Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 24[a]
A psalm of David.
24 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established[b] it upon the ocean currents.[c]
3 Who is allowed to ascend[d] the mountain of the Lord?[e]
Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?
4 The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure,[f]
who does not lie,[g]
or make promises with no intention of keeping them.[h]
5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord,[i]
and vindicated by the God who delivers them.[j]
6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,
Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him.[k] (Selah)
7 Look up,[l] you gates.
Rise up,[m] you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king[n] will enter.[o]
8 Who is this majestic king?[p]
The Lord who is strong and mighty.
The Lord who is mighty in battle.
9 Look up, you gates.
Rise up, you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king will enter.
10 Who is this majestic king?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[q]
He is the majestic king. (Selah)
Psalm 29[a]
A psalm of David.
29 Acknowledge the Lord, you heavenly beings,[b]
acknowledge the Lord’s majesty and power.[c]
2 Acknowledge the majesty of the Lord’s reputation.[d]
Worship the Lord in holy attire.[e]
3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water;[f]
the majestic God thunders,[g]
the Lord appears over the surging water.[h]
4 The Lord’s shout is powerful,[i]
the Lord’s shout is majestic.[j]
5 The Lord’s shout breaks[k] the cedars,
the Lord shatters[l] the cedars of Lebanon.[m]
6 He makes them skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion[n] like a young ox.[o]
7 The Lord’s shout strikes[p] with flaming fire.[q]
8 The Lord’s shout shakes[r] the wilderness,
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.[s]
9 The Lord’s shout bends[t] the large trees[u]
and strips[v] the leaves from the forests.[w]
Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!”[x]
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the engulfing waters,[y]
the Lord sits enthroned[z] as the eternal king.
11 The Lord gives[aa] his people strength;[ab]
the Lord grants his people security.[ac]
Psalm 8[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] a psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,[c]
how magnificent[d] is your reputation[e] throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above.[f]
2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,[g]
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.[h]
3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,[i]
4 Of what importance is the human race,[j] that you should notice[k] them?
Of what importance is mankind,[l] that you should pay attention to them?[m]
5 You made them[n] a little less than[o] the heavenly beings.[p]
You crowned mankind[q] with honor and majesty.[r]
6 you appoint them to rule over your creation;[s]
you have placed[t] everything under their authority,[u]
7 including all the sheep and cattle,
as well as the wild animals,[v]
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that moves through the currents[w] of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,[x]
how magnificent[y] is your reputation[z] throughout the earth![aa]
Psalm 84[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] written by the Korahites, a psalm.
84 How lovely is the place where you live,[c]
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies![d]
2 I desperately want to be[e]
in the courts of the Lord’s temple.[f]
My heart and my entire being[g] shout for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow[h] builds a nest,
where she can protect her young[i]
near your altars, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
my King and my God.
4 How blessed[j] are those who live in your temple
and praise you continually. (Selah)
5 How blessed are those who[k] find their strength in you,
and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple.[l]
6 As they pass through the Baca Valley,[m]
he provides a spring for them.[n]
The rain[o] even covers it with pools of water.[p]
7 They are sustained as they travel along;[q]
each one appears[r] before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[s]
hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Jacob. (Selah)
9 O God, take notice of our shield.[t]
Show concern for your chosen king.[u]
10 Certainly[v] spending just one day in your temple courts is better
than spending a thousand elsewhere.[w]
I would rather stand at the entrance[x] to the temple of my God
than live[y] in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector.[z]
The Lord bestows favor[aa] and honor;
he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.[ab]
12 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[ac]
how blessed are those who trust in you.[ad]
The Superscription
1 The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied.[a] He was one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 The Lord’s[b] message came to him[c] in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah. 3 It also came in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile in the fifth month of that year.[d]
Jeremiah’s Call and Commission
4 The Lord’s message came to me,
5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb[e] I chose you.[f]
Before you were born I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 I answered, “Oh, Sovereign Lord,[g] Really[h] I do not know how to speak well enough for that,[i] for I am too young.”[j] 7 The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go[k] to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you,[l] for I will be with you to protect[m] you,” says the Lord. 9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.[n] 10 Know for certain that[o] I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be[p] uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”[q]
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,[a] 13 each builder’s[b] work will be plainly seen, for the Day[c] will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire[d] will test what kind of work each has done. 14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss.[e] He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple[f] and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.
18 Guard against self-deception, each of you.[g] If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”[h] 20 And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[i] 21 So then, no more boasting about mere mortals![j] For everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas[k] or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Jesus’ True Family
31 Then[a] Jesus’[b] mother and his brothers[c] came. Standing[d] outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers[e] are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”[f] 34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here[g] are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is[h] my brother and sister and mother.”
The Parable of the Sower
4 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat[i] on the lake and sat there while[j] the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake. 2 He taught them many things in parables,[k] and in his teaching said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow.[l] 4 And as he sowed, some seed[m] fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground[n] where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.[o] 6 When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have sufficient root,[p] it withered. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns,[q] and they grew up and choked it,[r] and it did not produce grain. 8 But[s] other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!”[t]
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