Book of Common Prayer
Delight Yourself in Yahweh
Of David.
Aleph
37 (A)Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not (B)envious toward doers of unrighteousness.
2 For they will (C)wither quickly like the grass
And (D)fade like the green herb.
Beth
3 (E)Trust in Yahweh and do good;
(F)Dwell in the land and [a](G)cultivate faithfulness.
4 (H)Delight yourself in Yahweh;
And He will (I)give you the desires of your heart.
Gimel
5 (J)Commit your way to Yahweh,
Trust in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth (K)your righteousness as the light
And your judgment (L)as the noonday.
Daleth
7 Be still in Yahweh and (M)wait [b]patiently for Him;
(N)Do not fret because of him who (O)prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out schemes of wickedness.
He
8 Cease from anger and (P)forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For (Q)evildoers will be cut off,
But those who hope for Yahweh, they will (R)inherit the land.
Vav
10 Yet (S)a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
You will look carefully at (T)his place, and he will not be there.
11 But (U)the lowly will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in (V)abundant peace.
Zayin
12 The wicked (W)schemes against the righteous
And (X)gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord (Y)laughs at him,
For He sees that (Z)his day is coming.
Heth
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and (AA)bent their bow
To cast down the (AB)afflicted and the needy,
To (AC)slay those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their (AD)bows will be broken.
Teth
16 (AE)Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the (AF)arms of the wicked will be broken,
But Yahweh (AG)sustains the righteous.
Yodh
18 Yahweh (AH)knows the days of the [c]blameless,
And their (AI)inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And (AJ)in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
Kaph
20 But the (AK)wicked will perish;
And the enemies of Yahweh will be like the [d]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—(AL)in smoke they vanish away.
Lamedh
21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous (AM)is gracious and gives.
22 For (AN)those blessed by Him will (AO)inherit the land,
But those (AP)cursed by Him will be cut off.
Mem
23 (AQ)The footsteps of a man are established by Yahweh,
And He (AR)delights in his way.
24 When (AS)he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because (AT)Yahweh is the One [e]who sustains his hand.
Nun
25 I was young and now I am old,
Yet (AU)I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or (AV)his seed begging bread.
26 All day long (AW)he is gracious and lends,
And (AX)his seed is a blessing.
Samekh
Ayin
28 For Yahweh (BA)loves [f]justice
And (BB)will not forsake His holy ones;
They are (BC)kept forever,
But the (BD)seed of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will (BE)inherit the land
And (BF)dwell in it forever.
Pe
30 The mouth of the righteous (BG)utters wisdom,
And his tongue (BH)speaks justice.
31 The (BI)law of his God is in his heart;
His (BJ)steps do not slip.
Tsadhe
32 The (BK)wicked spies upon the righteous
And (BL)seeks to put him to death.
33 Yahweh will (BM)not forsake him in his hand;
(BN)He will not condemn him when he is judged.
Qoph
34 (BO)Hope for Yahweh and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the (BP)wicked are cut off, you will see it.
Resh
35 I have (BQ)seen a wicked, ruthless man
Spreading himself like a (BR)luxuriant [g]tree in its native soil.
36 Then [h]he passed away, and behold, he (BS)was no more;
I sought for him, but he could not be found.
Shin
37 Observe the [i](BT)blameless man, and behold the (BU)upright;
For the man of peace will have [j]a (BV)posterity.
38 But transgressors will be altogether (BW)destroyed;
The [k]posterity of the wicked will be (BX)cut off.
Tav
Solomon Turns from Yahweh
11 Now (A)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, “(B)You shall not [a]go along with them, nor shall they [b]go along with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 (C)And he had 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 Now it happened at the time that Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and (D)his heart was not [c]wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 For Solomon went after (E)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d](F)Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and did not follow Yahweh fully, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for (G)Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for (H)Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now (I)Yahweh was angry with Solomon (J)because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, (K)who had appeared to him twice, 10 and (L)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not walk after other gods; but he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded. 11 So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this has happened with you: you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, so (M)I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, (N)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but (O)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and (P)for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
Wisdom from Above
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? (A)Let him show by his (B)good conduct his works in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter (C)jealousy and [a]selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against (D)the truth. 15 This wisdom is not coming down (E)from above, but is (F)earthly, [b](G)natural, (H)demonic. 16 For where (I)jealousy and [c]selfish ambition exist, [d]there is disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom (J)from above is first (K)pure, then (L)peaceable, (M)considerate, submissive, (N)full of mercy and good fruits, (O)without doubting, without (P)hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness (Q)is sown in peace [e]by those who make peace.
Draw Near to God
4 [f]What is the source of quarrels and (R)conflicts among you? [g]Is not the source your pleasures that wage (S)war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have, so you (T)murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and (U)do not receive, because you ask [h]with wrong motives, so that you may spend it [i]on your pleasures. 4 You (V)adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with (W)the world is (X)enmity toward God? (Y)Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture (Z)speaks to no purpose: “[j]He [k]jealously desires (AA)the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But (AB)He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “(AC)God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 (AD)Be subject therefore to God. (AE)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 (AF)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (AG)Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and (AH)purify your hearts, you (AI)double-minded. 9 (AJ)Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (AK)Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11 (AL)Do not slander one another, (AM)brothers. He who slanders a brother or (AN)judges his brother, slanders (AO)the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not (AP)a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one (AQ)Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is (AR)able to save and to destroy. But (AS)who are you who judge your neighbor?
12 And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they shouted again, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate was saying to them, “Why? What evil did He do?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus (A)scourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.
Jesus Is Mocked
16 (B)So the soldiers took Him away into (C)the [a]palace (that is, the [b]Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman [c](D)cohort. 17 And they *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they *put it on Him; 18 and they began to greet Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they kept beating His head with a [d]reed, and spitting on Him; and kneeling, they were bowing down before Him. 20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him.
21 (E)And they *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and (F)Rufus), to [e]carry His cross.
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