Book of Common Prayer
The Assurance of God’s Saving Work
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob [a]defend you;
2 May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
3 May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And (A)fulfill all your [b]purpose.
5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the Lord saves His [c]anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in (B)horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
8 They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.
Joy in the Salvation of the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
21 The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord;
And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
And have not withheld the (C)request of his lips. Selah
3 For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4 (D)He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great in Your salvation;
Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
6 For You have made him most blessed forever;
(E)You have made him [d]exceedingly glad with Your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be [e]moved.
8 Your hand will find all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find those who hate You.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;
The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
10 Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth,
And their [f]descendants from among the sons of men.
11 For they intended evil against You;
They devised a plot which they are not able to (F)perform.
12 Therefore You will make them turn their back;
You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength!
We will sing and praise Your power.
The Lord the Shepherd of His People
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is (A)my shepherd;
(B)I shall not [a]want.
2 (C)He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;
(D)He leads me beside the [c]still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
(E)He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my (A)light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The (B)Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To (C)eat[a] up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 (D)Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4 (E)One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may (F)dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the [b]beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For (G)in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall (H)set me high upon a rock.
6 And now (I)my head shall be [c]lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of [d]joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9 (J)Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 (K)When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
11 (L)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For (M)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
(N)In the land of the living.
Praise to God
25 O Lord, You are my God.
(A)I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
(B)For You have done wonderful things;
(C)Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
2 For You have made (D)a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will (E)glorify You;
The city of the [a]terrible nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
(F)A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be [b]diminished.
6 And in (G)this mountain
(H)The Lord of hosts will make for (I)all people
A feast of [c]choice pieces,
A feast of [d]wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
7 And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And (J)the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will (K)swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will (L)wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, [a]both your brother and (A)companion in the tribulation and (B)kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 (C)I was in the Spirit on (D)the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me (E)a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, [b]“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches [c]which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned (F)I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 (G)and in the midst of the seven lampstands (H)One like the Son of Man, (I)clothed with a garment down to the feet and (J)girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and (K)hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and (L)His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 (M)His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and (N)His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 (O)He had in His right hand seven stars, (P)out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, (Q)and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And (R)when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But (S)He laid His right hand on me, saying [d]to me, “Do not be afraid; (T)I am the First and the Last. 18 (U)I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, (V)I am alive forevermore. Amen. And (W)I have the keys of [e]Hades and of Death. 19 [f]Write the things which you have (X)seen, (Y)and the things which are, (Z)and the things which will take place after this. 20 The [g]mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are (AA)the [h]angels of the seven churches, and (AB)the seven lampstands [i]which you saw are the seven churches.
An Adulteress Faces the Light of the World
53 [a]And everyone went to his own house.
Jesus the Light of the World
8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Now [b]early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and (A)taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, [c]this woman was caught in (B)adultery, in the very act. 5 (C)Now [d]Moses, in the law, commanded us [e]that such should be stoned. But what do You [f]say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they (D)might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, [g]as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He [h]raised Himself up and said to them, (E)“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, (F)being[i] convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up [j]and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers [k]of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, (G)“Neither do I condemn you; go [l]and (H)sin no more.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.