Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118
Thanksgiving for Victory
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(B)
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(C)
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(D)
5 I called to the Lord in distress;(E)
the Lord answered me
and put me in a spacious place.[a](F)
6 The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?(G)
7 The Lord is my helper,
Therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.(H)
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.(I)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in nobles.(J)
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(K)
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(L)
12 They surrounded me like bees;(M)
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(N)
13 You[b] pushed me[c] hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.(O)
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.(P)
15 There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!(Q)
16 The Lord’s right hand is raised.
The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!”(R)
17 I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the Lord has done.(S)
18 The Lord disciplined me severely
but did not give me over to death.(T)
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.(U)
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous will enter through it.(V)
21 I will give thanks to You
because You have answered me
and have become my salvation.(W)
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(X)
23 This came from the Lord;
it is wonderful in our eyes.(Y)
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.(Z)
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, please grant us success!(AA)
26 He who comes in the name
of the Lord is blessed.(AB)
From the house of the Lord we bless you.(AC)
27 The Lord is God and has given us light.
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.(AD)
28 You are my God, and I will give You thanks.
You are my God; I will exalt You.(AE)
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(AF)
Psalm 145
Praising God’s Greatness
A Davidic hymn.
1 I[a] exalt You, my God the King,
and praise Your name forever and ever.(A)
2 I will praise You every day;
I will honor Your name forever and ever.(B)
3 Yahweh is great and is highly praised;(C)
His greatness is unsearchable.(D)
4 One generation will declare Your works to the next
and will proclaim Your mighty acts.(E)
5 I[b] will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty
and[c] Your wonderful works.(F)
6 They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.[d](G)
7 They will give a testimony of Your great goodness
and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.(H)
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in faithful love.(I)
9 The Lord is good to everyone;(J)
His compassion rests on all He has made.(K)
10 All You have made will thank You, Lord;
the[e] godly will praise You.(L)
11 They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and will declare Your might,(M)
12 informing all people of Your mighty acts
and of the glorious splendor of Your[f] kingdom.(N)
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
Your rule is for all generations.(O)
The Lord is faithful in all His words
and gracious in all His actions.[g](P)
14 The Lord helps all who fall;
He raises up all who are oppressed.[h](Q)
15 All eyes look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.(R)
16 You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.(S)
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and gracious in all His acts.(T)
18 The Lord is near all who call out to Him,
all who call out to Him with integrity.(U)
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry for help and saves them.(V)
20 The Lord guards all those who love Him,
but He destroys all the wicked.(W)
21 My mouth will declare Yahweh’s praise;
let every living thing
praise His holy name forever and ever.(X)
16 “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.(A) 17 And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt(B) to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.(C)
19 “However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand.(D) 20 I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I will perform in it. After that, he will let you go.(E) 21 And I will give these people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.(F) 22 Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”(G)
Miraculous Signs for Moses
4 Then Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear(H) to you’?”
2 The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, 4 but the Lord told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. 5 “This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”(I)
6 In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow.[a](J) 7 Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out,[b] it had again become like the rest of his skin.(K) 8 “If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. 9 And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”(L)
10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant[c]—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”[d](M)
11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?(N) 12 Now go! I will help[e] you speak and I will teach you what to say.”(O)
A Living Sacrifice
12 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you(A) to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,(B) holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.[a] 2 Do not be conformed(C) to this age,(D) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,(E) so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will(F) of God.
Many Gifts but One Body
3 For by the grace(G) given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think.(H) Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith(I) to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body,(J) and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many(K) are one body in Christ(L) and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts:(M)
If prophecy,(N)
use it according to the standard of one’s[b] faith;
7 if service,(O) in service;
if teaching,(P) in teaching;
8 if exhorting,(Q) in exhortation;
giving, with generosity;(R)
leading,(S) with diligence;
showing mercy, with cheerfulness.(T)
Christian Ethics
9 Love must be without hypocrisy.(U) Detest evil;(V) cling to what is good. 10 Show family affection to one another with brotherly love.(W) Outdo one another in showing honor.(X) 11 Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit;(Y) serve the Lord.(Z) 12 Rejoice in hope;(AA) be patient in affliction;(AB) be persistent in prayer.(AC) 13 Share with the saints in their needs;(AD) pursue hospitality.(AE) 14 Bless those who persecute you;(AF) bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice;(AG) weep with those who weep. 16 Be in agreement with one another.(AH) Do not be proud;(AI) instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.(AJ) 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.(AK) Try to do what is honorable(AL) in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.(AM) 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His[c] wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay,(AN)[d] says the Lord. 20 But
If your enemy is hungry, feed him.(AO)
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For in so doing
you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.(AP)[e]
21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
46 Who among you can convict Me of sin?(A) If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe Me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”
Jesus and Abraham
48 The Jews responded to Him, “Aren’t we right in saying that You’re a Samaritan(B) and have a demon?”(C)
49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. 50 I do not seek My glory;(D) the One who seeks it also judges. 51 I assure you: If anyone keeps My word,(E) he will never see death—ever!”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know You have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death—ever!’ 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be?”[a]
54 “If I glorify Myself,” Jesus answered, “My glory is nothing. My Father—you say about Him, ‘He is our God’—He is the One who glorifies Me. 55 You’ve never known Him, but I know Him. If I were to say I don’t know Him,(F) I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him,(G) and I keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it(H) and rejoiced.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?”[b]
58 Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.”[c](I)
59 At that, they picked up stones(J) to throw at Him.(K) But Jesus was hidden[d](L) and went out of the temple complex.[e](M)
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