Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy
2 (C)Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5 (D)I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and (E)set me in a broad place.
6 (F)The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 (G)The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore (H)I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
8 (I)It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9 (J)It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11 They (K)surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
12 They surrounded me (L)like bees;
They were quenched (M)like a fire of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord I will [a]destroy them.
13 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.
14 (N)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16 (O)The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17 (P)I shall not die, but live,
And (Q)declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has (R)chastened[b] me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
19 (S)Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
20 (T)This is the gate of the Lord,
(U)Through which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise You,
For You have (V)answered me,
And have become my salvation.
22 (W)The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 [c]This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 (X)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord,
And He has given us (Y)light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
(Z)You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
(A)A Praise of David.
145 I will [a]extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (B)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And (C)His greatness is [b]unsearchable.
4 (D)One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 [c]I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And [d]on Your wondrous works.
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall [e]utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.
8 (E)The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 (F)The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.
10 (G)All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 (H)Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all [f]generations.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall,
And (I)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 (J)The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And (K)You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
(L)And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 (M)The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (N)in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 (O)The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.
4 “Yet (A)I am the Lord your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For (B)there is no savior besides Me.
5 (C)I [a]knew you in the wilderness,
(D)In the land of [b]great drought.
6 (E)When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.
7 “So (F)I will be to them like a lion;
Like (G)a leopard by the road I will lurk;
8 I will meet them (H)like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The [c]wild beast shall tear them.
9 “O Israel, [d]you are destroyed,
But [e]your help is from Me.
10 [f]I will be your King;
(I)Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom (J)you said,
‘Give me a king and princes’?
11 (K)I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.
Spiritual Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God [a]ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for (A)had they known, they would not have (B)crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
(C)“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But (D)God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the (E)spirit of the man which is in him? (F)Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but (G)the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the [b]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 (H)But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For (I)“who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” (J)But we have the mind of Christ.
John the Baptist Beheaded(A)
14 At that time (B)Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” 3 (C)For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 Because John had said to him, (D)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, (E)because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”
9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.