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.
Announcement of the Messiah’s Reign(A)
A Psalm of David.
110 The (B)Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your (C)footstool.”
2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength (D)out of Zion.
(E)Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
3 (F)Your people shall be volunteers
In the day of Your power;
(G)In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.
4 The Lord has sworn
And (H)will not relent,
“You are a (I)priest forever
According to the order of (J)Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is (K)at Your right hand;
He shall [a]execute kings (L)in the day of His wrath.
6 He shall judge among the nations,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
(M)He shall [b]execute the heads of many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook by the wayside;
(N)Therefore He shall lift up the head.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
116 I (A)love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 (B)The [a]pains of death surrounded me,
And the [b]pangs of Sheol [c]laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
5 (C)Gracious is the Lord, and (D)righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your (E)rest, O my soul,
For (F)the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 (G)For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord
(H)In the land of the living.
10 (I)I believed, therefore I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 (J)I said in my haste,
(K)“All men are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
14 (L)I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people.
15 (M)Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints.
16 O Lord, truly (N)I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, (O)the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to You (P)the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the (Q)courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
[d]Praise the Lord!
Let All Peoples Praise the Lord
117 Praise (R)the Lord, all you Gentiles!
[e]Laud Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
And (S)the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
51 So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things (A)which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
The Ark Brought into the Temple(B)
8 Now (C)Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, (D)that they might bring (E)up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. 2 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the (F)feast in the month of [a]Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 So all the elders of Israel came, (G)and the priests took up the ark. 4 Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, (H)the [b]tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, (I)sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 6 Then the priests (J)brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to (K)its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, (L)under the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8 The poles (M)extended so that the [c]ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 9 (N)Nothing was in the ark (O)except the two tablets of stone which Moses (P)put there at Horeb, (Q)when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud (R)filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the (S)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
12 (T)Then Solomon spoke:
“The Lord said He would dwell (U)in the dark cloud.
13 (V)I have surely built You an exalted house,
(W)And a place for You to dwell in forever.”
Solomon’s Speech at Completion of the Work(X)
14 Then the king turned around and (Y)blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 15 And he said: (Z)“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who (AA)spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that (AB)My name might be there; but I chose (AC)David to be over My people Israel.’ 17 Now (AD)it was in the heart of my father David to build a [d]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 18 (AE)But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless (AF)you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’ 20 So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have [e]filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, (AG)as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 21 And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is (AH)the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Paul’s Ministry at Rome
17 And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, (A)though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet (B)I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, 18 who, (C)when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. 19 But when the [a]Jews spoke against it, (D)I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. 20 For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because (E)for the hope of Israel I am bound with (F)this chain.”
21 Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that (G)it is spoken against everywhere.”
23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, (H)to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus (I)from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. 24 And (J)some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to [b]our fathers, 26 saying,
(K)‘Go to this people and say:
“Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.” ’
28 “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent (L)to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” 29 [c]And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.
30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 (M)preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
Betrayal and Arrest in Gethsemane(A)
43 (B)And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I (C)kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely.”
45 As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
46 Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him. 47 And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
48 (D)Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? 49 I was daily with you in the temple (E)teaching, and you did not seize Me. But (F)the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
50 (G)Then they all forsook Him and fled.
A Young Man Flees Naked
51 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, 52 and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.