Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem
97 How I love Your instruction!(A)
It is my meditation all day long.(B)
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,(C)
for they are always with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers
because Your decrees are my meditation.(D)
100 I understand more than the elders(E)
because I obey Your precepts.(F)
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path(G)
to follow Your word.
102 I have not turned from Your judgments,(H)
for You Yourself have instructed me.
103 How sweet Your word is(I) to my taste—
sweeter than honey in my mouth.
104 I gain understanding from Your precepts;(J)
therefore I hate every false way.(K)
נ Nun
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet(L)
and a light on my path.
106 I have solemnly sworn(M)
to keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am severely afflicted;
Lord, give me life through Your word.(N)
108 Lord, please accept my willing offerings of praise,(O)
and teach me Your judgments.(P)
109 My life is constantly in danger,[a]
yet I do not forget Your instruction.(Q)
110 The wicked have set a trap for me,(R)
but I have not wandered from Your precepts.(S)
111 I have Your decrees as a heritage forever;
indeed, they are the joy of my heart.(T)
112 I am resolved to obey Your statutes
to the very end.[b](U)
ס Samek
113 I hate those who are double-minded,(V)
but I love Your instruction.(W)
114 You are my shelter and my shield;(X)
I put my hope in Your word.(Y)
115 Depart from me,(Z) you evil ones,
so that I may obey my God’s commands.(AA)
116 Sustain me as You promised,(AB) and I will live;
do not let me be ashamed of my hope.(AC)
117 Sustain me so that I can be safe(AD)
and always be concerned about Your statutes.(AE)
118 You reject all who stray from Your statutes,(AF)
for their deceit is a lie.
119 You remove all the wicked on earth
as if they were[c] dross;(AG)
therefore, I love Your decrees.(AH)
120 I tremble[d] in awe of You;(AI)
I fear Your judgments.
Psalm 81
A Call to Obedience
For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.(A)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.(B)
2 Lift up a song—play the tambourine,
the melodious lyre, and the harp.(C)
3 Blow the horn on the day of our feasts[a][b]
during the new moon(D)
and during the full moon.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
a judgment of the God of Jacob.(E)
5 He set it up as an ordinance for Joseph
when He went throughout[c] the land of Egypt.(F)
I heard an unfamiliar language:
6 “I relieved his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from carrying the basket.(G)
7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud.(H)
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.(I)
8 Listen, My people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to Me!(J)
9 There must not be a strange god among you;
you must not bow down to a foreign god.(K)
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(L)
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(M)
11 “But My people did not listen to Me;
Israel did not obey Me.(N)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.(O)
13 If only My people would listen to Me
and Israel would follow My ways,(P)
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn My hand against their foes.”(Q)
15 Those who hate the Lord
would pretend submission to Him;(R)
their doom would last forever.(S)
16 But He would feed Israel[d] with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”(T)
Psalm 82
A Plea for Righteous Judgment
A psalm of Asaph.(U)
1 God has taken His place in the divine assembly;
He judges among the gods:[e](V)
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?(W)
3 Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.(X)
4 Rescue the poor and needy;
save them from the power of the wicked.”(Y)
5 They do not know or understand;
they wander in darkness.(Z)
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.(AA)
6 I said, “You are gods;(AB)
you are all sons of the Most High.(AC)
7 However, you will die like men
and fall like any other ruler.”(AD)
8 Rise up, God, judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to You.(AE)
Lament over Judah
18 My joy has flown away;
grief has settled on me.
My heart is sick.(A)
19 Listen—the cry of my dear[a] people
from a far away land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,(B)
her King not within her?”
Why have they provoked me to anger
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?(C)
20 Harvest has passed, summer has ended,
but we have not been saved.
21 I am broken by the brokenness
of my dear[b] people.(D)
I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(E)
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear[c] people
not come about?
9 [d]If my head were a spring of water,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night(F)
over the slain of my dear[e] people.
2 [f]If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,(G)
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.(H)
3 They bent their tongues like their bows;
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take Me into account.(I)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Imminent Ruin and Exile
4 Everyone has to be on guard against his friend.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,
and every friend spread slander.(J)
5 Each one betrays his friend;
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
6 You live in a world of deception.[g]
In their deception they refuse to know Me.(K)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Faith Triumphs
5 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith,(A) we have peace[a] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.(B) 2 We have also obtained access through Him(C) by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand,(D) and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that,(E) but we also rejoice in our afflictions,(F) because we know that affliction produces endurance,(G) 4 endurance produces proven character,(H) and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us,(I) because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts(J) through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Those Declared Righteous Are Reconciled
6 For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment,(K) Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves(L) His own love for us(M) in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! 9 Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood,(N) we will be saved through Him from wrath.(O) 10 For if, while we were enemies,(P) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!(Q) 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him.(R)
The Light of the World
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am(A) the light(B) of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”(C)
13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”[a]
14 “Even if I testify about Myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is valid,[b] because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.(D) 15 You judge(E) by human standards.[c](F) I judge no one.(G) 16 And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me judge(H) together.(I) 17 Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid.(J) 18 I am the One who testifies(K) about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”
19 Then they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?”
“You know neither Me nor My Father,”(L) Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.”(M) 20 He spoke these words by the treasury,[d](N) while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour[e] had not come.
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