Book of Common Prayer
Mem
Loving God’s Word
97 How I love your instruction![a]
Every day it is my meditation.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my adversaries,
since they are always with me.
99 I am more insightful than my teachers,
because your decrees are my meditations.
100 I have more common sense than the elders,
for I observe your precepts.
101 I keep away from every evil choice[b]
so that I may keep your word.[c]
102 I do not avoid your judgments,
for you pointed them out to me.
103 How pleasing is what you have to say to me—
tasting better than honey.
104 I obtain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every false way.
Nun
God’s Word a Light
105 Your word is[d] a lamp for my feet,
a light for my pathway.
106 I have given my word and affirmed it,
to keep your righteous judgments.
107 I am severely afflicted.
Revive me, Lord, according to your word.
108 Lord, please accept my voluntary offerings of praise,[e]
and teach me your judgments.
109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I do not forget your instruction.[f]
110 Though the wicked lay a trap for me,
I haven’t wandered away from your precepts.
111 I have inherited your decrees forever,
because they are the joy of my heart.
112 As a result, I am determined
to carry out your statutes forever.
Samek
Loving God’s Law
113 I despise the double-minded,
but I love your instruction.[g]
114 You are my fortress and shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Leave me, you who practice evil,
that I may observe the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me, God,[h] as you have promised,
and I will live.
Do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Support me, that I may be saved,
and I will carry out your statutes consistently.
118 You reject all who wander from your statutes,
since their deceitfulness is vain.
119 You remove[i] all the wicked of the earth like[j] dross;
therefore I love your decrees.
120 My flesh trembles out of fear of you,
and I am in awe of[k] your judgments.
For the Director: On the Gittith. By Asaph.
Celebrating and Remembering God
81 Sing joyfully to God, our strength.
Raise a shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Sing a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding lyre along with the harp.
3 Blow the ram’s horn when there is a New Moon,
when there is a full moon,
on our festival day,
4 because it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance by the God of Jacob,
5 a decree that he prescribed for Joseph
when he went throughout the land of Egypt,
speaking a language I did not recognize.[a]
6 I removed the burden from your[b] shoulder;
your[c] hands were freed of the burdensome basket.[d]
7 In a time of need you called out and I delivered you;
I answered you from the dark thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Listen, My people and I will warn you.
Israel, if only you would obey me!
9 You must neither have a foreign god over you
or worship a strange god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
open your mouth that I may fill it.
11 Yet my people didn’t obey my voice;
Israel didn’t submit to me.
12 So I allowed them[e] to continue in their stubbornness,
living by their own advice.
13 If only my people would obey me,
if only Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies.
I would turn against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord will cringe before him;
their punishment will be permanent.
16 But I will feed Israel[f] with the finest wheat,
satisfying you with honey from the rock.
A Psalm of Asaph
Asking God for Justice
2 “How long will you judge partially
by showing favor on the wicked?[i]
3 “Defend the poor and the fatherless.
Vindicate the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the poor and the needy,
delivering them from the power of the wicked.
5 They neither know nor understand;
they walk about in the dark
while all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “Indeed I said, ‘You are gods,
and all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 However, as all human beings do, you will die,
and like other rulers, you will fall.’
8 Arise, God, to judge the earth,
for all nations belong to you.
Pharaoh is Pleased
16 As soon as the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had arrived, Pharaoh and his servants were ecstatic. 17 Pharaoh told Joseph, “Be sure to tell your brothers, ‘Do this: load up your livestock, go back to the land of Canaan, 18 get your father and your households, and come back to me. I’ll give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can live off the abundance of the land.’ 19 In addition,” Pharaoh ordered, “Do this: take some transport wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones to ride in, along with your wives, and bring your father and come! 20 Don’t worry about your household goods, because the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.”
Joseph’s Brothers Go Back Home
21 So Israel’s sons did what they were asked to do, and Joseph provided wagons for them, as Pharaoh had commanded. He also gave them provisions for the journey. 22 He gave each of them some changes of clothes, but he also gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 He sent his father ten male donkeys loaded with the best of Egyptian goods and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provisions for his father during the journey. 24 Then Joseph[a] sent his brothers away, and they left for home.[b] As they were leaving, Joseph admonished them, “Don’t quarrel on the way back!”
25 So Joseph’s brothers[c] left Egypt and returned to the land of Canaan and to their father Jacob, 26 where they informed their father, “Joseph is still alive! As a matter of fact, he’s ruling the entire land of Egypt.” But Jacob didn’t believe them, because he had become cynical.[d] 27 However, as soon as his sons[e] had told him everything Joseph had said, and after he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent along to carry him, their father Jacob’s spirit was encouraged.
28 “It’s enough,” Israel replied. “My son Joseph is still alive. I’m going to go see him before I die!”
Concerning Food Offered to Idols
8 Now concerning food offered to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he really[a] knows something, he has not yet learned it as he ought to know it. 3 But anyone who loves God is known by him.[b]
4 Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one God. 5 For even if there are “gods” in heaven and on earth (as indeed there are many so-called “gods” and “lords”), 6 yet for us
there is only one God, the Father,
from whom everything came into being
and for whom we live.
And there is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah,[c]
through whom everything came into being
and through whom we live.
7 But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are so accustomed to idolatry that when they eat food that has been offered to an idol, their conscience becomes contaminated because it is weak. 8 However, food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat food that has been offered to an idol,[d] and no better off if we do.
9 But you must see to it that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block for those who are weak. 10 For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you, who know better, eating in an idol’s temple, he will be encouraged to eat what has been offered to idols, won’t he? 11 In that case, the weak brother for whom the Messiah[e] died is ruined by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak consciences, you are sinning against the Messiah.[f] 13 Therefore, if food that I eat[g] causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling.
13 They also kept driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.
The Death of John the Baptist(A)
14 King Herod heard about this, because Jesus’[a] name had become well-known. He was[b] saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead! That’s why he is able to do these miracles.”
15 Others were saying, “He is Elijah.”
Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the other[c] prophets.”
16 But when Herod heard about it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” 17 because Herod himself had sent men who arrested[d] John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom Herod[e] had married.
18 John had been telling Herod, “It’s not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias bore a grudge against John[f] and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t do it 20 because Herod was afraid of John. He knew that John[g] was a righteous and holy man, and so he protected him. Whenever he listened to John,[h] he did much of what he said.[i] In fact, he liked listening to him.
21 An opportunity came during Herod’s birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias[j] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 He swore with an oath to her, “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.”
24 So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother[k] replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25 Immediately the girl[l] hurried back to the king with her request, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her. 27 So without delay the king sent a soldier and ordered him to bring John’s[m] head. The soldier[n] went and beheaded him in prison. 28 Then he brought John’s[o] head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s[p] disciples heard about this, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb.
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