Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97[a]
97 The Lord reigns.
Let the earth be happy.
Let the many coastlands rejoice.
2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne.[b]
3 Fire goes before him;
on every side[c] it burns up his enemies.
4 His lightning bolts light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The sky declares his justice,
and all the nations see his splendor.
7 All who worship idols are ashamed,
those who boast about worthless idols.
All the gods bow down before him.[d]
8 Zion hears and rejoices,
the towns[e] of Judah are happy,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are the Most High[f] over the whole earth;
you are elevated high above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He protects[g] the lives of his faithful followers;
he delivers them from the power[h] of the wicked.
11 The godly bask in the light;
the morally upright experience joy.[i]
12 You godly ones, rejoice in the Lord.
Give thanks to his holy name.[j]
Psalm 99[a]
99 The Lord reigns!
The nations tremble.[b]
He sits enthroned above the cherubim;[c]
the earth shakes.[d]
2 The Lord is elevated[e] in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
He[f] is holy!
4 The king is strong;
he loves justice.[g]
You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly;[h]
you promote justice and equity in Jacob.
5 Praise[i] the Lord our God.
Worship[j] before his footstool.
He is holy!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;
Samuel was one of those who prayed to him.[k]
They[l] prayed to the Lord and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from a pillar of cloud;[m]
they obeyed his regulations and the ordinance he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them.
They found you to be a forgiving God,
but also one who punished their sinful deeds.[n]
9 Praise[o] the Lord our God!
Worship on his holy hill,
for the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 100[p]
A thanksgiving psalm.
100 Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Worship[q] the Lord with joy.
Enter his presence with joyful singing.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us and we belong to him,[r]
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give him thanks.
Praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His loyal love endures,[s]
and he is faithful through all generations.[t]
Psalm 94[a]
94 O Lord, the God who avenges!
O God who avenges, reveal your splendor.[b]
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth.
Pay back the proud.
3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked celebrate?[c]
4 They spew out threats[d] and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast.[e]
5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you.[f]
6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner,
and they murder the fatherless.[g]
7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.”[h]
8 Take notice of this,[i] you ignorant people.[j]
You fools, when will you ever understand?
9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see?[k]
10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
11 The Lord knows that peoples’ thoughts
are morally bankrupt.[l]
12 How blessed is the one[m] whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
13 in order to protect him from times of trouble,[n]
until the wicked are destroyed.[o]
14 Certainly[p] the Lord does not forsake his people;
he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.[q]
15 For justice will prevail,[r]
and all the morally upright[s] will be vindicated.[t]
16 Who will rise up to defend me[u] against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?[v]
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.[w]
18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,[x]
your soothing touch makes me happy.[y]
20 Cruel rulers[z] are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws.[aa]
21 They conspire against[ab] the blameless,[ac]
and condemn to death the innocent.[ad]
22 But the Lord will protect me,[ae]
and my God will shelter me.[af]
23 He will pay them back for their sin.[ag]
He will destroy them because of[ah] their evil;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95[ai]
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.[aj]
2 Let us enter his presence[ak] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.[al]
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to[am] all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,[an]
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship.[ao]
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.
7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns.[ap]
Today, if only you would obey him.[aq]
8 He says,[ar] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,[as]
like they were that day at Massah[at] in the wilderness,[au]
9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,[av]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was continually disgusted[aw] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;[ax]
they do not obey my commands.’[ay]
11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”[az]
A Prayer for Divine Intervention
7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,
of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.
I will tell about all[a] the Lord did for us,
the many good things he did for the family of Israel,[b]
because of[c] his compassion and great faithfulness.
8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people,
children who are not disloyal.”[d]
He became their deliverer.
9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too.[e]
The messenger sent from his very presence[f] delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected[g] them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times.[h]
10 But they rebelled and offended[i] his holy Spirit,[j]
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
11 His people remembered the ancient times.[k]
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of[l] his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them,[m]
12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses,[n]
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation,[o]
13 who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running through the wilderness[p] they did not stumble.
14 As an animal that goes down into a valley to graze,[q]
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way[r] you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation.[s]
18 I put this charge[a] before you, Timothy my child, in keeping with the prophecies once spoken about you,[b] in order that with such encouragement[c] you may fight the good fight. 19 To do this[d] you must hold firmly to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck in regard to the faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan[e] to be taught not to blaspheme.
Prayer for All People
2 First of all, then, I urge that requests,[f] prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people,[g] 2 even for kings[h] and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 Such prayer for all[i] is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 4 since he wants[j] all people[k] to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one intermediary[l] between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human,[m] 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time.[n] 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle—I am telling the truth;[o] I am not lying—and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 So I want the men[p] in every place to pray,[q] lifting up holy hands[r] without anger or dispute.
Cursing of the Fig Tree
12 Now[a] the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit[b] on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it,[c] “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.[d]
Cleansing the Temple
15 Then[e] they came to Jerusalem. Jesus[f] entered the temple area[g] and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts.[h] He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise[i] through the temple courts.[j] 17 Then he began to teach[k] them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?[l] But you have turned it into a den[m] of robbers!”[n] 18 The chief priests and the experts in the law[o] heard it and they considered how they could assassinate[p] him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching. 19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[q] went out of the city.
The Withered Fig Tree
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth,[r] if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will[s] also forgive you your sins.”[t]
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