Book of Common Prayer
145 [a]I call out to you with my whole heart;
answer me, O Lord, so that I may observe your decrees.
146 I cry out to you;
save me so that I may obey your statutes.
147 I arise before dawn and cry out for help;
I place my hope in your word.
148 My eyes are awake before each watch of the night[b]
so that I may meditate on your word.
149 In accordance with your kindness[c] hear my voice, O Lord;
grant me life in accordance with your judgments.
150 [d]Those who plot wickedness draw near me,
but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you, O Lord, are near,
and all your precepts are true.
152 Long have I known your decrees
and that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 [e]See my suffering and deliver me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Defend my cause and redeem me;[f]
let me live in accord with your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked[g]
because they do not consider your decrees.
156 Great is your compassion, O Lord;
let me live in accord with your judgments.
157 My persecutors and my enemies are many,
but I do not cast aside your statutes.
158 I regard the faithless with indignation[h]
because they do not observe your word.
159 Consider how I love your precepts, O Lord;
let me live in accord with your kindness.[i]
160 Every word you utter is true,
and all your righteous judgments[j] are everlasting.
Shin
161 [k]The powerful persecute me without cause,
but it is your word that awes my heart.[l]
162 I rejoice in your word
like one who discovers a great treasure.
163 Falsehood I abhor and detest,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times[m] a day I praise you
for your righteous judgments.
165 Those who love your law have great peace;[n]
they encounter no stumbling blocks.
166 I await your salvation, O Lord,
and I carry out your precepts.
167 I obey your statutes,
for I love them dearly.
168 I obey your commands and your statutes;
indeed, all my ways are known to you.[o]
Taw
169 [p]May my cry come before you, O Lord;
grant me understanding according to your word.[q]
170 May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
171 May my lips proclaim your praise
because you teach me your decrees.
172 May my tongue sing of your word,
for all of your precepts are upright.
173 May your hand[r] be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your commandments.
174 [s]I long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
175 Give life to my soul that I may praise you,
and let your judgments sustain me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep;[t]
seek out your servant,
for I have not forgotten your precepts.
Psalm 128[a]
Happy Home of the Righteous
1 [b]A song of ascents.
Blessed[c] are all those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labors;
you will enjoy both blessings and prosperity.[d]
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[e]
within your house;
your sons will be like shoots of an olive tree
around your table.
4 Such are the blessings that will be bestowed
on the man who fears the Lord.
5 [f]May the Lord bless you from Zion[g]
all the days of your life.
May you rejoice in the prosperity of Jerusalem
6 and live to see your children’s children.[h]
Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 129[i]
Prayer in Time of Persecution
1 [j]A song of ascents.
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth—[k]
let Israel say—
2 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but never have my enemies prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back,[l]
making deep furrows.
4 However, the Lord is righteous,
freeing me from the bonds of the wicked.
5 [m]May all those who hate Zion
be thrown back in shame and confusion.[n]
6 [o]May they be like grass on the rooftops
that withers before it can be plucked,
7 so that it can never fill the hands of the reapers
or the arms of the binders of sheaves.
8 May those who pass by never cry out,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 130[p]
Prayer for Pardon and Peace
1 A song of ascents.
Out of the depths[q] I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cries of supplication.[r]
3 If you, O Lord, kept a record of our sins,
O Lord, who could stand[s] upright?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you may be revered.[t]
5 I wait for the Lord[u] in anxious expectation;
I place my hope in his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the dawn.
More than watchmen wait for the dawn[v]
7 [w]let Israel wait for the Lord.
For with the Lord there is kindness,
as well as plenteous redemption.
8 He alone will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
19 David Told of Absalom’s Death. Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said to Joab: “Grant me permission to take the good news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the power of his enemies.” 20 But Joab replied: “Today you would not be the bearer of good news. On some other day, you may do so, but you shall not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”
21 Then Joab said to an Ethiopian: “Go forth and report to the king what you have witnessed.” The Ethiopian bowed down before Joab and ran off. 22 Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, again said to Joab: “Come what may, allow me to run after the Ethiopian.”
Joab replied: “My son, why do you wish to go? You will not receive any reward for the news you bring.” 23 “Come what may,” he answered, “I want to run.” Joab finally relented, and he said: “I grant you leave to depart.” Then Ahimaaz sped off by way of the plain of the Jordan and outran the Ethiopian.
Paul’s Imprisonment and Defenses at Caesarea
23 Paul Is Imprisoned at Caesarea.[a] Then he summoned two of his centurions and said, “Have two hundred soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight,[b] along with seventy cavalrymen and two hundred auxiliaries. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and deliver him to Felix the governor.” 25 He then wrote a letter as follows:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To his Excellency the governor Felix:[c]
Greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them; but when I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I arrived on the scene with my troops and rescued him.
28 Wanting to learn what charge they were making against him, I had him brought before their Sanhedrin. 29 I discovered that the accusation dealt with questions about their Law, but that there was no charge against him that merited death or imprisonment. 30 Now I have been informed of a plot to assassinate this man. I am sending him to you without delay, and I have instructed his accusers to present to you their case against him.
31 Therefore, the soldiers, acting in accordance with their orders, took Paul and escorted him during the night to Antipatris. 32 On the next day, they returned to the barracks, leaving the cavalrymen to escort him the rest of the way. 33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed over Paul to him.
34 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he was from, and on learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that he be held in custody in Herod’s praetorium.
Controversies[a]
13 God or Caesar.[b] Then they sent some Pharisees and Herodians to trap him in what he said. 14 They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and are not concerned with anyone’s opinion no matter what his station in life. Rather, you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful or not for us to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”
15 He was aware of their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius[c] and let me examine it.” 16 When they brought one, he asked them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” They replied and said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar, and to God what is due to God.” His reply left them completely amazed at him.
18 Marriage and the Resurrection.[d] Then some Sadducees, who assert that there is no resurrection, approached him and posed this question, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote down for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall take his brother’s wife and raise up children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first brother took a wife and died, leaving no children. 21 The second brother married the widow and died, leaving no children. The same was true of the third brother. 22 None of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman herself died. 23 Now at the resurrection, when they rise up, whose wife will she be, inasmuch as all seven had her?”
24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are in error—namely, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They are like angels in heaven.
26 “And in regard to the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account about the bush, how God said to him: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ 27 He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are very badly mistaken.”
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