Book of Common Prayer
The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.
A [a]Mikhtam of David.
16 (A)Preserve me, O God, for (B)I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I (C)have no good besides You.”
3 As for the [d](D)saints who are in the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones (E)in whom is all my delight.
4 The [f](F)sorrows of those who have [g]bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of (G)blood,
Nor will I (H)take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is the (I)portion of my inheritance and my (J)cup;
You support my (K)lot.
6 The (L)lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is (M)beautiful to me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has (N)counseled me;
Indeed, my [h](O)mind instructs me in the night.
8 (P)I have (Q)set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is (R)at my right hand, (S)I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore (T)my heart is glad and (U)my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will (V)dwell securely.
10 For You (W)will not abandon my soul to [i]Sheol;
Nor will You [j](X)allow Your [k]Holy One to [l]undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me (Y)the path of life;
In (Z)Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are (AA)pleasures forever.
Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.
A Prayer of David.
17 Hear a (AB)just cause, O Lord, (AC)give heed to my cry;
(AD)Give ear to my prayer, which is not from (AE)deceitful lips.
2 Let (AF)my [m]judgment come forth from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look with (AG)equity.
3 You have (AH)tried my heart;
You have visited me by night;
You have (AI)tested me and (AJ)You find [n]nothing;
I have (AK)purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 As for the deeds of men, (AL)by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the (AM)paths of the violent.
5 My (AN)steps have held fast to Your [o]paths.
My (AO)feet have not slipped.
6 I have (AP)called upon You, for You will answer me, O God;
(AQ)Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
7 (AR)Wondrously show Your lovingkindness,
O (AS)Savior of those who take refuge [p]at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as [q]the (AT)apple of the eye;
Hide me (AU)in the shadow of Your wings
9 From the (AV)wicked who despoil me,
My (AW)deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have (AX)closed their [r]unfeeling heart,
With their mouth they (AY)speak proudly.
11 They have now (AZ)surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes (BA)to cast us down to the ground.
12 He is (BB)like a lion that is eager to tear,
And as a young lion (BC)lurking in hiding places.
13 (BD)Arise, O Lord, confront him, (BE)bring him low;
(BF)Deliver my soul from the wicked with (BG)Your sword,
14 From men with (BH)Your hand, O Lord,
From men [s]of the world, (BI)whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You (BJ)fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babes.
15 As for me, I shall (BK)behold Your face in righteousness;
(BL)I will be satisfied [t]with Your (BM)likeness when I awake.
A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
For the choir director; upon [a]Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.
22 (A)My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
[b](B)Far from my deliverance are the words of my [c](C)groaning.
2 O my God, I (D)cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but [d]I have no rest.
3 Yet (E)You are holy,
O You who [e]are enthroned upon (F)the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers (G)trusted;
They trusted and You (H)delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
(I)In You they trusted and were not [f]disappointed.
6 But I am a (J)worm and not a man,
A (K)reproach of men and (L)despised by the people.
7 All who see me [g](M)sneer at me;
They [h]separate with the lip, they (N)wag the head, saying,
8 “[i]Commit yourself to the Lord; (O)let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
9 Yet You are He who (P)brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast (Q)from [j]birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 (R)Be not far from me, for [k]trouble is near;
For there is (S)none to help.
12 Many (T)bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of (U)Bashan have encircled me.
13 They (V)open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring (W)lion.
14 I am (X)poured out like water,
And all my (Y)bones are out of joint;
My (Z)heart is like wax;
It is melted within [l]me.
15 My (AA)strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And (AB)my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You (AC)lay me [m]in the dust of death.
16 For (AD)dogs have surrounded me;
[n]A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
[o]They (AE)pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
(AF)They look, they stare at me;
18 They (AG)divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Lord, (AH)be not far off;
O You my help, (AI)hasten to my assistance.
20 Deliver my [p]soul from (AJ)the sword,
My (AK)only life from the [q]power of the dog.
21 Save me from the (AL)lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the (AM)wild oxen You (AN)answer me.
22 I will (AO)tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 (AP)You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you [r]descendants of Jacob, (AQ)glorify Him,
And (AR)stand in awe of Him, all you [s]descendants of Israel.
24 For He has (AS)not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He (AT)hidden His face from him;
But (AU)when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
25 From You comes (AV)my praise in the great assembly;
I shall (AW)pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The [t]afflicted will eat and (AX)be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will (AY)praise the Lord.
Let your (AZ)heart live forever!
27 All the (BA)ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the (BB)families of the nations will worship before [u]You.
28 For the (BC)kingdom is the Lord’s
And He (BD)rules over the nations.
29 All the [v](BE)prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who (BF)go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who [w](BG)cannot keep his soul alive.
30 [x](BH)Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to (BI)the coming generation.
31 They will come and (BJ)will declare His righteousness
To a people (BK)who will be born, that He has performed it.
The Ten Commandments Repeated
5 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your [a]hearing, that you may learn them and observe [b]them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made (A)a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 (B)The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of [c]us alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you (C)face to face at the mountain (D)from the midst of the fire, 5 while (E)I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; (F)for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. [d]He said,
6 ‘(G)I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [e]slavery.
7 ‘(H)You shall have no other gods [f]before Me.
8 ‘(I)You shall not make for yourself [g]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above [h]or on the earth beneath [i]or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, (J)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but (K)showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘(L)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not [j]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘(M)Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but (N)the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who [k]stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 (O)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
16 ‘(P)Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, (Q)that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
17 ‘(R)You shall not murder.
18 ‘(S)You shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘(T)You shall not steal.
20 ‘(U)You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 ‘(V)You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
Moses Interceded
22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. (W)He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
11 I have become (A)foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for (B)in no respect was I inferior to the [a]most eminent apostles, even though (C)I am a nobody. 12 The [b](D)signs [c]of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by [d]signs and wonders and [e]miracles. 13 For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that (E)I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me (F)this wrong!
14 Here (G)for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I (H)will not be a burden to you; for I (I)do not seek what is yours, but (J)you; for (K)children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but (L)parents for their children. 15 I will (M)most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If (N)I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I (O)did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I (P)took you in by deceit. 17 (Q)Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? 18 I (R)urged (S)Titus to go, and I sent (T)the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not [f]conduct ourselves [g]in the same (U)spirit and walk (V)in the same steps?
19 All this time [h]you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, (W)it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and (X)all for your upbuilding, (Y)beloved. 20 For I am afraid that perhaps (Z)when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be (AA)strife, jealousy, (AB)angry tempers, (AC)disputes, (AD)slanders, (AE)gossip, (AF)arrogance, (AG)disturbances; 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have (AH)sinned in the past and not repented of the (AI)impurity, [i]immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “(A)Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the (B)false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are (C)ravenous wolves. 16 You will [a](D)know them by their fruits. [b]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So (E)every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 (F)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them (G)by their fruits.
21 “(H)Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
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