Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97
1 The Lord reigns,(A) let the earth be glad;(B)
let the distant shores(C) rejoice.
2 Clouds(D) and thick darkness(E) surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.(F)
3 Fire(G) goes before(H) him
and consumes(I) his foes on every side.
4 His lightning(J) lights up the world;
the earth(K) sees and trembles.(L)
5 The mountains melt(M) like wax(N) before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.(O)
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,(P)
and all peoples see his glory.(Q)
7 All who worship images(R) are put to shame,(S)
those who boast in idols(T)—
worship him,(U) all you gods!(V)
8 Zion hears and rejoices
and the villages of Judah are glad(W)
because of your judgments,(X) Lord.
9 For you, Lord, are the Most High(Y) over all the earth;(Z)
you are exalted(AA) far above all gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil,(AB)
for he guards(AC) the lives of his faithful ones(AD)
and delivers(AE) them from the hand of the wicked.(AF)
11 Light shines[a](AG) on the righteous(AH)
and joy on the upright in heart.(AI)
12 Rejoice in the Lord,(AJ) you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.(AK)
Psalm 99
1 The Lord reigns,(A)
let the nations tremble;(B)
he sits enthroned(C) between the cherubim,(D)
let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord(E) in Zion;(F)
he is exalted(G) over all the nations.
3 Let them praise(H) your great and awesome name(I)—
he is holy.(J)
4 The King(K) is mighty, he loves justice(L)—
you have established equity;(M)
in Jacob you have done
what is just and right.(N)
5 Exalt(O) the Lord our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy.
6 Moses(P) and Aaron(Q) were among his priests,
Samuel(R) was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
and he answered(S) them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;(T)
they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
8 Lord our God,
you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,(U)
though you punished(V) their misdeeds.[a]
9 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
Psalm 94
1 The Lord is a God who avenges.(A)
O God who avenges, shine forth.(B)
2 Rise up,(C) Judge(D) of the earth;
pay back(E) to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, Lord, will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?(F)
4 They pour out arrogant(G) words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.(H)
5 They crush your people,(I) Lord;
they oppress your inheritance.(J)
6 They slay the widow(K) and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.(L)
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;(M)
the God of Jacob(N) takes no notice.”
8 Take notice, you senseless ones(O) among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?(P)
10 Does he who disciplines(Q) nations not punish?
Does he who teaches(R) mankind lack knowledge?
11 The Lord knows all human plans;(S)
he knows that they are futile.(T)
12 Blessed is the one you discipline,(U) Lord,
the one you teach(V) from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,(W)
till a pit(X) is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;(Y)
he will never forsake his inheritance.
15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,(Z)
and all the upright in heart(AA) will follow it.
16 Who will rise up(AB) for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?(AC)
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,(AD)
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.(AE)
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,(AF)”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety(AG) was great within me,
your consolation(AH) brought me joy.
20 Can a corrupt throne(AI) be allied with you—
a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?(AJ)
21 The wicked band together(AK) against the righteous
and condemn the innocent(AL) to death.(AM)
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock(AN) in whom I take refuge.(AO)
23 He will repay(AP) them for their sins
and destroy(AQ) them for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95
1 Come,(AR) let us sing for joy(AS) to the Lord;
let us shout aloud(AT) to the Rock(AU) of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him(AV) with thanksgiving(AW)
and extol him with music(AX) and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God,(AY)
the great King(AZ) above all gods.(BA)
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,(BB)
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.(BC)
6 Come, let us bow down(BD) in worship,(BE)
let us kneel(BF) before the Lord our Maker;(BG)
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,(BH)
the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts(BI) as you did at Meribah,[a](BJ)
as you did that day at Massah[b] in the wilderness,(BK)
9 where your ancestors tested(BL) me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years(BM) I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,(BN)
and they have not known my ways.’(BO)
11 So I declared on oath(BP) in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”(BQ)
Absalom Returns to Jerusalem
14 Joab(A) son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(B) and had a wise woman(C) brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions.(D) Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. 3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab(E) put the words in her mouth.
4 When the woman from Tekoa went[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”
5 The king asked her, “What is troubling you?”
She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death(F) for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir(G) as well.’ They would put out the only burning coal I have left,(H) leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.”
8 The king said to the woman, “Go home,(I) and I will issue an order in your behalf.”
9 But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “Let my lord the king pardon(J) me and my family,(K) and let the king and his throne be without guilt.(L)”
10 The king replied, “If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again.”
11 She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger(M) of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.”
“As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair(N) of your son’s head will fall to the ground.(O)”
12 Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.”
“Speak,” he replied.
13 The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself,(P) for the king has not brought back his banished son?(Q) 14 Like water(R) spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.(S) But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person(T) does not remain banished from him.
15 “And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will grant his servant’s request. 16 Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’(U)
17 “And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel(V) of God in discerning(W) good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”
18 Then the king said to the woman, “Don’t keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.”
“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman said.
19 The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab(X) with you in all this?”
The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom(Y) like that of an angel of God—he knows everything that happens in the land.(Z)”
On to Jerusalem
21 After we(A) had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia,(B) went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria.(C) We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 We sought out the disciples(D) there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit(E) they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.(F) 6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre(G) and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters(H) and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea(I) and stayed at the house of Philip(J) the evangelist,(K) one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.(L)
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus(M) came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says,(N) ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind(O) the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”(P)
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die(Q) in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”(R) 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up(S) and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”(T)
Divorce(A)
10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan.(B) Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.(C)
2 Some Pharisees(D) came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”(E)
5 “It was because your hearts were hard(F) that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a](G) 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c](H) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.(I) 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”(J)
The Little Children and Jesus(K)
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.(L) 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”(M) 16 And he took the children in his arms,(N) placed his hands on them and blessed them.
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