by (AH)craftiness [h]in (AI)deceitful scheming; 15 but [i]speaking the truth (AJ)in love, [j]we are to (AK)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the (AL)head, even Christ, 16 from whom (AM)the whole body, being fitted and held together [k]by what every joint supplies, according to the [l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself (AN)in love.
Five Thousand Fed
6 After these things (A)Jesus went away to the other side of (B)the Sea of Galilee (or (C)Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the [a](D)signs which He was performing on those who were sick. 3 Then (E)Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. 4 Now (F)the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to (G)Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6 This He was saying to (H)test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. 7 (I)Philip answered Him, “(J)Two hundred [b]denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” 8 One of His (K)disciples, (L)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two (M)fish, but what are these for so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people [c]sit down.” Now there was (N)much grass in the place. So the men [d]sat down, in number about (O)five thousand. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and (P)having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the (Q)fish as much as they wanted. 12 When they were filled, He *said to His (R)disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve (S)baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Therefore when the people saw the [e]sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the (T)Prophet who is to come into the world.”
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