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)
The Sentence Executed
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.(A) 29 At the end of 12 months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, 30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built by my vast power to be a royal residence and to display my majestic glory?”(B)
31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.(C) 32 You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men, and He gives it to anyone He wants.”
33 At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was executed. He was driven away from people. He ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.(D)
Nebuchadnezzar’s Praise
34 But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified Him who lives forever:(E)
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom is from generation to generation.(F)
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing,
and He does what He wants(G) with the army of heaven
and the inhabitants of the earth.
There is no one who can hold back His hand
or say to Him, “What have You done?”(H)
36 At that time my sanity returned to me, and my majesty and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and my nobles sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and even more greatness came to me.(I) 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of heaven, because all His works are true and His ways are just.(J) He is able to humble(K) those who walk in pride.(L)
Knowing God through Love
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God(A) and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way:[a] God sent(B) His One and Only Son(C) into the world so that we might live(D) through Him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us(E) and sent His Son to be the[b] propitiation(F) for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.(G) 12 No one has ever seen God.[c](H) If we love one another, God remains in[d] us and His love is perfected in us.
13 This is how we know that we remain in Him(I) and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit.(J) 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son(K) as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses[e](L) that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
17 In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment,(M) for we are as He is in this world.(N) 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear,(O) because fear involves punishment.[f] So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.(P) 19 We love[g] because He first loved us.(Q)
Keeping God’s Commands
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother,(R) he is a liar.(S) For the person who does not love his brother(T) he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.[h] 21 And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother.
Driving Out an Unclean Spirit
31 Then He went down to Capernaum,(A) a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32 They were astonished at His teaching because His message had authority.(B) 33 In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice,(C) 34 “Leave us alone![a] What do You have to do with us,[b] Jesus—Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
35 But Jesus rebuked him(D) and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!”
And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all. 36 Amazement came over them all, and they kept saying to one another, “What is this message? For He commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” 37 And news about Him began to go out to every place in the vicinity.
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