Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Repentance
A psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.[a]
38 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger
or chastise me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation.
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have passed over my head;
like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds start to stink; they rot
because of my foolishness.
6 I am bowed down; I am bent over greatly.
All the day I go about mourning.
7 For my loins are full of burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am faint and crushed greatly;
I groan because of the roaring of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you,
and my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs violently, my strength leaves me;
and the light of my eyes, that also is not with me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and my relatives stand afar off.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares as well,
and those intent on my harm speak threats.
They also plot deceit all day.
13 But as for me, like the deaf I cannot hear,
and I am like the mute who cannot open his mouth.
14 And so I am like a man who hears not,
and in whose mouth there are no retorts.
15 Rather for you I wait, O Yahweh.
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Help, lest they rejoice over me,
lest they boast against me when my foot slips.”
17 For I am ready to stumble,
and my pain is before me continually.
18 For my iniquity I confess;
I am anxious because of my sin.
19 And my enemies without cause[b] are numerous,
and those who hate me wrongfully[c] are many.
20 And those who repay evil in return for good
accuse me in return for my pursuing good.
21 Do not forsake me, O Yahweh.
O my God, do not be far from me.
22 Hurry to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
Daleth
25 My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.
26 I told of my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts,
that I may meditate on your wonderful things.
28 My soul weeps[a] because of grief;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Remove from me the deceptive way,
and graciously give me your law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way;
I have set your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies;
O Yahweh, do not let me be put to shame.
32 I will run the way of your commands,
for you will enlarge my heart.[b]
Heʼ
33 Teach me, O Yahweh, the way of your statutes,
and I will keep it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and heed it with my whole heart.
35 Cause me to walk in the path of your commands,
for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to dishonest gain.
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at what is worthless;
revive me in your ways.
38 Fulfill your word[c] to your servant,
which is to bring about a reverence for you.
39 Turn away my disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
40 Look, I have longed for your precepts;
revive me in your righteousness.
Waw
41 Let your acts of loyal love also come to me, O Yahweh,
your salvation according to your word.[d]
42 Then I will have an answer for the one who taunts me,
for I trust your word.
43 And do not snatch the word of truth utterly from my mouth,
for I hope in your ordinances.
44 So I will heed your law continually,
forever and ever.
45 And I will go about freely,[e]
for I have sought your precepts.
46 And I will speak of your testimonies before kings,
and will not be ashamed.
47 And I will take delight in your commands,
which I love.
48 And I will lift up my hands[f] to your commands, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 My Lord Yahweh showed me this, and there was a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And Yahweh said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel. I will not pass by them again!” 3 “And the songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares[a] my Lord Yahweh. “The corpses are numerous; he throws them in every place. Be quiet!” 4 Hear this, those who trample on the poor and who annihilate the afflicted of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, so that we can sell grain? And the Sabbath, so that we can open the grain bins, that we can make the ephah small and make the shekel large, and can practice deceit with a set of scales of deceit? 6 That we can[b] buy the powerless with silver and the poor for the sake of a pair of sandals, and we can sell the waste of the grain?” 7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds! 8 On account of this, will not the land tremble and will not every living thing in it mourn? And all of it will rise like the Nile and it will be tossed about and subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 And then in that day,” declares[c] my Lord Yahweh, “I[d] will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light. 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all of your songs into lament, and I will put sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day. 11 Look, the days are coming,” declares[e] my Lord Yahweh, “when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread and not a thirst for water, but of hearing[f] the words of Yahweh! 12 And they will wander from sea to sea and from the north and to the east. They will roam about to seek the word of Yahweh, but they will not find it! 13 In that day the beautiful young women and the young men will faint because of thirst. 14 These are those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘By the life of your gods, O Dan,’ and ‘By the life of the way of Beersheba,’ they will fall and they will not rise again.”
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives, and I was dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever[a], and I hold the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Therefore, write the things which you saw, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place after these things. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands—the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The Letter to the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
“This is what the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand says, the one who walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands: 2 ‘I know your works, and your labor and patient endurance, and that you are not able to tolerate evil, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you found them to be false. 3 And you have patient endurance, and have endured many things because of my name, and have not become weary. 4 But I have this against you: that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the works you did at first[b]. But if you do not, I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 But you do have this: that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, things which I also hate. 7 The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to him to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.’
Seven Woes Pronounced on the Scribes and Pharisees
23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses. 3 Therefore do and observe everything that they tell you, but do not do as they do,[a] for they tell others to do something[b] and do not do it themselves.[c] 4 And they tie up heavy burdens[d] and put them[e] on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing with their finger to move them. 5 And they do all their deeds in order to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries broad and make their[f] tassels long. 6 And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people. 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ because one is your teacher, and you are all brothers, 9 And do not call anyone[g] your father on earth, for one is your heavenly Father. 10 And do not be called teachers, because one is your teacher, the Christ. 11 And the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software