Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for God’s Future Help
For the music director, according to Do Not Destroy.
A psalm of Asaph. A song.[a]
75 We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, and your name is near.
Your wonderful deeds are told.[b]
2 “I will indeed set an appointed time;
I will judge fairly.[c]
3 The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking;[d]
I steady[e] its columns. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast!’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn!
5 Do not lift up high your[f] horn.
Do not speak with arrogant pride.’”[g]
6 For it is not from the east or the west
and not from the south[h] that lifting up comes,
7 rather God is the judge;
one he brings low, and another he lifts up.
8 For there is a cup in the hand of Yahweh
with[i] wine that foams, fully mixed,
and he pours out from this.
Surely all the wicked of the land
will quaff it down to its dregs. [j]
9 But as for me, I will proclaim forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 “And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off.
The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Praise to God for His Rescue of Israel
For the music director, with stringed instruments.
A psalm of Asaph. A song.[k]
76 God is known in Judah.
His name is great in Israel.
2 His den[l] has been in Salem,
his lair[m] in Zion.
3 There he broke the flames of the bow,
the shield and sword and battle. Selah
4 Radiant[n] you are, majestic,
from[o] the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted are plundered;
they sleep their sleep,
and all the able men cannot use[p] their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider[q] and horse slumber.
7 You, indeed, are to be feared,[r]
and who can stand before you
when you are angry? [s]
8 From heaven you proclaimed judgment.
The earth feared and was still
9 when God rose for justice,
to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah
10 For the anger of humankind will praise you.
You will put on the remnant of anger.[t]
11 Make vows and fulfill them to Yahweh, your God;
let all surrounding him
bring tribute to the one to be feared.[u]
12 He cuts off the spirit of leaders.
He is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
Yahweh the Shepherd
A psalm of David.[a]
23 Yahweh is my shepherd;
I will not lack for anything.
2 In grassy pastures he makes me lie down;
by quiet waters he leads me.
3 He restores my life.[b]
He leads me in correct paths[c]
for the sake of his name.
4 Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare before me a table
in the presence of my oppressors.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
6 Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will stay[d] in the house[e] of Yahweh
for a very long time.[f]
A Declaration of Trust
Of David.[a]
27 Yahweh is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the refuge of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh—
my adversaries and my enemies who drew near to me—
they themselves stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear.
Though war arise against me,
even in this I will remain confident.
4 One thing I have asked from Yahweh;
it I will seek:
that I may dwell in the house[b] of Yahweh all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of Yahweh,
and to consider[c] his temple.
5 Because he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble.
He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent.
He will set me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head will be high over my enemies round about me.
And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.
7 Hear, O Yahweh, my voice when I call,
and be gracious to me and answer me.
8 On your behalf my heart says, “Seek my face.”
Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my help; do not abandon nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 If my father or my mother forsake me,
then Yahweh will receive me.
11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
12 Do not give me over to the desire of my enemies,
because false witnesses have arisen against me,
and each breathing out violence.[d]
13 Surely[e] I believe that I will see the goodness of Yahweh
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for Yahweh.
Be strong and let your heart show strength,
and wait for Yahweh.
28 Then the girl ran and reported these things to the household of her mother.
29 Now Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. And Laban ran out to the man toward the spring. 30 And when he saw the ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, who said, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing with the camels at the spring. 31 And he said, “Come, O blessed one of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? Now I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32 And the man came to the house and unloaded the camels. And he gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 And food was placed before him[a] to eat. And he said, “I will not eat until I have told my errand.”[b] And he said, “Speak.” 34 And he said, “I am the servant of Abraham. 35 Now Yahweh has blessed my master exceedingly, and he has become great. He has given to him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah, the wife of my master, has borne a son to my master after her old age. And he[c] has given to him all that he has. 37 And my master made me swear, saying, ‘Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I am living. 38 But you shall go to the house of my father, and to my family, and you shall take a wife for my son.’
49 So now, if you are going to deal loyally and truly[a] with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, so that I may turn to the right or to the left.”[b] 50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, and they said, “The matter has gone out from Yahweh; we are not able to speak bad or good to you. 51 Here is Rebekah before you. Take her and go; let her be a wife for the son of your master as Yahweh has spoken.”
A Serious Warning Against Refusing God
12 Therefore strengthen your slackened hands and your weakened knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15 Take care that no one falls short of the grace of God; that no one growing up like a root of bitterness causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one be a sexually immoral or totally worldly person like Esau, who for one meal traded his own birthright. 17 For you know that also afterwards, when he[a] wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because he did not find an occasion for repentance, although he sought it with tears.
18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, and to a burning fire, and to darkness, and to gloom, and to a whirlwind, 19 and to the noise of a trumpet, and to the sound of words which those who heard begged that not another word be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”[b] 21 And the spectacle was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”[c] 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels, to the festal gathering 23 and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood[d] that speaks better than Abel’s does.
25 Watch out that you do not refuse the one who is speaking! For if those did not escape when they[e] refused the one who warned them on earth, much less will we escape,[f] if we[g] reject the one who warns from heaven, 26 whose voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, saying,
“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”[h]
27 Now the phrase “yet once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, namely, things that have been created, in order that the things that are not shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we[i] are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be thankful, through which let us serve God acceptably, with awe and reverence. 29 For indeed our God is a consuming fire.
14 Now when the feast was already half over,[a] Jesus went to the temple courts[b] and began to teach.[c] 15 Then the Jews were astonished, saying, “How does this man possess knowledge,[d] because he[e] has not been taught?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not mine, but is from the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my[f] teaching, whether it is from God or I am speaking from myself. 18 The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him—this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
20 The crowd replied, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I performed one work, and you are all astonished. 22 Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well[g] on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to outward appearance, but judge according to righteous judgment!”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25 Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say,[h] “Is this not the one whom they are seeking to kill? 26 And behold, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him! Can it be that the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ? 27 Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes—no one knows where he is from!”
28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts,[i] teaching and saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know. 29 I know him, because I am from him and he sent me.”
30 So they were seeking to seize him, and no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”[j]
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers in order to take him into custody .[k] 33 Then Jesus said, “Yet a little time I am with you, and I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will seek me and will not find me,[l][m] and where I am, you cannot come.”
35 So the Jews said to one another, “Where is this one going to go, that we will not find him? He is not going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?[n] 36 What is this saying that he said, ‘You will seek me and will not find me,[o][p] and where I am, you cannot come’?”
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