Book of Common Prayer
The Glories of the City of God
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.
87 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 (A)The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 (B)Glorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God! Selah
4 “I will make mention of [a]Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
6 The Lord will record,
When He (C)registers the peoples:
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
BOOK FOUR
Psalms 90–106
The Eternity of God, and Man’s Frailty
A Prayer (A)of Moses the man of God.
90 Lord, (B)You have been our [a]dwelling place in all generations.
2 (C)Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You [b]had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, (D)“Return, O children of men.”
4 (E)For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
(F)They are like a sleep.
In the morning (G)they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 (H)You have set our iniquities before You,
Our (I)secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 (J)So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord!
How long?
And (K)have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
(L)That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let (M)Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 (N)And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And (O)establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
Thanksgiving to God for His Enduring Mercy
136 Oh, (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
(B)For His mercy endures forever.
2 Oh, give thanks to (C)the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:
4 To Him (D)who alone does great wonders,
For His mercy endures forever;
5 (E)To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
For His mercy endures forever;
6 (F)To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
For His mercy endures forever;
7 (G)To Him who made great lights,
For His mercy endures forever—
8 (H)The sun to rule by day,
For His mercy endures forever;
9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His mercy endures forever.
10 (I)To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures forever;
11 (J)And brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy endures forever;
12 (K)With a strong hand, and with [a]an outstretched arm,
For His mercy endures forever;
13 (L)To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures forever;
14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures forever;
15 (M)But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His mercy endures forever;
16 (N)To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His mercy endures forever;
17 (O)To Him who struck down great kings,
For His mercy endures forever;
18 (P)And slew famous kings,
For His mercy endures forever—
19 (Q)Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures forever;
20 (R)And Og king of Bashan,
For His mercy endures forever—
21 (S)And gave their land as a [b]heritage,
For His mercy endures forever;
22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever.
23 Who (T)remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures forever;
24 And (U)rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures forever;
25 (V)Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever.
26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.
Hosea’s Unfaithful Wife
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of (A)Uzziah, (B)Jotham, (C)Ahaz, and (D)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of (E)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
The Family of Hosea
2 When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea:
(F)“Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For (G)the land has committed great [a]harlotry
By departing from the Lord.”
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him:
“Call his name Jezreel,
For in a little while
(H)I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu,
(I)And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 (J)It shall come to pass in that day
That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him:
“Call her name [b]Lo-Ruhamah,
(K)For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel,
[c]But I will utterly take them away.
7 (L)Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah,
Will save them by the Lord their God,
And (M)will not save them by bow,
Nor by sword or battle,
By horses or horsemen.”
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said:
“Call his name [d]Lo-Ammi,
For you are not My people,
And I will not be your God.
The Restoration of Israel
10 “Yet (N)the number of the children of Israel
Shall be as the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or numbered.
(O)And it shall come to pass
In the place where it was said to them,
‘You are [e]not My (P)people,’
There it shall be said to them,
‘You are (Q)sons of the living God.’
11 (R)Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel
Shall be gathered together,
And appoint for themselves one head;
And they shall come up out of the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel!
The Lord’s Love for His Unfaithful People
Journeys in Greece
20 After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and (A)departed to go to Macedonia. 2 Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to (B)Greece 3 and stayed three months. And (C)when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also (D)Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and (E)Gaius of Derbe, and (F)Timothy, and (G)Tychicus and (H)Trophimus of Asia. 5 These men, going ahead, waited for us at (I)Troas. 6 But we sailed away from Philippi after (J)the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them (K)at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
Ministering at Troas
7 Now on (L)the first day of the week, when the disciples came together (M)to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps (N)in the upper room where [a]they were gathered together. 9 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down, (O)fell on him, and embracing him said, (P)“Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” 11 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. 12 And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.
From Troas to Miletus
13 Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had [b]given orders, intending himself to go on foot. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. 15 We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The next day we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for (Q)he was hurrying (R)to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on (S)the Day of Pentecost.
Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed(A)
38 (B)Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was [a]sick with a high fever, and they (C)made request of Him concerning her. 39 So He stood over her and (D)rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.
Many Healed After Sabbath Sunset(E)
40 (F)When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 (G)And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, (H)“You are [b]the Christ, the Son of God!”
And He, (I)rebuking them, did not allow them to [c]speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee(J)
42 (K)Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, “I must (L)preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44 (M)And He was preaching in the synagogues of [d]Galilee.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.