Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Praise to the Sovereign Lord
2 (B)Clouds and darkness surround Him;
(C)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (D)A fire goes before Him,
And burns up His enemies round about.
4 (E)His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.
5 (F)The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 (G)The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.
7 (H)Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,
Who boast of idols.
(I)Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You, Lord, are (J)most high above all the earth;
(K)You are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, (L)hate evil!
(M)He preserves the souls of His saints;
(N)He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 (O)Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 (P)Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
(Q)And give thanks [b]at the remembrance of [c]His holy name.
A Song of Praise to the Lord for His Salvation and Judgment
A Psalm.
98 Oh, (R)sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has (S)done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 (T)The Lord has made known His salvation;
(U)His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the [d]nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
(V)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.
22 “The(A) Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 (B)I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 (C)Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the [a]fields,
Or the [b]primal dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 (D)When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When (E)He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 (F)Then I was beside Him as [c]a master craftsman;
(G)And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
20 (A)Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
21 (B)When Jesus had said these things, (C)He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (D)one of you will betray Me.” 22 Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.
23 Now (E)there was [a]leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
25 Then, leaning [b]back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to (F)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 (G)Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. 29 For some thought, because (H)Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.
The New Commandment
31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, (I)“Now the Son of Man is glorified, and (J)God is glorified in Him. 32 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and (K)glorify Him immediately. 33 Little children, I shall be with you a (L)little while longer. You will seek Me; (M)and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. 34 (N)A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 (O)By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
(A)A Praise of David.
145 I will [a]extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (B)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And (C)His greatness is [b]unsearchable.
4 (D)One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 [c]I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And [d]on Your wondrous works.
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall [e]utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.
8 (E)The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 (F)The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.
10 (G)All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 (H)Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all [f]generations.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall,
And (I)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 (J)The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And (K)You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
(L)And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 (M)The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him (N)in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 (O)The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.
Obedience by Faith
5 Whoever believes that (A)Jesus is the Christ is (B)born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and (C)keep His commandments. 3 (D)For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And (E)His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For (F)whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that (G)has overcome the world—[a]our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but (H)he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The Certainty of God’s Witness
6 This is He who came (I)by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. (J)And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness [b]in heaven: the Father, (K)the Word, and the Holy Spirit; (L)and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: (M)the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
9 If we receive (N)the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; (O)for this is the witness of [c]God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God (P)has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God (Q)has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 (R)He who has the Son has [d]life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.