Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)extol You, (B)my God, O King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They shall [c]eagerly utter the memory of Your (L)abundant goodness
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
9 The Lord is (O)good to all,
And His (P)mercies are over all His works.
10 (Q)All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your (R)godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the (S)glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
12 To (T)make known to the sons of men [d]Your mighty acts
And the (U)glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is [f]an (V)everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord (W)sustains all who fall
And (X)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all [g]look to You,
And You (Y)give them their food in due time.
16 You (Z)open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (AA)righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18 The Lord is (AB)near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (AC)in truth.
19 He will (AD)fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also (AE)hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord (AF)keeps all who love Him,
But all the (AG)wicked He will destroy.
21 My (AH)mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And (AI)all flesh will (AJ)bless His holy name forever and ever.
The Lord’s Care over All His Works.
104 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great;
You are (B)clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Covering Yourself with (C)light as with a cloak,
(D)Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 [a]He (E)lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
[b]He makes the (F)clouds His chariot;
[c]He walks upon the (G)wings of the wind;
4 [d]He makes [e](H)the winds His messengers,
[f]Flaming (I)fire His ministers.
5 He (J)established the earth upon its foundations,
So that it will not [g]totter forever and ever.
6 You (K)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 At Your (L)rebuke they fled,
At the (M)sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down
To the (N)place which You established for them.
9 You set a (O)boundary that they may not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 [h]He sends forth (P)springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
11 They (Q)give drink to every beast of the field;
The (R)wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 [i]Beside them the birds of the heavens (S)dwell;
They [j]lift up their voices among the branches.
13 [k]He (T)waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
(U)The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 [l]He causes the (V)grass to grow for the [m]cattle,
And (W)vegetation for the [n]labor of man,
So that [o]he may bring forth [p]food (X)from the earth,
15 And (Y)wine which makes man’s heart glad,
(Z)So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And [q]food which (AA)sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord [r]drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the (AB)birds build their nests,
And the (AC)stork, whose home is the [s]fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the (AD)wild goats;
The (AE)cliffs are a refuge for the [t](AF)shephanim.
19 He made the moon (AG)for the seasons;
The (AH)sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You (AI)appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the (AJ)beasts of the forest [u]prowl about.
21 The (AK)young lions roar after their prey
[v]And (AL)seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they withdraw
And lie down in their (AM)dens.
23 Man goes forth to (AN)his work
And to his labor until evening.
24 O Lord, how (AO)many are Your works!
[w]In (AP)wisdom You have made them all;
The (AQ)earth is full of Your [x]possessions.
25 [y]There is the (AR)sea, great and [z]broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
26 There the (AS)ships move along,
And [aa](AT)Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.
27 They all (AU)wait for You
To (AV)give them their food in [ab]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (AW)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (AX)hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You (AY)take away their [ac]spirit, they expire
And (AZ)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [ad](BA)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 Let the (BB)glory of the Lord endure forever;
Let the Lord (BC)be glad in His works;
32 [ae]He (BD)looks at the earth, and it (BE)trembles;
He (BF)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [af]I will sing to the Lord [ag](BG)as long as I live;
[ah]I will (BH)sing praise to my God [ai]while I have my being.
34 Let my (BI)meditation be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (BJ)be glad in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be (BK)consumed from the earth
And let the (BL)wicked be no more.
(BM)Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[aj](BN)Praise [ak]the Lord!
God Leads the People
17 Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “(A)The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the [a]Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up (B)in martial array from the land of Egypt. 19 Moses took (C)the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely [b]take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.” 20 Then they set out from (D)Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 (E)The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might [c]travel by day and by night. 22 [d]He (F)did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Pharaoh in Pursuit
14 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before (G)Pi-hahiroth, between (H)Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 Thus (I)I will [e]harden Pharaoh’s heart, and (J)he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and (K)the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
16 Therefore we (A)do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our (B)inner man is (C)being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, (D)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we (E)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The Temporal and Eternal
5 For we know that if [a]the (F)earthly (G)tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house (H)not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we (I)groan, longing to be (J)clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we (K)groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be (L)clothed, so that what is (M)mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who (N)gave to us the Spirit as a [b]pledge.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that (O)while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for (P)we walk by faith, not by [c]sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and (Q)prefer rather to be absent from the body and (R)to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be (S)pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before (T)the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for [d]his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
18 (A)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (B)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should [a]marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 The second one [b]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so [c]all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection, [d]when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For [e]all seven had married her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not [f]understand the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But [g]regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, (C)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘(D)I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 (E)He is not the God [h]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
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