Book of Common Prayer
A Plea for Deliverance and Forgiveness
A Psalm of David.
25 To (A)You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I (B)trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
(C)Let not my enemies triumph over me.
3 Indeed, let no one who [a]waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
4 (D)Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O Lord, (E)Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.
7 Do not remember (F)the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
(G)According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 (H)For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man that fears the Lord?
(I)Him shall [b]He teach in the way He chooses.
13 (J)He himself shall dwell in [c]prosperity,
And (K)his descendants shall inherit the earth.
14 (L)The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
15 (M)My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall [d]pluck my feet out of the net.
16 (N)Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am [e]desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
18 (O)Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with [f]cruel hatred.
20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 (P)Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!
Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Righteous Judgments
To the Chief Musician. To the tune of [a]“Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.
9 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and (A)rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, (B)O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
5 You have rebuked the [b]nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have (C)blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has (D)perished.
7 (E)But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8 (F)He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
9 The Lord also will be a (G)refuge[c] for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who (H)know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion!
(I)Declare His deeds among the people.
12 (J)When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the [d]humble.
13 Have mercy on me, O Lord!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of [e]the daughter of Zion.
I will (K)rejoice in Your salvation.
15 (L)The [f]nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16 The Lord is (M)known by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
(N)Meditation.[g] Selah
The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord
A Psalm of David.
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the (B)truth in his heart;
3 He who (C)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
(D)Nor does he [b]take up a reproach against his friend;
4 (E)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who (F)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things (G)shall never be moved.
13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses (A)sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. 14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone [a]sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because (B)the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have (C)a [b]difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; (D)you are not able to perform it by yourself. 19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you [c]counsel, and God will be with you: Stand (E)before God for the people, so that you may (F)bring the difficulties to God. 20 And you shall (G)teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and (H)the work they must do. 21 Moreover you shall select from all the people (I)able men, such as (J)fear God, (K)men of truth, (L)hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. (M)Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for (N)they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their (O)place in peace.”
24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And (P)Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the (Q)hard[d] cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and (R)he went his way to his own land.
Shepherd the Flock
5 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a (A)witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the (B)glory that will be revealed: 2 (C)Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, (D)not by compulsion but [a]willingly, (E)not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as (F)being [b]lords over (G)those entrusted to you, but (H)being examples to the flock; 4 and when (I)the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive (J)the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Submit to God, Resist the Devil
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, (K)all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be [c]sober, be [d]vigilant; [e]because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But [f]may the God of all grace, (N)who called [g]us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, [h]perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 (O)To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Farewell and Peace
12 By (P)Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying (Q)that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does (R)Mark my son. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ(A)
1 The book of the (B)genealogy[a] of Jesus Christ, (C)the Son of David, (D)the Son of Abraham:
2 (E)Abraham begot Isaac, (F)Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot (G)Judah and his brothers. 3 (H)Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, (I)Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot (J)Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and (K)Jesse begot David the king.
(L)David the king begot Solomon by her [b]who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 (M)Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot (N)Abijah, and Abijah begot [c]Asa. 8 Asa begot (O)Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot (P)Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot (Q)Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 (R)Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot [d]Amon, and Amon begot (S)Josiah. 11 (T)Josiah begot [e]Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were (U)carried away to Babylon.
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, (V)Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot (W)Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of (X)Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way(A)
3 In those days (B)John the Baptist came preaching (C)in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for (D)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
(E)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(F)‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
4 Now (G)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was (H)locusts and (I)wild honey. 5 (J)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 (K)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.