Book of Common Prayer
A Promise to Act with Integrity
Of David. A psalm.[a]
101 I will sing of loyal love and justice;
I will sing praises to you, O Yahweh.
2 I will give attention to the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will walk in the integrity of my heart
in the midst of my house.
3 I will not set before my eyes
any wicked thing.
I hate the work of those who fall away;[b]
it will not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart will depart from me;
I will not know evil.
5 One who slanders his neighbor in secret,
him I will destroy.
One haughty of eyes and arrogant[c] of heart,
him I will not endure.
6 My eyes will be on the faithful of the land,
that they may live with me.
He who walks in the way of integrity,
he shall minister to me.
7 There will not live in the midst of my house
a worker of deceit.
One who speaks lies
will not remain[d] before my eyes.
8 Each morning,[e]
I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
cutting off from the city of Yahweh all evildoers.
A Prayer for Help against Enemies
For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]
109 O God of my praise, do not keep silent,
2 for wicked and deceitful mouths[b]
have opened against me.
They speak to me with a lying tongue.
3 They also surround me with words of hate,
and fight me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
though I am in prayer.[c]
5 So they inflicted evil against me in return for good
and hatred in return for my love.
6 Appoint over him a wicked man,
and let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, let him come out guilty,
and let his prayer[d] become as sin.
8 Let his days be few;
let another take his office.
9 Let his children be orphans,
and his wife a widow,
10 and let his children wander aimlessly and beg,
and let them plead from their ruins.
11 Let the creditor seize all that is his,
and let strangers plunder his property.
12 Let there be none who extend to him loyal love,
nor any who pities his orphans.
13 Let his descendants[e] be cut off.
Let their name be blotted out in the next generation.
14 Let the iniquity of his ancestors[f] be remembered before Yahweh,
and let the sin of his mother not be blotted out.
15 Let them be before Yahweh continually,
that he may cut off their[g] memory from the earth,
16 because he did not remember to show loyal love,
but he pursued anyone,[h] poor or needy
or brokenhearted, to slay them.
17 Because he loved cursing, let it come upon him.
Because he did not delight in blessing,
let it be far from him.
18 Because he wore a curse as his robe,
let it enter his body[i] like water,
and into his bones like oil.
19 May it be for him like a garment in which he wraps,
and a belt he continually wears.[j]
20 Let this be the punishment for my accusers from Yahweh,
even those who speak evil against my life.
21 But you, O Yahweh my Lord,
deal with me for your name’s sake.
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me,
22 for I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 Like a lengthening shadow I am passing away;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees buckle[k] from fasting,
and my body grows lean without fat.
25 And so I am a disgrace to them;
when they see me, they shake their heads.[l]
26 Help me, O Yahweh my God;
save me according to your loyal love,
27 that they may know that this is your hand,
that you, O Yahweh, you have done it.
28 Let them curse, but you bless.
When they arise, let them be put to shame,
that your servant may be glad.
29 Let my accusers put on disgrace,
and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a robe.
30 I will give thanks to Yahweh exceedingly with my mouth,
and in the midst of many I will praise him,
ʽAyin
121 I have done justice and righteousness;[a]
do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Pledge good for your servant;
do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes long for[b] your salvation,
and your righteous word.[c]
124 Deal with your servant according to your loyal love,
and teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant; give me understanding,
that I may know your statutes.
126 It is time for Yahweh to act,[d]
for they have broken your law.
127 Therefore I love your commands
more than gold, even fine gold.
128 Therefore all your precepts of everything I regard as right;
I hate every false way.
Pe
129 Your testimonies are miracles,
therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light,
giving understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commands.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is proper for those who love your name.
133 Direct my steps in your word,[e]
and do not let any iniquity gain power over me.
134 Redeem me from the oppression of humankind,
that I may heed your precepts.
135 Shine your face on your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
136 Streams of water flow down from my eyes,
because people do not heed your law.
Tsade
137 You are righteous, O Yahweh,
and your ordinances are upright.
138 You have ordained your testimonies in righteousness,
and in exceeding faithfulness.
139 My zeal consumes me,
because my enemies have forgotten your words.
140 Your word is very pure,
and your servant loves it.
141 I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your law is truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have found me;
your commands delight me.
144 The righteousness of your testimonies is forever;
give me understanding that I may live.
36 [a] And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Say to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, ‘Take out[b] the censers from among the place of burning because they are sacred, and scatter the fire outside. 38 The censers of these who have sinned[c] at the cost of their lives, let them be made into gilded leafing plating for the altar; because they presented them before Yahweh,[d] they are holy; and they will be a sign for the Israelites.’”[e] 39 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that the ones who were burned presented, and they hammered them out thinly as plating for the altar; 40 it was a memorial for the Israelites,[f] so that no strange man[g] who is not from the offspring[h] of Aaron should approach the presence of Yahweh to burn a smoke offering;[i] he will not be like Korah and his company, just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.[j]
The Israelites Grumble
41 The next day all the community of the Israelites[k] grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of Yahweh!” 42 Then, when the community had gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned to the tent of assembly, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of assembly, 44 and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from the midst of this community, and I will finish them in an instant,”[l] but they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses and Aaron said, “Take the censer, and put fire on it from the altar. Place incense on it, and bring it quickly to the community, and make atonement for them, because wrath went out from the presence of Yahweh, and a plague has begun.” 47 And so Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people; so he gave the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and between the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died on account of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the plague was stopped.
The Promise to Abraham Secured through Faith
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law, but through the righteousness by faith. 14 For if those of the law are heirs, faith is rendered void and the promise is nullified. 15 For the law produces wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. 16 Because of this, it is by faith, in order that it may be according to grace, so that the promise may be secure to all the descendants, not only to those of the law, but also to those of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (just as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)[a] before God, in whom he believed, the one who makes the dead alive and who calls the things that are not as though they are, 18 who against hope believed in hope, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was said, “so will your descendants be.”[b] 19 And not being weak in faith, he considered his own body as good as dead, [c] because he[d] was approximately a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 And he did not waver in unbelief at the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God 21 and being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore[e] it was credited to him for righteousness. 23 But it was not written for the sake of him alone that it was credited to him, 24 but also for the sake of us to whom it is going to be credited, to those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over on account of our trespasses, and was raised up in the interest of our justification.[f]
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man—the master of the house—who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And after[a] coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4 And to those people he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. Going out[b] again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same thing. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and[c] found others standing there and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go also into the vineyard.’ 8 And when[d] evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their[e] wages, beginning from the last up to the first.’ 9 And when the ones hired about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece. 10 And when[f] the first came, they thought that they would receive more, and they also received a denarius apiece. 11 And when they[g] received it,[h] they began to complain[i] against the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last people worked one hour and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the burning heat!’ 13 But he answered one of them and[j] said, ‘Friend, I am not doing you wrong. Did you not come to an agreement with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go! But I want to give to this last person the same as I gave[k] to you also. 15 Is it not[l] permitted for me to do whatever I want with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?’ 16 Thus the last will be first and the first last.”
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