Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God for His Awesome Works
To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm.
66 Make (A)a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2 Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God,
“How (B)awesome are Your works!
(C)Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4 (D)All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
6 (E)He turned the sea into dry land;
(F)They went through the river on foot.
There we will rejoice in Him.
7 He rules by His power forever;
His eyes observe the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to [a]be moved.
10 For (G)You, O God, have tested us;
(H)You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 (I)You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
12 (J)You have caused men to ride over our heads;
(K)We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to [b]rich fulfillment.
13 (L)I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
(M)I will pay You my [c]vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered
And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
With the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was [d]extolled with my tongue.
18 (N)If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
19 But certainly God (O)has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!
The Bronze Serpent
4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to (A)go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very [a]discouraged on the way. 5 And the people (B)spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul [b]loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So (C)the Lord sent (D)fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
7 (E)Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have (F)sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; (G)pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, (H)“Make a (I)fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So (J)Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
11 (A)Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and (B)you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 (C)No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man [a]who is in heaven. 14 (D)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so (E)must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever (F)believes in Him should [b]not perish but (G)have eternal life. 16 (H)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten (I)Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 (J)For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy
2 (C)Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5 (D)I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and (E)set me in a broad place.
6 (F)The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 (G)The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore (H)I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
8 (I)It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9 (J)It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11 They (K)surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
12 They surrounded me (L)like bees;
They were quenched (M)like a fire of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord I will [a]destroy them.
13 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.
14 (N)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16 (O)The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17 (P)I shall not die, but live,
And (Q)declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has (R)chastened[b] me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
19 (S)Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
20 (T)This is the gate of the Lord,
(U)Through which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise You,
For You have (V)answered me,
And have become my salvation.
22 (W)The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 [c]This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 (X)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord,
And He has given us (Y)light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
(Z)You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Christ’s Suffering and Ours
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring [a]us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, [b]when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 (A)There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (B)(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, (C)but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and (D)is at the right hand of God, (E)angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.