The Lessons Appointed for Use on the
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Year A BCP

Acts 1:(1-7)8-14
or Ezekiel 39:21-29
1 Peter 4:12-19
or Acts 1:(1-7)8-14
John 17:1-11
Psalm 68:1-20 or 47

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Acts 1:(1-7)8-14

[In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But, ]

(Jesus said to the apostles,) "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

or

Ezekiel 39:21-29

Thus says the Lord GOD: I will display my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt treacherously with me. So I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they live securely in their land with no one to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have displayed my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them behind; and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.

Psalm 68:1-20 Page 676, BCP

Exsurgat Deus

1

Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; *
let those who hate him flee before him.

2

Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; *
as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at

the presence of God.

3

But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; *
let them also be merry and joyful.

4

Sing to God, sing praises to his Name;
exalt him who rides upon the heavens; *
YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!

5

Father of orphans, defender of widows, *
God in his holy habitation!

6

God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; *
but the rebels shall live in dry places.

7

O God, when you went forth before your people, *
when you marched through the wilderness,

8

The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain,
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, *
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9

You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; *
you refreshed the land when it was weary.

10

Your people found their home in it; *
in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.

11

The Lord gave the word; *
great was the company of women who bore the tidings:

12

"Kings with their armies are fleeing away; *
the women at home are dividing the spoils."

13

Though you lingered among the sheepfolds, *
you shall be like a dove whose wings are covered with silver,
whose feathers are like green gold.

14

When the Almighty scattered kings, *
it was like snow falling in Zalmon.

15

O mighty mountain, O hill of Bashan! *
O rugged mountain, O hill of Bashan!

16

Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountain,
at the hill which God chose for his resting place? *
truly, the LORD will dwell there for ever.

17

The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
even thousands of thousands; *
the Lord comes in holiness from Sinai.

18

You have gone up on high and led captivity captive;
you have received gifts even from your enemies, *
that the LORD God might dwell among them.

19

Blessed be the Lord day by day, *
the God of our salvation, who bears our burdens.

20

He is our God, the God of our salvation; *
God is the LORD, by whom we escape death.

or

Psalm 47 Page 650, BCP

Omnes gentes, plaudite

1

Clap your hands, all you peoples; *
shout to God with a cry of joy.

2

For the LORD Most High is to be feared; *
he is the great King over all the earth.

3

He subdues the peoples under us, *
and the nations under our feet.

4

He chooses our inheritance for us, *
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

5

God has gone up with a shout, *
the LORD with the sound of the ram's-horn.

6

Sing praises to God, sing praises; *
sing praises to our King, sing praises.

7

For God is King of all the earth; *
sing praises with all your skill.

8

God reigns over the nations; *
God sits upon his holy throne.

9

The nobles of the peoples have gathered together *
with the people of the God of Abraham.

10

The rulers of the earth belong to God, *
and he is highly exalted.

1 Peter 4:12-19

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?"

Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

or

Acts 1:(1-7)8-14

[See above]

John 17:1-11

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. "

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Collects and the texts of the Psalms are from the Psalter of the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.

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