Book of Common Prayer
The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History
33 Rejoice (A)in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
[a]Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 (B)By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the (C)host of them (D)by the breath of His mouth.
7 (E)He gathers the waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For (F)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 (G)The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 (H)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (I)chosen as His own inheritance.
13 (J)The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
(K)He [c]considers all their works.
16 (L)No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 (M)A horse is a [d]vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 (N)Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And (O)to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.
3 And (A)Moses went up to God, and the Lord (B)called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 (C)‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how (D)I [a]bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now (E)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and (F)keep My covenant, then (G)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is (H)Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a (I)kingdom of priests and a (J)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called for the (K)elders of the people, and [b]laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. 8 Then (L)all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were (A)thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp (B)trembled. 17 And (C)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now (D)Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon (E)it in fire. (F)Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and [a]the (G)whole mountain quaked greatly. 19 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, (H)Moses spoke, and (I)God answered him by voice. 20 Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People(A)
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, (B)rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
(C)“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who [a]are disobedient,
(D)“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and
(E)“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”
(F)They stumble, being disobedient to the word, (G)to which they also were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of (H)darkness into His marvelous light; 10 (I)who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.