Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147[j]
147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[n]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[o] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[r]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[s]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[t]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children[v] within you.
14 He[w] brings peace to your territory.[x]
He abundantly provides for you[y] the best grain.
15 He[z] sends his command through the earth;[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.[ab]
16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.[ac]
17 He throws his hailstones[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?[ae]
18 He then orders it all to melt;[af]
he breathes on it,[ag] and the water flows.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 111[a]
111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited[b] by all who desire them.
3 His work is majestic and glorious,[c]
and his faithfulness endures[d] forever.
4 He does[e] amazing things that will be remembered;[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
5 He gives[g] food to his faithful followers;[h]
he always remembers his covenant.[i]
6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.[j]
7 His acts are characterized by[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.[l]
8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.[m]
9 He delivered his people;[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.[q]
He will receive praise forever.[r]
Psalm 112[s]
112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one[t] who obeys[u] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.[v]
2 His descendants[w] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly[x] will be blessed.
3 His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.[y]
4 In the darkness a light[z] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.[aa]
5 It goes well for the one[ab] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.[ac]
6 For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.[ad]
7 He does not fear bad news.
He[ae] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
8 His resolve[af] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
9 He generously gives[ag] to the needy;
his integrity endures.[ah]
He will be vindicated and honored.[ai]
10 When the wicked[aj] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration[ak] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.[al]
Psalm 113[am]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[an]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[ao]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[ap]
6 He bends down to look[aq]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[ar]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[as]
a happy mother of children.[at]
Praise the Lord.
36 Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines at night; we will rout[a] them until the break of day.[b] We won’t leave any of them alive!”[c] They replied, “Do whatever seems best to you.”[d] But the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.” 37 So Saul asked God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.
38 Then Saul said, “All you leaders of the army come here. Find out[e] how this sin occurred today. 39 For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!” But no one from the army said anything.[f]
40 Then he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The army replied to Saul, “Do whatever you think is best.”
41 Then Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel! If this sin has been committed by me or by my son Jonathan, then, O Lord God of Israel, respond with Urim. But if this sin has been committed by your people Israel, respond with Thummim.”[g] Then Jonathan and Saul were indicated by lot, while the army was exonerated.[h] 42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan!”[i] Jonathan was indicated by lot.
43 So Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” Jonathan told him, “I used the end of the staff that was in my hand to taste a little honey. I must die!”[j] 44 Saul said, “God will punish me severely if Jonathan doesn’t die!”[k]
45 But the army said to Saul, “Should Jonathan, who won this great victory in Israel, die? May it never be! As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground, for it is with the help of God that he has acted today.” So the army rescued Jonathan from death.[l]
The Expectation of Justification
5 [a] Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have[b] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access[c] into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice[d] in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not[e] only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God[f] has been poured out[g] in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)[h] 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous[i] by his blood,[j] we will be saved through him from God’s wrath.[k] 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not[l] only this, but we also rejoice[m] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke[a] to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves[b] to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready.[c] My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’ 5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The[d] rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The[e] king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death[f] and set their city[g] on fire. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say.[h] 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness,[i] where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
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