thanksgiving day

¹A Psalm of Confession. ²Shout joyfully to God, all the earth. Serve the Lord with rejoicing. Enter into his sight in exultation. ³Know that the Lord himself is God. He made us, and we ourselves did not. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. ⁴Enter his gates with confession, his courts with hymns, and acknowledge him. Praise his name. ⁵For the Lord is sweet, his mercy is in eternity, and his truth is from generation to generation.

¹⁶Rejoice always. ¹⁷Pray without ceasing. ¹⁸Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.

¹⁷Every excellent gift and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor any shadow of alteration.

¹⁴Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High.

¹And after we had escaped, we then realized that the island was called Malta. Yet truly, the natives offered us no small amount of humane treatment. ²For they refreshed us all by kindling a fire, because rain was imminent and because of the cold. ³But when Paul had gathered together a bundle of twigs, and had placed them on the fire, a viper, which had been drawn to the heat, fastened itself to his hand. ⁴And truly, when the natives saw the beast hanging from his hand, they were saying to one another: “Certainly, this man must be a murderer, for though he escaped from the sea, vengeance will not permit him to live.” ⁵But shaking off the creature into the fire, he indeed suffered no ill effects. ⁶But they were supposing that he would soon swell up, and then would suddenly fall down and die. But having waited a long time, and seeing no ill effects in him, they changed their minds and were saying that he was a god.

²³To you, God of our fathers, I confess, and you, I praise. For you have given wisdom and fortitude to me, and now you have revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have uncovered for us the king’s thoughts.”

⁸Certainly, I give thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ, first for all of you, because your faith is being announced throughout the entire world.

³¹I will praise the name of God with a canticle, and I will magnify him with praise.

¹¹“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you have created all things, and they became and were created because of your will.”

¹⁵And let the peace of Christ lift up your hearts. For in this peace, you have been called, as one body. And be thankful.