Book of Common Prayer
Davidic[a]
A Prayer for Help and Forgiveness
25 I will lift up my soul to you, Lord.
2 I trust in you, my God,
do not let me be ashamed;
do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3 Indeed, no one who waits on you will be ashamed,
but those who offend for no reason will be put to shame.
4 Cause me to understand your ways, Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me;
for you are the God who delivers me.
All day long I have waited for you.
6 Remember, Lord, your tender mercies and your gracious love;
indeed, they are eternal!
7 Do not remember my youthful sins and transgressions;
but remember me in light of your gracious love,
in light of your goodness, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and just;
therefore he will teach sinners concerning the way.
9 He will guide the humble[b] to justice;
he will teach the humble[c] his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord lead to gracious love and truth
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.[d]
11 For the sake of your name,[e] Lord,
forgive my sin, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
God[f] will teach him the path he should choose.
13 He[g] will experience good things;
his descendants will inherit the earth.
14 The intimate counsel of the Lord is for those who fear him
so they may know his covenant.
15 My eyes look to the Lord continuously,
because he’s the one who releases my feet from the trap.[h]
16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,
for I am lonely and oppressed.
17 The troubles of my heart have increased;
bring me out of my distress!
18 Look upon my distress and affliction;
forgive all my sins.
19 Look how many enemies I have gained!
They hate me with a vicious hatred.
20 Preserve my life and deliver me;
do not let me be ashamed,
because I take refuge in you.
21 Integrity and justice will preserve me,
because I wait on you.
22 Redeem Israel, God, from all its troubles.
To the Director: Accompanied by female voices.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
A Cry for God’s Justice
9 [b]I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
I will declare all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praises to your name, Most High!
3 When my enemies turn back,
they will stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have brought about justice for me and my cause;
you sit on the throne judging righteously.
5 You rebuked the nations,
you destroyed the wicked,
you wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has perished,
reduced to ruins forever.
You uprooted their cities,
the very memory of them vanished.
7 But the Lord sits on his throne[c] forever;
his throne is established for judgment.
8 He will judge the world righteously
and make just decisions for the people.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of distress.
10 Those who know your name will trust you,
for you have not forsaken those who seek you, Lord.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion;
declare his mighty deeds among the peoples.
12 As an avenger of blood, he remembers them;
he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord,
take note of my affliction,
because of those who hate me.
You snatch me away from the gates of death,
14 so I may declare everything for which you should be praised[d]
in the gates of the daughter of Zion,[e]
so I will rejoice in your deliverance.
15 The nations have sunk down into the pit they made,
their feet are ensnared in the trap[f] they set.
16 The Lord has made himself known,
executing judgment.
The wicked are ensnared
by what their hands have made.
17 The wicked will turn back to where the dead are[h]—
all the nations that have forgotten God.
18 For he will not always overlook the plight of the poor,
nor will the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 Rise up, Lord,
do not let man prevail!
The nations will be judged in your presence.
20 Make them afraid, Lord,
Let the nations know that they are only human.[i]
A Davidic Psalm.
Welcomed into God’s Presence
15 Lord, who may stay in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
2 The one who lives with integrity,
who does righteous deeds,
and who speaks truth to himself.
3 The one who does not slander with his tongue,
who does no evil to his neighbor,
and who does not destroy his friend’s reputation.
4 The one who despises those who are utterly wicked,
but who honors the one who fears the Lord,
who keeps his word even when it hurts and does not change,
5 who does not loan his money with interest,
and who does not take a bribe against those who are innocent.
The one who does these things will stand firm[a] forever.
32 “Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your great name, your mighty acts,[a] and your obvious power,[b] when they come and pray in the direction of this Temple, 33 then hear from heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name.
34 “When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name, 35 then hear their prayer and their request from heaven, and fight for their cause.
36 “When they sin against you—because there isn’t a single human being who doesn’t sin—and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to a land that’s near or far away, 37 if they turn their hearts back to you[c] in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you—even if they do so in the land where they have been taken captive—confessing, ‘We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,’ 38 if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land where they have been taken captive, as they pray in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name, 39 then hear their prayer and requests from heaven, where you reside, and fight for their cause, forgiving your people who have sinned against you.
40 “And now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers that are uttered in[d] this place.
41 “And now may the Lord God arise, to your place of rest, you, and the ark of your power! Let your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and cause your godly ones to find their joy in what is good.
42 “Lord God, do not turn your face away from your anointed one.[e] Remember your gracious love to your servant David.”
The Glory of God Fills the Temple(A)
7 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire descended from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. 2 The priests could not enter into the Temple because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s Temple. 3 When all of the Israelis saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord resting[f] on the Temple, they bowed down with their faces[g] to the ground on the pavement, worshipped, and gave thanks to the Lord,
“Because he is good;
because his gracious love is eternal.”
4 Then the king and all the people kept on offering sacrifices in the presence of the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how[h] the king and all of the people dedicated God’s Temple. 6 The priests stood in waiting at their assigned places, along with the descendants of Levi who carried musical instruments used in service to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—because his gracious love is eternal—whenever David, accompanied by priests[i] sounding trumpets, offered praises while all of Israel stood in the assembly.[j]
7 Solomon also dedicated the middle of the court in front of the Lord’s Temple by offering there burnt offerings and fat from peace offerings because the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not contain the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat portion offerings.
Do Not Show Partiality
2 My brothers, do not let your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[a] be tainted by favoritism. 2 Suppose a man wearing gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly,[b] and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in. 3 If you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Please take this seat,” but you say to the poor man, “Stand over there” or “Sit on the floor at my feet,”[c] 4 then you will have made false distinctions among yourselves and will have judged from evil motives, will you not?
5 Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not? 6 But you have humiliated the man who is poor. Are not rich people the ones who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Are not they the ones who blaspheme the noble Name[d] by which you have been called?
8 Nevertheless, you are doing the right thing if you obey the royal Law in keeping with the Scripture, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”[e] 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and will be convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law but fails in one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For the one who said, “Never commit adultery,”[f] also said, “Never murder.”[g] Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you become a violator of the Law. 12 You must make it your habit to speak and act like people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For the one who has shown no mercy will be judged without mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Jesus is Tried before the High Priest(A)
53 Then they took Jesus to the high priest. All the high priests, elders, and scribes had gathered together. 54 Peter followed Jesus[a] at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the servants and warming himself at the fire. 55 Meanwhile, the high priests and the whole Council[b] were looking for some testimony against Jesus in order to have him put to death, but they couldn’t find any. 56 Although many people gave false testimony against him, their testimony didn’t agree.
57 Then some men stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, 58 “We ourselves heard him say, ‘I will destroy this sanctuary made by human[c] hands, and in three days I will build another one not made by human[d] hands.’” 59 But even on this point their testimony didn’t agree.
60 Then the high priest stood up before them[e] and asked Jesus, “Don’t you have any answer to what these men are testifying against you?” 61 But he kept silent and didn’t answer at all. The high priest asked him again, “Are you the Messiah,[f] the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 Jesus said, “I AM, and
‘you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power’[g]
and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”[h]
63 Then the high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we still need witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard his blasphemy! What is your verdict?” All of them condemned him as deserving death.
65 Some of them began to spit on him. They blindfolded him and kept hitting him with their fists and telling him, “Prophesy!” Even the servants took him and slapped him around.
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