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.’ ”
The Prophet’s Prayer
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on [a]Shigionoth.
2 O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
(A)And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 O Lord, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your [b]arrows. Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And (B)lifted its hands on high.
11 The (C)sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You [c]trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
15 (D)You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, (E)my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
A Hymn of Faith
17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will (F)rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Untamable Tongue
3 My brethren, (A)let not many of you become teachers, (B)knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For (C)we all stumble in many things. (D)If anyone does not stumble in word, (E)he is a [a]perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 [b]Indeed, (F)we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so (G)the tongue is a little member and (H)boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And (I)the tongue is a fire, a world of [c]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it (J)defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of [d]nature; and it is set on fire by [e]hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, (K)full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made (L)in the [f]similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a (M)fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? [g]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
Jesus Warns of Offenses(A)
17 Then He said to the disciples, (B)“It is impossible that no [a]offenses should come, but (C)woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should [b]offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves. (D)If your brother sins [c]against you, (E)rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns [d]to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
Faith and Duty(F)
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 (G)So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself (H)and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded [e]him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are (I)unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.