Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Praise to the Sovereign Lord
2 (B)Clouds and darkness surround Him;
(C)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (D)A fire goes before Him,
And burns up His enemies round about.
4 (E)His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.
5 (F)The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 (G)The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.
7 (H)Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,
Who boast of idols.
(I)Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You, Lord, are (J)most high above all the earth;
(K)You are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, (L)hate evil!
(M)He preserves the souls of His saints;
(N)He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 (O)Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 (P)Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
(Q)And give thanks [b]at the remembrance of [c]His holy name.
Praise to the Lord for His Holiness
99 The Lord reigns;
Let the peoples tremble!
(A)He dwells between the cherubim;
Let the earth be [a]moved!
2 The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name—
[b]He is holy.
4 The King’s strength also loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool—
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who (B)called upon His name;
They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;
They kept His testimonies and the [c]ordinance He gave them.
8 You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
(C)A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
God the Refuge of the Righteous
94 O Lord God, (A)to whom vengeance belongs—
O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O (B)Judge of the earth;
[a]Render punishment to the proud.
3 Lord, (C)how long will the wicked,
How long will the wicked triumph?
4 They (D)utter speech, and speak insolent things;
All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.
5 They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,
And afflict Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger,
And murder the fatherless.
7 (E)Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob [b]understand.”
8 Understand, you senseless among the people;
And you fools, when will you be wise?
9 (F)He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He who [c]instructs the [d]nations, shall He not correct,
He who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord (G)knows the thoughts of man,
That they are futile.
12 Blessed is the man whom You (H)instruct, O Lord,
And teach out of Your law,
13 That You may give him [e]rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not [f]cast off His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
15 But judgment will return to righteousness,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.
18 If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.
19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall (I)the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,
Have fellowship with You?
21 They gather together against the life of the righteous,
And condemn (J)innocent blood.
22 But the Lord has been my defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He has brought on them their own iniquity,
And shall [g]cut them off in their own wickedness;
The Lord our God shall cut them off.
A Call to Worship and Obedience
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with (K)psalms.
3 For (L)the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 [h]In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 (M)The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let (N)us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (O)we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep [i]of His hand.
(P)Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the [j]rebellion,
(Q)As in the day of [k]trial in the wilderness,
9 When (R)your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they (S)saw My work.
10 For (T)forty years I was [l]grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So (U)I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
God’s Charge Against Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a (A)charge[a] against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no truth or mercy
Or (B)knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed [b]upon bloodshed.
3 Therefore (C)the land will mourn;
And (D)everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another;
For your people are like those (E)who contend with the priest.
5 Therefore you shall stumble (F)in the day;
The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night;
And I will destroy your mother.
6 (G)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
(H)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 “The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
(I)I[c] will change [d]their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their [e]heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: (J)like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And [f]reward them for their deeds.
10 For (K)they shall eat, but not have enough;
They shall commit harlotry, but not increase;
Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.
Warnings on the Journey to Jerusalem
21 Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. 4 And finding [a]disciples, we stayed there seven days. (A)They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. 5 When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And (B)we knelt down on the shore and prayed. 6 When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned (C)home.
7 And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day. 8 On the next day we [b]who were Paul’s companions departed and came to (D)Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip (E)the evangelist, (F)who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters (G)who prophesied. 10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named (H)Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, (I)‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”
12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, (J)“What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, (K)“The will of the Lord be done.”
Jesus Cleanses a Leper(A)
12 (B)And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of (C)leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and [a]implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (D)Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 (E)And He charged him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, (F)just as Moses commanded.”
15 However, (G)the report went around concerning Him all the more; and (H)great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 (I)So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and (J)prayed.
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic(K)
17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present [b]to heal them. 18 (L)Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst (M)before Jesus.
20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 (N)And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? (O)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 But when Jesus (P)perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, (Q)“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, (R)glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they (S)glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.