Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of the Lord.
93 (A)The Lord [a]reigns, He is (B)clothed with majesty;
The Lord has (C)clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the (D)world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
2 Your (E)throne is established from of old;
You (F)are from everlasting.
3 The (G)floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice,
The floods lift up their pounding waves.
4 More than the sounds of many waters,
Than the mighty breakers of the sea,
The Lord (H)on high is mighty.
5 Your (I)testimonies are fully confirmed;
(J)Holiness befits Your house,
O Lord, [b]forevermore.
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 (A)Sing to the Lord a (B)new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
(C)Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of (D)His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (E)great is the Lord and (F)greatly to be praised;
He is to be (G)feared (H)above all gods.
5 For (I)all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But (J)the Lord made the heavens.
6 (K)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 [b]Ascribe to the Lord, O (L)families of the peoples,
[c](M)Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [d]Ascribe to the Lord the (N)glory of His name;
Bring an [e](O)offering and come into His courts.
9 (P)Worship the Lord in [f]holy attire;
(Q)Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “(R)The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the (S)world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will (T)judge the peoples with [g]equity.”
11 Let the (U)heavens be glad, and let the (V)earth rejoice;
Let (W)the sea [h]roar, and [i]all it contains;
12 Let the (X)field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the (Y)trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, (Z)for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(AA)He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
The Lord, a Provider and Deliverer.
A Psalm of David when he [a]feigned madness before [b]Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.
34 I will (A)bless the Lord at all times;
His (B)praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will (C)make its boast in the Lord;
The (D)humble will hear it and rejoice.
3 O (E)magnify the Lord with me,
And let us (F)exalt His name together.
4 I (G)sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And (H)delivered me from all my fears.
5 They (I)looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will (J)never be ashamed.
6 This [c]poor man cried, and (K)the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The (L)angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
8 O (M)taste and see that the Lord is good;
How (N)blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 O fear the Lord, you (O)His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is (P)no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall (Q)not be in want of any good thing.
11 (R)Come, you children, listen to me;
(S)I will teach you (T)the fear of the Lord.
12 (U)Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may (V)see good?
13 Keep (W)your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking (X)deceit.
14 (Y)Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and (Z)pursue it.
15 The (AA)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The (AB)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (AC)cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (AD)cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord (AE)is near to the (AF)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [d](AG)crushed in spirit.
19 (AH)Many are the (AI)afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord (AJ)delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
(AK)Not one of them is broken.
21 (AL)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be [e]condemned.
22 The Lord (AM)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who (AN)take refuge in Him will be [f]condemned.
14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but [a]in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how [b]one ought to conduct himself in (A)the household of God, which is the (B)church of (C)the living God, the (D)pillar and support of the truth. 16 By common confession, great is (E)the mystery of godliness:
He who was (F)revealed in the flesh,
Was [c](G)vindicated [d]in the Spirit,
(H)Seen by angels,
(I)Proclaimed among the nations,
(J)Believed on in the world,
(K)Taken up in glory.
Apostasy
4 But (L)the Spirit explicitly says that (M)in later times some will [e]fall away from the faith, paying attention to (N)deceitful spirits and (O)doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars (P)seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who (Q)forbid marriage and advocate (R)abstaining from foods which (S)God has created to be (T)gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For (U)everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is (V)received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of (W)the word of God and prayer.
Tares among Wheat
24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “(A)The kingdom of heaven [a]may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed [b]tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the [c]wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? [d]How then does it have tares?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘An [e]enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but (B)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
The Mustard Seed
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “(C)The kingdom of heaven is like (D)a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that (E)the birds of the [f]air come and nest in its branches.”
The Leaven
33 He spoke another parable to them, “(F)The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in (G)three [g]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them (H)without a parable.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.