Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
Prayer for Vindication
Davidic.
1 Vindicate me, Lord,
because I have lived with integrity
and have trusted in the Lord without wavering.(A)
2 Test me, Lord, and try me;
examine my heart and mind.(B)
3 For Your faithful love is before my eyes,
and I live by Your truth.(C)
4 I do not sit with the worthless
or associate with hypocrites.
5 I hate a crowd of evildoers,
and I do not sit with the wicked.(D)
6 I wash my hands[a] in innocence(E)
and go around Your altar, Lord,(F)
7 raising my voice in thanksgiving(G)
and telling about Your wonderful works.(H)
Psalm 28
My Strength
Davidic.
1 Lord, I call to You;
my rock, do not be deaf to me.(A)
If You remain silent to me,
I will be like those going down to the Pit.(B)
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading
when I cry to You for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward Your holy sanctuary.(C)
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with the evildoers,
who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors
while malice is in their hearts.(D)
4 Repay them according to what they have done—
according to the evil of their deeds.
Repay them according to the work of their hands;
give them back what they deserve.(E)
5 Because they do not consider
what the Lord has done
or the work of His hands,
He will tear them down and not rebuild them.(F)
Psalm 36
Human Wickedness and God’s Love
For the choir director. A psalm of David, the Lord’s servant.
1 An oracle within my heart
concerning the transgression of the wicked person:
There is no dread of God before his eyes,(A)
2 for in his own eyes he flatters himself too much
to discover and hate his sin.(B)
3 The words of his mouth are malicious and deceptive;(C)
he has stopped acting wisely and doing good.(D)
4 Even on his bed he makes malicious plans.(E)
He sets himself on a path that is not good
and does not reject evil.(F)
5 Lord, Your faithful love reaches to heaven,
Your faithfulness to the clouds.(G)
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains;
Your judgments, like the deepest sea.(H)
Lord, You preserve man and beast.(I)
7 God, Your faithful love is so valuable
that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.(J)
8 They are filled from the abundance of Your house;
You let them drink from Your refreshing stream,(K)
9 for with You is life’s fountain.(L)
In Your light we will see light.(M)
Psalm 39
The Fleeting Nature of Life
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Davidic psalm.
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”(A)
2 I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.(B)
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.(C)
I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.(D)
5 You, indeed, have made my days short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.(E)
6 “Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.(F)
7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.(G)
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.(H)
9 I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.(I)
10 Remove Your torment from me;
I fade away because of the force of Your hand.(J)
11 You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;(K)
every man is only a vapor.(L)
16 Do not test(A) the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah.(B) 17 Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes He has commanded you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land(C) the Lord your God swore to give your fathers,(D) 19 by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.(E)
20 “When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, 23 but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers. 24 The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. 25 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’
Warning against Neglect
2 We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding[a](A) and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,(B) 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.(C) 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to His will.(D)
Jesus and Humanity
5 For He has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about. 6 But one has somewhere testified:
What is man that You remember him,
or the son of man that You care for him?
7 You made him lower than the angels
for a short time;
You crowned him with glory and honor[b]
8 and subjected everything under his feet.[c]
For in subjecting everything to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him.(E) 9 But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace He might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor(F) because of His suffering in death.(G)
10 For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—all things exist for Him and through Him—should make the source[d] of their salvation perfect through sufferings.(H)
John the Baptist’s Testimony
19 This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem(A) sent priests(B) and Levites(C) to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.”(D)
21 “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?”(E)
“I am not,” he said.
“No,” he answered.
22 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord(G)[b]—just as Isaiah(H) the prophet said.”
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.(I) 25 So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with[c] water,”(J) John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know Him. 27 He is the One coming after me,[d](K) whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”
28 All this happened in Bethany[e] across the Jordan,[f](L) where John was baptizing.
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