Book of Common Prayer
Lead Me in Your Righteousness
To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my (A)groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my (B)King and my God,
for (C)to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in (D)the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you[a] and (E)watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The (F)boastful shall not (G)stand before your eyes;
you (H)hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak (I)lies;
the Lord abhors (J)the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will (K)bow down (L)toward your (M)holy temple
in the fear of you.
8 (N)Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
(O)make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is (P)destruction;
(Q)their throat is (R)an open grave;
they (S)flatter with their tongue.
10 (T)Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them (U)fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who (V)take refuge in you (W)rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may (X)exult in you.
12 For you (Y)bless the righteous, O Lord;
you (Z)cover him with favor as with (AA)a shield.
O Lord, Deliver My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to (AB)The Sheminith.[b] A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (AC)rebuke me not in your anger,
nor (AD)discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
(AE)heal me, O Lord, (AF)for my bones are troubled.
3 My (AG)soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—(AH)how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in (AI)death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
Why Do You Hide Yourself?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them (D)be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain (F)curses[a] and (G)renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face[b] the wicked does not (H)seek him;[c]
all his thoughts are, (I)“There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, (J)out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he (K)puffs at them.
6 He (L)says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I (M)shall not meet adversity.”
7 (N)His mouth is filled with cursing and (O)deceit and (P)oppression;
(Q)under his tongue are (R)mischief and (S)iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in (T)hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like (U)a lion in his (V)thicket;
he (W)lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his (X)net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has (Y)hidden his face, he (Z)will never see it.”
12 (AA)Arise, O Lord; O God, (AB)lift up your hand;
(AC)forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked (AD)renounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not (AE)call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you (AF)note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless (AG)commits himself;
you have been (AH)the helper of the fatherless.
15 (AI)Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
(AJ)call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 (AK)The Lord is king forever and ever;
the (AL)nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will (AM)strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to (AN)do justice to the fatherless and (AO)the oppressed,
so that (AP)man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
The Lord Is in His Holy Temple
To the choirmaster. Of David.
11 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
(AQ)Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked (AR)bend the bow;
(AS)they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if (AT)the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?[d]
4 (AU)The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord's (AV)throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids (AW)test the children of man.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous,
but (AY)his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
(AZ)fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be (BA)the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he (BB)loves righteous deeds;
(BC)the upright shall behold his face.
16 (A)Better is a little with the fear of the Lord
than great treasure and trouble with it.
17 (B)Better is a dinner of herbs where love is
than (C)a fattened ox and hatred with it.
18 (D)A hot-tempered man (E)stirs up strife,
but he who is (F)slow to anger quiets contention.
19 The way of (G)a sluggard is like a hedge of (H)thorns,
but the path of the upright is (I)a level highway.
20 (J)A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish man despises his mother.
21 (K)Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,
but a man of understanding (L)walks straight ahead.
22 (M)Without counsel plans fail,
but with many advisers they succeed.
23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and (N)a word in season, how good it is!
24 The path of life leads upward (O)for the prudent,
that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.
25 The Lord tears down the house of (P)the proud
but (Q)maintains (R)the widow's boundaries.
26 (S)The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,
but (T)gracious words are pure.
27 Whoever is (U)greedy for unjust gain (V)troubles his own household,
but he who hates (W)bribes will live.
28 The heart of the righteous (X)ponders how to answer,
but (Y)the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
29 The Lord is (Z)far from the wicked,
but he (AA)hears the prayer of the righteous.
30 (AB)The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
and (AC)good news refreshes[a] the bones.
31 (AD)The ear that listens to (AE)life-giving reproof
will dwell among the wise.
32 Whoever (AF)ignores instruction (AG)despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof (AH)gains intelligence.
33 (AI)The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and (AJ)humility comes before honor.
A Worker Approved by God
14 Remind them of these things, and (A)charge them before God[a] (B)not to quarrel about words, (C)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[b] a worker (D)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But (E)avoid (F)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are (G)Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, (H)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: (I)“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone (J)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
20 Now in (K)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, (L)some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, (M)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[c] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, (N)ready for every good work.
22 So (O)flee (P)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with (Q)those who call on the Lord (R)from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant (S)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And (T)the Lord's servant[d] must not be quarrelsome but (U)kind to everyone, (V)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents (W)with gentleness. God (X)may perhaps grant them repentance (Y)leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from (Z)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become (A)sons of light.”
The Unbelief of the People
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 (B)so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
(C)“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they (D)could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 (E)“He has blinded their eyes
and (F)hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because (G)he saw his glory and (H)spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, (I)many even of the authorities believed in him, but (J)for fear of the Pharisees they did not (K)confess it, so that they would not be (L)put out of the synagogue; 43 (M)for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Jesus Came to Save the World
44 And Jesus cried out and said, (N)“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but (O)in him who sent me. 45 And (P)whoever (Q)sees me sees him who sent me. 46 (R)I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone (S)hears my words and does not keep them, (T)I do not judge him; for (U)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 (V)The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; (W)the word that I have spoken will judge him (X)on the last day. 49 For (Y)I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father (Z)who sent me has himself given me (AA)a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.