Book of Common Prayer
Joy in the Fellowship of God
A Psalm of David (A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
(B)My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see (C)Your power and Your glory.
3 (D)Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will (E)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with [a]marrow and [b]fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
6 When (F)I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall [c]fall by the sword;
They shall be [d]a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
(G)Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
A Song of Praise to the Lord for His Salvation and Judgment
A Psalm.
98 Oh, (A)sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has (B)done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 (C)The Lord has made known His salvation;
(D)His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the [a]nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(E)All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies
A Psalm of David.
103 Bless (A)the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 (B)Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who (C)heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
(D)Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that (E)your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 (F)He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the children of Israel.
8 (G)The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 (H)He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 (I)He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (J)removed our transgressions from us.
13 (K)As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
14 For He [a]knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, (L)his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 (M)For the wind passes over it, and it is [b]gone,
And (N)its place remembers it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
18 (O)To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.
19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And (P)His kingdom rules over all.
20 (Q)Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who (R)do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
(S)You [c]ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
The Command to Build God’s House(A)
1 In (B)the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by (C)Haggai the prophet to (D)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to (E)Joshua the son of (F)Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”
3 Then the word of the Lord (G)came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it (H)time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this [a]temple to lie in ruins?” 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: (I)“Consider your ways!
6 “You have (J)sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And (K)he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the (L)mountains and bring wood and build the [b]temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 (M)“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, (N)I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore (O)the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11 For I (P)called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on (Q)all the labor of your hands.”
The People’s Obedience
12 (R)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, (S)“I am with you, says the Lord.” 14 So (T)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, (U)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; (V)and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
The Coming Glory of God’s House
2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came [c]by Haggai the prophet, saying: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 3 (W)‘Who is left among you who saw this [d]temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, (X)is this not in your eyes as nothing? 4 Yet now (Y)be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. 5 (Z)‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so (AA)My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’
6 “For thus says the Lord of hosts: (AB)‘Once more (it is a little while) (AC)I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; 7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to (AD)the [e]Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this [f]temple with (AE)glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. 9 (AF)‘The glory of this latter [g]temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give (AG)peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
Ministry of Apollos
24 (A)Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being (B)fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, (C)though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, (D)he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, (E)showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
Paul at Ephesus
19 And it happened, while (F)Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through (G)the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, (H)“We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
So they said, (I)“Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, (J)“John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized (K)in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had (L)laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and (M)they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan(A)
25 And behold, a certain [a]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, (B)“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, (C)“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and (D)‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and (E)you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to (F)justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among [b]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, (G)he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain (H)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had (I)compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, [c]when he departed, he took out two (J)denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, (K)“Go and do likewise.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.