Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2
O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence],
Do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed;
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3
Indeed, none of those who [expectantly] wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who turn away from what is right and deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed (humiliated, embarrassed).
4
Let me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
6
Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
7
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
10
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.
12
Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
13
His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
14
The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.(A)
15
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.
16
Turn to me [Lord] and be gracious to me,
For I am alone and afflicted.
17
The troubles of my heart are multiplied;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18
Look upon my affliction and my trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
19
Look upon my enemies, for they are many;
They hate me with cruel and violent hatred.
20
Guard my soul and rescue me;
Do not let me be ashamed or disappointed,
For I have taken refuge in You.
21
Let integrity and uprightness protect me,
For I wait [expectantly] for You.
22
O God, redeem Israel,
Out of all his troubles.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
To the Chief Musician; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks and praise the Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell aloud all Your wonders and marvelous deeds.
2
I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3
When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish before You.
4
For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
5
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked and unrepentant;
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
6
The enemy has been cut off and has vanished in everlasting ruins,
You have uprooted their cities;
The very memory of them has perished.
7
But the Lord will remain and sit enthroned forever;
He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.(A)
8
And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the nations with fairness (equity).(B)
9
The Lord also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble;
10
And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.(C)
11
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;
Declare among the peoples His [great and wondrous] deeds.
12
For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people);
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.
13
Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;
See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14
That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.
15
The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16
The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.
17
The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.
18
For the poor will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.
19
Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged before You.
20
Put them in [reverent] [b]fear of You, O Lord,
So that the nations may know they are but [frail and mortal] men. Selah.
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent?
Who may dwell [continually] on Your holy hill?
2
He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness,
And speaks and holds truth in his heart.
3
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4
In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];
5
He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],
And does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.(A)
Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish [stubborn] son [who refuses to learn] is a grief to his mother.
2
Treasures of wickedness and ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness and moral integrity in daily life rescues from death.
3
The Lord will not allow the [a]righteous to hunger [God will meet all his needs],
But He will reject and cast away the craving of the wicked.(A)
4
Poor is he who works with a negligent and idle hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes him rich.
5
He who gathers during summer and takes advantage of his opportunities is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps during harvest and ignores the moment of opportunity is a son who acts shamefully.
6
Blessings are on the head of the righteous [the upright, those in right standing with God],
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
7
The [b]memory of the righteous [person] is a [source of] blessing,
But the name of the wicked will [be forgotten and] rot [like a corpse].(B)
8
The wise in heart [are willing to learn so they] will accept and obey commands (instruction),
But the babbling fool [who is arrogant and thinks himself wise] will come to ruin.
9
He who walks in integrity and with moral character walks securely,
But he who takes a crooked way will be discovered and punished.
10
He who [maliciously] winks the eye [of evil intent] causes trouble;
And the babbling fool [who is arrogant and thinks himself wise] will come to ruin.
11
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life and his words of wisdom are a source of blessing,
But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence and evil.
12
Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers and overwhelms all transgressions [forgiving and overlooking another’s faults].
Correcting False Teaching
1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus by the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) our Hope [the fulfillment of our salvation],
2 to Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain individuals not to teach any different doctrines, 4 nor to pay attention to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation and meaningless arguments rather than advancing God’s program of instruction which is grounded in faith [and requires surrendering the entire self to God in absolute trust and confidence]. 5 But the goal of our instruction is love [which springs] from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some individuals have wandered away from these things into empty arguments and useless discussions, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law [of Moses], even though they do not understand the terms they use or the subjects about which they make [such] confident declarations.
8 Now we know [without any doubt] that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully and appropriately, 9 understanding the fact that law is not enacted for the righteous person [the one in right standing with God], but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for sexually immoral persons, for homosexuals, for [a]kidnappers and slave traders, for liars, for perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able for this, because He considered me faithful and trustworthy, putting me into service [for this ministry], 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer [of our Lord] and a persecutor [of His church] and a shameful and outrageous and violent aggressor [toward believers]. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord [His amazing, unmerited favor and blessing] flowed out in superabundance [for me, together] with the faith and love which are [realized] in Christ Jesus. 15 [b]This is a faithful and trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance and approval, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example or pattern for those who [c]would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King of the ages [eternal], immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Pharisees Rebuked
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw.(A) 23 All the people wondered in amazement, and said, “Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?” 24 But the Pharisees heard it and said, “This man [a]casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.”
25 Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will [continue to] stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his demons], he has become divided against himself and disunited; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [before you expected it]. 29 Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.(B)
The Unpardonable Sin
30 He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.(C)
31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but [b]blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.(D)
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