Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118
Thanksgiving for Victory
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(B)
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(C)
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(D)
5 I called to the Lord in distress;(E)
the Lord answered me
and put me in a spacious place.[a](F)
6 The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?(G)
7 The Lord is my helper,
Therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.(H)
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.(I)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in nobles.(J)
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(K)
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(L)
12 They surrounded me like bees;(M)
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of Yahweh I destroyed them.(N)
13 You[b] pushed me[c] hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.(O)
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.(P)
15 There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!(Q)
16 The Lord’s right hand is raised.
The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!”(R)
17 I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the Lord has done.(S)
18 The Lord disciplined me severely
but did not give me over to death.(T)
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.(U)
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous will enter through it.(V)
21 I will give thanks to You
because You have answered me
and have become my salvation.(W)
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(X)
23 This came from the Lord;
it is wonderful in our eyes.(Y)
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.(Z)
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, please grant us success!(AA)
26 He who comes in the name
of the Lord is blessed.(AB)
From the house of the Lord we bless you.(AC)
27 The Lord is God and has given us light.
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.(AD)
28 You are my God, and I will give You thanks.
You are my God; I will exalt You.(AE)
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(AF)
Psalm 145
Praising God’s Greatness
A Davidic hymn.
1 I[a] exalt You, my God the King,
and praise Your name forever and ever.(A)
2 I will praise You every day;
I will honor Your name forever and ever.(B)
3 Yahweh is great and is highly praised;(C)
His greatness is unsearchable.(D)
4 One generation will declare Your works to the next
and will proclaim Your mighty acts.(E)
5 I[b] will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty
and[c] Your wonderful works.(F)
6 They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.[d](G)
7 They will give a testimony of Your great goodness
and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.(H)
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in faithful love.(I)
9 The Lord is good to everyone;(J)
His compassion rests on all He has made.(K)
10 All You have made will thank You, Lord;
the[e] godly will praise You.(L)
11 They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and will declare Your might,(M)
12 informing all people of Your mighty acts
and of the glorious splendor of Your[f] kingdom.(N)
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
Your rule is for all generations.(O)
The Lord is faithful in all His words
and gracious in all His actions.[g](P)
14 The Lord helps all who fall;
He raises up all who are oppressed.[h](Q)
15 All eyes look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.(R)
16 You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.(S)
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and gracious in all His acts.(T)
18 The Lord is near all who call out to Him,
all who call out to Him with integrity.(U)
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry for help and saves them.(V)
20 The Lord guards all those who love Him,
but He destroys all the wicked.(W)
21 My mouth will declare Yahweh’s praise;
let every living thing
praise His holy name forever and ever.(X)
15 “How can you say, ‘I love you,’”(A) she told him, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and not told me what makes your strength so great!”
16 Because she nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until she wore him out,[a] 17 he told her the whole truth and said to her, “My hair has never been cut,[b] because I am a Nazirite(B) to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man.”
18 When Delilah realized that he had told her the whole truth, she sent this message to the Philistine leaders: “Come one more time, for he has told me the whole truth.” The Philistine leaders came to her and brought the money with them.
19 Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she made him helpless,[c] and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are here!”[d] When he awoke from his sleep, he said, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.(C)
Samson’s Defeat and Death
21 The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison. 22 But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23 Now the Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon.(D) They rejoiced and said:
Our god has handed over
our enemy Samson to us.
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god(E) and said:
Our god has handed over to us
our enemy who destroyed our land
and who multiplied our dead.
25 When they were drunk,[e] they said, “Bring Samson here to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from prison, and he entertained them. They had him stand between the pillars.
26 Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.” 27 The temple was full of men and women; all the leaders of the Philistines were there, and about 3,000 men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them. 28 He called out to the Lord: “Lord God, please remember me.(F) Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars supporting the temple and leaned against them, one on his right hand and the other on his left. 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the leaders and all the people in it. And the dead he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.
31 Then his brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. So he judged Israel 20 years.
Final Warnings and Exhortations
13 This is the third time I am coming to you.(A) Every fact must be established by the testimony[a] of two or three witnesses.(B)[b] 2 I gave a warning when I was present the second time, and now I give a warning(C) while I am absent to those who sinned before and to all the rest: If I come again, I will not be lenient, 3 since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me.(D) He is not weak toward you, but powerful among you. 4 In fact, He was crucified(E) in weakness, but He lives(F) by God’s power. For we also are weak in Him,(G) yet toward you we will live(H) with Him by God’s power.
5 Test(I) yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.[c] 6 And I hope you will recognize that we do not fail the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong—not that we may appear to pass the test, but that you may do what is right,(J) even though we may appear to fail. 8 For we are not able to do anything against the truth,(K) but only for the truth. 9 In fact, we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong.(L) We also pray that you become fully mature.[d] 10 This is why I am writing these things while absent, that when I am there I will not use severity, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up(M) and not for tearing down.(N)
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind,(O) be at peace,(P) and the God of love(Q) and peace will be with you.
25 A woman suffering from bleeding(A) for 12 years 26 had endured(B) much under many doctors.(C) She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. 27 Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched(D) His robe.(E) 28 For she said, “If I can just touch His robes, I’ll be made well!”(F) 29 Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured(G) of her affliction.
30 At once Jesus realized in Himself that power(H) had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd(I) and said, “Who touched My robes?”(J)
31 His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
32 So He was looking around to see who had done this. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down(K) before Him, and told Him the whole truth.(L) 34 “Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith(M) has made you well.[a](N) Go in peace and be free[b](O) from your affliction.”(P)
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