Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, O Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You (B)I trust,
Do not let me (C)be ashamed;
Do not let my (D)enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, (E)none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
[a]Those who (F)deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
4 (G)Make me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in (H)Your truth and teach me,
For You are the (I)God of my salvation;
For You I (J)wait all the day.
6 (K)Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been [b](L)from of old.
7 Do not remember the (M)sins of my youth or my transgressions;
(N)According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your (O)goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 (P)Good and (Q)upright is the Lord;
Therefore He (R)instructs sinners in the way.
9 He (S)leads the [c]humble in justice,
And He (T)teaches the [d]humble His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (U)lovingkindness and truth
To (V)those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For (W)Your name’s sake, O Lord,
(X)Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who (Y)fears the Lord?
He will (Z)instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will (AA)abide in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will (AB)inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h](AC)secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will (AD)make them know His covenant.
15 My (AE)eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j](AF)pluck my feet out of the net.
16 (AG)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am (AH)lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The (AI)troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me (AJ)out of my distresses.
18 (AK)Look upon my affliction and my [l]trouble,
And (AL)forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they (AM)are many,
And they (AN)hate me with violent hatred.
20 (AO)Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me (AP)be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let (AQ)integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For (AR)I wait for You.
22 (AS)Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
For the choir director; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all (A)my heart;
I will (B)tell of all Your [b]wonders.
2 I will be glad and (C)exult in You;
I will (D)sing praise to Your name, O (E)Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and (F)perish before You.
4 For You have (G)maintained [c]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne [d](H)judging righteously.
5 You have (I)rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;
You have (J)blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 [e]The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (K)memory of them has perished.
7 But the (L)Lord [f]abides forever;
He has established His (M)throne for judgment,
8 And He will (N)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
9 [g]The Lord also will be a (O)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And [h]those who (P)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not (Q)forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (R)dwells in Zion;
(S)Declare among the peoples His deeds.
12 For (T)He who [i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (U)the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord;
See my affliction from those (V)who hate me,
You who (W)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of (X)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may (Y)rejoice in Your [j]salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down (Z)in the pit which they have made;
In the (AA)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has (AB)made Himself known;
He has (AC)executed judgment.
In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. [k]Higgaion [l]Selah.
17 The wicked will [m](AD)return to [n]Sheol,
Even all the nations who (AE)forget God.
18 For the (AF)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the (AG)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 (AH)Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be (AI)judged before You.
20 Put them (AJ)in fear, O Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (AK)but men. Selah.
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who may [a]abide (A)in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your (B)holy hill?
2 He who (C)walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And (D)speaks truth in his heart.
3 He (E)does not slander [b]with his tongue,
Nor (F)does evil to his neighbor,
Nor (G)takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 In [c]whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But [d]who (H)honors those who fear the Lord;
He (I)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He (J)does not put out his money [e]at interest,
Nor (K)does he take a bribe against the innocent.
(L)He who does these things will never be shaken.
Daniel Interprets the Vision
19 “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his (A)thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not (B)let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘(C)My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to (D)your adversaries! 20 The (E)tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth 21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of the sky lodged— 22 it is (F)you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your [a]majesty has become great and reached to the sky and your (G)dominion to the end of the earth. 23 In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “(H)Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump [b]with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let [c]him share with the beasts of the field until (I)seven [d]periods of time pass over him,” 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has (J)come upon my lord the king: 25 that you be (K)driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven [e]periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the (L)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and (M)bestows it on whomever He wishes. 26 And in that it was commanded to (N)leave the stump [f]with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be [g]assured to you after you recognize that it is (O)Heaven that rules. 27 Therefore, O king, may my (P)advice be pleasing to you: [h](Q)break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by (R)showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a (S)prolonging of your prosperity.’
19 We will know by this that we are (A)of the truth, and will [a]assure our heart before Him 20 [b]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 (B)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have (C)confidence [c]before God; 22 and (D)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we (E)keep His commandments and do (F)the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 This is His commandment, that we [d](G)believe in (H)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as (I)He [e]commanded us. 24 The one who (J)keeps His commandments (K)abides in Him, and He in him. (L)We know by this that (M)He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Testing the Spirits
4 (N)Beloved, do not believe every (O)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because (P)many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: (Q)every spirit that (R)confesses that (S)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that (T)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the (U)antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and (V)now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, (W)little children, and (X)have overcome them; because (Y)greater is He who is in you than (Z)he who is in the world. 5 (AA)They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 (AB)We are from God; (AC)he who knows God listens to us; (AD)he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know (AE)the spirit of truth and (AF)the spirit of error.
Jesus’ Public Ministry
14 And (A)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and (B)news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15 And He began (C)teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16 And He came to (D)Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, (E)He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and (F)stood up to read. 17 And the [a]book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the [b]book and found the place where it was written,
18 “(G)The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19 (H)To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
20 And He (I)closed the [c]book, gave it back to the attendant and (J)sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your [d]hearing.” 22 And all were [e]speaking well of Him, and wondering at the [f]gracious words which [g]were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “(K)Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done (L)at Capernaum, do here in (M)your hometown as well.’” 24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, (N)no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel (O)in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but (P)only to [h]Zarephath, in the land of (Q)Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but (R)only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and (S)drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. 30 But (T)passing through their midst, He went His way.
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