Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Lord, on David’s behalf,
All (A)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (B)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “Surely I will not [a]enter (C)my house,
Nor [b]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (D)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (E)place for the Lord,
[c]A dwelling place for (F)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in (G)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (H)field of [d]Jaar.
7 Let us go into His [e](I)dwelling place;
Let us (J)worship at His (K)footstool.
8 (L)Arise, O Lord, to Your (M)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (N)strength.
9 Let Your priests be (O)clothed with righteousness,
And let Your (P)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Q)anointed.
11 The Lord has (R)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“(S)Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
12 “If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall (T)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (U)chosen Zion;
He has (V)desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My (W)resting place forever;
Here I will (X)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 “I will abundantly (Y)bless her provision;
I will (Z)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 “Her (AA)priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her (AB)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 “There I will cause the (AC)horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a (AD)lamp for Mine anointed.
18 “His enemies I will (AE)clothe with shame,
But upon himself his (AF)crown shall shine.”
God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled
7 I shall make mention of the (A)lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has granted us,
And the great (B)goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has granted them according to His (C)compassion
And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.
8 For He said, “Surely, they are (D)My people,
Sons who will not deal falsely.”
So He became their (E)Savior.
9 In all their affliction [a](F)He was afflicted,
And the (G)angel of His presence saved them;
In His (H)love and in His mercy He (I)redeemed them,
And He (J)lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they (K)rebelled
And grieved His (L)Holy Spirit;
Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy,
He fought against them.
11 Then (M)His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.
Where is (N)He who brought them up out of the sea with the [b]shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who (O)put His Holy Spirit in the midst of [c]them,
12 Who caused His (P)glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
Who (Q)divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
13 Who led them through the depths?
Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not (R)stumble;
14 As the cattle which go down into the valley,
The Spirit of the (S)Lord gave [d]them rest.
So You (T)led Your people,
To make for Yourself a glorious name.
“You Are Our Father”
15 (U)Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious (V)habitation;
Where are Your (W)zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The (X)stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
16 For You are our (Y)Father, though (Z)Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, O Lord, are our Father,
Our (AA)Redeemer from of old is Your name.
Conception and Birth of Jesus
18 Now the birth of Jesus [a]Christ was as follows: when His (A)mother Mary had been [b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was (B)found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned [c](C)to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for [d]the Child who has been [e]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and (E)you shall call His name Jesus, for [f]He (F)will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this [g]took place to fulfill what was (G)spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “(H)Behold, the virgin shall be with (I)child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name [h]Immanuel,” which translated means, “(J)God with us.” 24 And Joseph [i]awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she (K)gave birth to a Son; and (L)he called His name Jesus.
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.
14 For this reason I (A)bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom [a]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to (B)the riches of His glory, to be (C)strengthened with power through His Spirit in (D)the inner man, 17 so that (E)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being (F)rooted and (G)grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with (H)all the [b]saints what is (I)the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know (J)the love of Christ which (K)surpasses knowledge, that you may be (L)filled up to all the (M)fullness of God.
20 (N)Now to Him who is (O)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, (P)according to the power that works within us, 21 (Q)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations [c]forever and ever. Amen.
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