Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66
For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!(A)
2 Sing the glory of his name;(B)
make his praise glorious.(C)
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!(D)
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe(E) before you.
4 All the earth bows down(F) to you;
they sing praise(G) to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”[a]
5 Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds(H) for mankind!
6 He turned the sea into dry land,(I)
they passed through(J) the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice(K) in him.
7 He rules forever(L) by his power,
his eyes watch(M) the nations—
let not the rebellious(N) rise up against him.
8 Praise(O) our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives(P)
and kept our feet from slipping.(Q)
10 For you, God, tested(R) us;
you refined us like silver.(S)
11 You brought us into prison(T)
and laid burdens(U) on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads;(V)
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.(W)
13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings(X)
and fulfill my vows(Y) to you—
14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.(Z)
16 Come and hear,(AA) all you who fear God;
let me tell(AB) you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;(AC)
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard(AD) my prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected(AE) my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
Psalm 67[b]
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—[c](AF)
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation(AG) among all nations.(AH)
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord,(A) for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry(B) for mercy.(C)
2 Because he turned his ear(D) to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death(E) entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name(F) of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!(G)”
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;(H)
our God is full of compassion.(I)
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low,(J) he saved me.(K)
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me(N) from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord(O)
in the land of the living.(P)
10 I trusted(Q) in the Lord when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;(R)
11 in my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”(S)
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness(T) to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name(U) of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows(V) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight(W) of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.(X)
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;(Y)
I serve you just as my mother did;(Z)
you have freed me from my chains.(AA)
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering(AB) to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows(AC) to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts(AD) of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.(AE)
Praise the Lord.[a]
Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord,(AF) all you nations;(AG)
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love(AH) toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord(AI) endures forever.
Praise the Lord.[b]
10 In that day(A) the Root of Jesse(B) will stand as a banner(C) for the peoples; the nations(D) will rally to him,(E) and his resting place(F) will be glorious.(G) 11 In that day(H) the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant(I) of his people from Assyria,(J) from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,(K) from Cush,[a](L) from Elam,(M) from Babylonia,[b] from Hamath(N) and from the islands(O) of the Mediterranean.(P)
12 He will raise a banner(Q) for the nations
and gather(R) the exiles of Israel;(S)
he will assemble the scattered people(T) of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.(U)
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies[c] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.(V)
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia(W) to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.(X)
They will subdue Edom(Y) and Moab,(Z)
and the Ammonites(AA) will be subject to them.(AB)
15 The Lord will dry up(AC)
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind(AD) he will sweep his hand(AE)
over the Euphrates River.(AF)
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.(AG)
16 There will be a highway(AH) for the remnant(AI) of his people
that is left from Assyria,(AJ)
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.(AK)
The Judgment of the Dead
11 Then I saw a great white throne(A) and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence,(B) and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small,(C) standing before the throne, and books were opened.(D) Another book was opened, which is the book of life.(E) The dead were judged(F) according to what they had done(G) as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades(H) gave up the dead(I) that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.(J) 14 Then death(K) and Hades(L) were thrown into the lake of fire.(M) The lake of fire is the second death.(N) 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life(O) was thrown into the lake of fire.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a](P) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,(Q) and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City,(R) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,(S) prepared as a bride(T) beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.(U) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.(V) 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.(W) There will be no more death’[b](X) or mourning or crying or pain,(Y) for the old order of things has passed away.”(Z)
5 He who was seated on the throne(AA) said, “I am making everything new!”(AB) Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”(AC)
6 He said to me: “It is done.(AD) I am the Alpha and the Omega,(AE) the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost(AF) from the spring of the water of life.(AG) 7 Those who are victorious(AH) will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.(AI) 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars(AJ)—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.(AK) This is the second death.”(AL)
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea(A) there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah;(B) his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.(C) 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,(D) 9 he was chosen by lot,(E) according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.(F) 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.(G)
11 Then an angel(H) of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.(I) 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.(J) 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid,(K) Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.(L) 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,(M) 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,(N) and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit(O) even before he is born.(P) 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord,(Q) in the spirit and power of Elijah,(R) to turn the hearts of the parents to their children(S) and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(T)
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this?(U) I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”(V)
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel.(W) I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak(X) until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs(Y) to them but remained unable to speak.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace(Z) among the people.”
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