Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 38[a]
A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention.[b]
38 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger.
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury.[c]
2 For your arrows pierce[d] me,
and your hand presses me down.[e]
3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment;[f]
I am deprived of health because of my sin.[g]
4 For my sins overwhelm me;[h]
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
5 My wounds[i] are infected and starting to smell,[j]
because of my foolish sins.[k]
6 I am dazed[l] and completely humiliated;[m]
all day long I walk around mourning.
7 For I am overcome with shame,[n]
and my whole body is sick.[o]
8 I am numb with pain and severely battered;[p]
I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.[q]
9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire;[r]
my groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me.
I can hardly see.[s]
11 Because of my condition,[t] even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance;[u]
my neighbors stand far away.[v]
12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me;[w]
those who want to harm me speak destructive words.
All day long they say deceitful things.
13 But I am like a deaf man—I hear nothing;
I am like a mute who cannot speak.[x]
14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense.[y]
15 Yet[z] I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me;[aa]
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me.[ab]
17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain.[ac]
18 Yes,[ad] I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous;[ae]
those who hate me without cause outnumber me.[af]
20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me.[ag]
21 Do not abandon me, O Lord.
My God, do not remain far away from me.
22 Hurry and help me,[ah] O Lord, my deliverer.
ד (Dalet)
25 I collapse in the dirt.[a]
Revive me with your word.[b]
26 I told you about my ways[c] and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
27 Help me to understand what your precepts mean.[d]
Then I can meditate[e] on your marvelous teachings.[f]
28 I collapse[g] from grief.
Sustain me by your word.[h]
29 Remove me from the path of deceit.[i]
Graciously give me[j] your law.
30 I choose the path of faithfulness;
I am committed to[k] your regulations.
31 I hold fast[l] to your rules.
O Lord, do not let me be ashamed.
32 I run along the path of your commands,
for you enable me to do so.[m]
ה (He)
33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes,[n]
so that I might observe it continually.[o]
34 Give me understanding so that I might observe your law,
and keep it with all my heart.[p]
35 Guide me[q] in the path of your commands,
for I delight to walk in it.[r]
36 Give me a desire for your rules,[s]
rather than for wealth gained unjustly.[t]
37 Turn my eyes away from what is worthless.[u]
Revive me with your word.[v]
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,[w]
which you made to the one who honors you.[x]
39 Take away the insults that I dread.[y]
Indeed,[z] your regulations are good.
40 Look, I long for your precepts.
Revive me with your deliverance.[aa]
ו (Vav)
41 May I experience your loyal love,[ab] O Lord,
and your deliverance,[ac] as you promised.[ad]
42 Then I will have a reply for the one who insults me,[ae]
for I trust in your word.
43 Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony,[af]
for I await your justice.
44 Then I will keep[ag] your law continually
now and for all time.[ah]
45 I will be secure,[ai]
for I seek your precepts.
46 I will speak[aj] about your regulations before kings
and not be ashamed.
47 I will find delight in your commands,
which I love.
48 I will lift my hands to[ak] your commands,
which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall
5 King Belshazzar[a] prepared a great banquet[b] for 1,000 of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of[c] them all.[d] 2 While under the influence[e] of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels—the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father[f] had confiscated[g] from the temple in Jerusalem—so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them.[h] 3 So they brought the gold and silver[i] vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God[j] in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. 4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared[k] and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand.[l] The king was watching the back[m] of the hand that was writing. 6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face[n] and he became alarmed.[o] The joints of his hips gave way,[p] and his knees began knocking together. 7 The king called out loudly[q] to summon[r] the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed[s] to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple[t] and have a golden collar[u] placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.
8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its[v] interpretation to the king. 9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken.[w] His nobles were completely dumbfounded.
10 Due to the noise[x] caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother[y] then entered the banquet room. She[z] said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have[aa] insight, discernment, and wisdom like that[ab] of the gods.[ac] King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners.[ad] 12 Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret[ae] dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems.[af] Now summon[ag] Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”
5 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has been fathered[b] by God, and everyone who loves the father[c] loves the child fathered by him.[d] 2 By this[e] we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For[f] this is the love of God:[g] that we keep his commandments.[h] And his commandments do not weigh us down, 4 because[i] everyone[j] who has been fathered by God[k] conquers[l] the world.[m]
Testimony About the Son
This[n] is the conquering power[o] that has conquered[p] the world: our faith. 5 Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that[q] Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ is the one who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because[r] the Spirit is the truth. 7 For[s] there are three that testify,[t] 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because[u] this[v] is the testimony of God that[w] he has testified concerning his Son. 10 (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.)[x] 11 And this is the testimony: God[y] has given us eternal life,[z] and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son[aa] has this[ab] eternal[ac] life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this[ad] eternal[ae] life.
38 After Jesus left[a] the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house.[b] Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus[c] to help her.[d] 39 So[e] he stood over her, commanded[f] the fever, and it left her. Immediately[g] she got up and began to serve[h] them.
40 As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives[i] sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus.[j] He placed[k] his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 Demons also came out[l] of many, crying out,[m] “You are the Son of God!”[n] But he rebuked[o] them, and would not allow them to speak,[p] because they knew that he was the Christ.[q]
42 The next morning[r] Jesus[s] departed and went to a deserted place. Yet[t] the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But Jesus[u] said to them, “I must[v] proclaim the good news of the kingdom[w] of God to the other towns[x] too, for that is what I was sent[y] to do.”[z] 44 So[aa] he continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.[ab]
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