Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26[a]
Prayer for the Righteous
1 Of David.
O Lord, come to my defense,
for I have lived a blameless life.
I have placed my trust in the Lord,
and never have I wavered in that regard.
2 Test me, O Lord, and try me;
probe my heart and my mind.
3 For your kindness[b] is before my eyes,
and I am constantly guided by your truth.
4 I do not sit in the company of deceivers,
nor do I associate with hypocrites.
5 I abhor the assembly of the wicked,
and I refuse to associate with evildoers.
6 I wash my hands in innocence[c]
and join the procession around your altar, O Lord,
7 giving voice to your praises
and proclaiming all your wondrous deeds.[d]
8 I love the house where you dwell, O Lord,
the place where your glory resides.[e]
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with those who thirst for blood,[f]
10 whose hands carry out evil schemes,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 Rather, I choose to walk in innocence;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground;[g]
in the full assembly I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 28[a]
Thanksgiving for Supplications Heard
1 Of David.
To you I call out, O Lord, my Rock;[b]
do not turn a deaf ear to my cry.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear my voice in supplication
as I plead for your help,
as I lift up my hands[c]
toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Do not snatch me away with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil,
who talk of peace to their neighbors
while treachery is in their hearts.[d]
4 [e]Repay them as their deeds deserve
in accordance with the evil they inflict;
repay them for the works of their hands
and heap upon them what they justly deserve.
5 Since they have paid no heed to the deeds of the Lord
or to the works of his hands,
he will strike them down
and refuse to restore them.
6 Blessed[f] be the Lord,
for he has heard my cry of supplication.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart[g] places its trust in him.
He has helped me, and I exult;
then with my song I praise him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
the refuge where his anointed one[h] finds salvation.
9 Save your people and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd[i] and sustain them forever.
Psalm 36[a]
Human Weakness and Divine Goodness
1 For the director.[b] Of David the servant of the Lord.
2 Sin speaks to the wicked man in his heart;[c]
in his eyes there is no fear of God.
3 He deludes himself with the idea
that his guilt will not be discovered and hated.[d]
4 The words his mouth utters are malicious and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and act uprightly.
5 Even when he lies on his bed,[e]
he is hatching evil plots.
He commits himself to a wicked course
and refuses to reject evil.
6 [f]O Lord, your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
7 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep;
you sustain both humans and beasts, O Lord.
8 How precious, O God, is your kindness![g]
People seek refuge in the shadow of your wings.
9 They feast on the abundance of your house,[h]
and you give them to drink from your delightful streams.
10 For with you is the fountain of life,[i]
and by your light we see light.
11 Continue to bestow your kindness[j] on those who know you,
and your saving justice on the upright of heart.
12 Let not the foot of the arrogant tread upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me out.
13 Behold, the evildoers have fallen;
they are overthrown and unable to rise.
Psalm 39[a]
The Brevity and Vanity of Life
1 For the director.[b] For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
2 I said, “I will be careful of my behavior
so as not to sin with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth[c]
whenever the wicked are in my presence.”
3 I kept completely silent
and refrained from speech,
but my distress only increased.
4 My heart[d] smoldered within me,
and, as I pondered, my mind was inflamed,
and my tongue began to speak:
5 [e]“O Lord, let me know my end
and the number of days left to me;
show me how fleeting my life is.
6 You have allotted me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight;
human existence is a mere breath. Selah
7 Humans are nothing but a passing shadow;
the riches they amass are a mere breath,
and they do not know who will enjoy them.[f]
8 “So now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
9 Deliver me from all my sins;
do not subject me to the taunts of fools.[g]
10 “I was silent and did not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
11 Remove your scourge from me;
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
12 You rebuke and punish people for their sins;
like a moth you consume all their desires;
human existence is a mere puff of wind. Selah
13 [h]“Hear my prayer, O Lord;
do not be deaf to my cry
or ignore my weeping.
For I am a wayfarer[i] before you,
a nomad like all my ancestors.
14 Turn your eyes away so that I may be glad
before I depart and am no more.”[j]
65 At that time Solomon celebrated before the Lord, our God, with all of Israel, a great assembly, people who came from the entrance of Hamath down to the Wadi of Egypt. It lasted seven days, and then another seven days, fourteen days in all.[a] 66 The next day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and they went home, filled with joy and glad of heart for all of the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and Israel, his people.
Chapter 9
The Lord’s Promise to Solomon.1 When Solomon had completed the construction of the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, Solomon had accomplished all that he desired to do.
2 The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you made before me, and I have consecrated the temple that you built by establishing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 And as for you, if you walk before me as David, your father, walked, in integrity of heart and righteousness, and you do all that I command you, and you observe my statutes and my ordinances, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever just as I promised David, your father, when I said, ‘You will not fail to have one who will reign upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if your children turn away from me, and they do not follow me nor do they observe my commandments or my statutes that I have set before you, and they go off to serve other gods, and they worship them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them, and I will reject from my sight this temple that I have consecrated for my name. Israel will become a byword and a laughingstock among all the nations. 8 Although this temple is now exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss at it, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this temple?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, their God, who brought their fathers forth from the land of Egypt. They have embraced other gods, and they have worshiped them and served them. This is why the Lord has brought all of these disasters upon them.’ ”
14 True Faith Is Proved by Works.[a] What good is it, my brethren, if someone claims to have faith but does not have good works? Can such faith save him? 15 [b]Suppose a brother or sister is naked and lacks his or her daily food. 16 If one of you says to such a person, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat well,” but does not take care of that person’s physical needs, what is the good of that? 17 In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it does not have works.
18 But perhaps someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and by works I will show you my faith. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well to assert that. But even the demons believe and tremble.
20 You fool! Do you want proof that faith without works is futile? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 Thus, you can see that his faith and his works were active together; his faith was brought to completion by works.
23 Thus, the words of Scripture were fulfilled that say, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You can see, then, that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 Likewise, Rahab the prostitute,[c] was she not also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them away by a different road? 26 For just as the body is dead without a spirit, so faith without works is also dead.
66 Peter Denies Jesus.[a] While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant girls came by. 67 When she noticed Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” Thereupon he went forth into the outer courtyard. Then the cock crowed.[b] 69 The servant girl saw him and again began to say to the bystanders: “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it.
Shortly afterward, some bystanders said to Peter, “You are unquestionably one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 Then he began to shout curses, and he swore an oath: “I do not know this man you are talking about.” 72 At that very moment, a cock crowed for a second time, and Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
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