Book of Common Prayer
33 He turns rivers into desert,
springs into thirsty ground,(A)
34 and fruitful land into salty wasteland,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.(B)
35 He turns a desert into a pool,
dry land into springs.(C)
36 He causes the hungry to settle there,
and they establish a city where they can live.(D)
37 They sow fields and plant vineyards
that yield a fruitful harvest.(E)
38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;(F)
he does not let their livestock decrease.(G)
39 When they are diminished and are humbled
by cruel oppression and sorrow,(H)
40 he pours contempt on nobles(I)
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.(J)
41 But he lifts the needy out of their suffering(K)
and makes their families multiply like flocks.(L)
42 The upright see it and rejoice,(M)
and all injustice shuts its mouth.(N)
43 Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things
and consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love.(O)
Psalm 108
A Plea for Victory
A song. A psalm of David.
1 My heart is confident, God;
I will sing; I will sing praises
with the whole of my being.[a](P)
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.(Q)
3 I will praise you, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.(R)
4 For your faithful love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.(S)
5 God, be exalted above the heavens,(T)
and let your glory be over the whole earth.(U)
6 Save with your right hand and answer me
so that those you love may be rescued.(V)
7 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[b]
“I will celebrate!
I will divide up Shechem.(W)
I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.(X)
8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine,
and Ephraim is my helmet;(Y)
Judah is my scepter.(Z)
9 Moab is my washbasin;(AA)
I throw my sandal on Edom.(AB)
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”(AC)
Psalm 33
Praise to the Creator
1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
praise from the upright is beautiful.(A)
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre;
make music to him with a ten-stringed harp.(B)
3 Sing a new song to him;(C)
play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout.(D)
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
and all his work is trustworthy.(E)
5 He loves righteousness and justice;(F)
the earth is full of the Lord’s unfailing love.(G)
6 The heavens were made by the word of the Lord,(H)
and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth.(I)
7 He gathers the water of the sea into a heap;[a]
he puts the depths into storehouses.(J)
8 Let the whole earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.(K)
9 For he spoke, and it came into being;
he commanded, and it came into existence.(L)
10 The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations;
he thwarts the plans of the peoples.(M)
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart from generation to generation.(N)
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord—
the people he has chosen to be his own possession!(O)
13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he observes everyone.(P)
14 He gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth
from his dwelling place.(Q)
15 He forms the hearts of them all;
he considers all their works.(R)
16 A king is not saved by a large army;
a warrior will not be rescued by great strength.(S)
17 The horse is a false hope for safety;
it provides no escape by its great power.(T)
The Righteous and the Wicked
13 “Your words against me are harsh,”(A) says the Lord.
Yet you ask, “What have we spoken against you?”
14 You have said, “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping his requirements(B) and walking mournfully(C) before the Lord of Armies? 15 So now we consider the arrogant(D) to be fortunate.(E) Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God(F) and escape.”(G)
16 At that time those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. The Lord took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance(H) was written before him for those who feared the Lord and had high regard for his name. 17 “They will be mine,” says the Lord of Armies,(I) “my own possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.(J) 18 So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
The Day of the Lord
4 “For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings,(K) and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall.[a] 3 You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Armies.
A Final Warning
4 “Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb(L) for all Israel. 5 Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah(M) before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.(N) 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.(O) Otherwise, I will come and strike the land[b] with a curse.”
Effective Prayer
13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.(A) 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.(B) 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.(C) 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.(D) 17 Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.(E) 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.(F)
19 My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth,(G) and someone turns him back,(H) 20 let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.(I)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 He(A) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves(B) that they were righteous(C) and looked down(D) on everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray,(E) one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standing(F) and praying like this about himself: [a] ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy,(G) unrighteous,(H) adulterers,(I) or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast(J) twice a week; I give a tenth[b](K) of everything I get.’
13 “But the tax collector, standing far off,(L) would not even raise his eyes to heaven(M) but kept striking his chest(N) and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me,[c](O) a sinner!’ (P) 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified(Q) rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”(R)
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