Book of Common Prayer
Joy in the Fellowship of God
A Psalm of David (A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
(B)My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see (C)Your power and Your glory.
3 (D)Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will (E)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with [a]marrow and [b]fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
6 When (F)I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall [c]fall by the sword;
They shall be [d]a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
(G)Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
A Song of Praise to the Lord for His Salvation and Judgment
A Psalm.
98 Oh, (A)sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has (B)done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 (C)The Lord has made known His salvation;
(D)His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the [a]nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(E)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies
A Psalm of David.
103 Bless (A)the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 (B)Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who (C)heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
(D)Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that (E)your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 (F)He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 (G)The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 (H)He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 (I)He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (J)removed our transgressions from us.
13 (K)As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He [a]knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, (L)his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 (M)For the wind passes over it, and it is [b]gone,
And (N)its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 (O)To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And (P)His kingdom rules over all.
20 (Q)Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who (R)do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
(S)You [c]ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
15 I speak as to (A)wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 (B)The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the [a]communion of the blood of Christ? (C)The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For (D)we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
18 Observe (E)Israel (F)after the flesh: (G)Are not those who eat of the sacrifices [b]partakers of the altar? 19 What am I saying then? (H)That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles (I)sacrifice (J)they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 (K)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and (L)the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the (M)Lord’s table and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we (N)provoke the Lord to jealousy? (O)Are we stronger than He?
All to the Glory of God(P)
23 All things are lawful [c]for me, but not all things are (Q)helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things [d]edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one (R)the other’s well-being.
Dealing with a Sinning Brother
15 “Moreover (A)if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, (B)you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that (C)‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a (D)heathen and a tax collector.
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, (E)whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 (F)“Again[a] I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, (G)it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered (H)together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.