Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 30
Joy in the Morning
A psalm; a dedication song for the house. Davidic.
1 I will exalt You, Lord,
because You have lifted me up(A)
and have not allowed my enemies
to triumph over me.(B)
2 Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You healed me.(C)
3 Lord, You brought me up from Sheol;(D)
You spared me from among those
going down[a] to the Pit.(E)
4 Sing to Yahweh, you His faithful ones,
and praise His holy name.(F)
5 For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may spend the night,
but there is joy in the morning.(G)
6 When I was secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”(H)
7 Lord, when You showed Your favor,
You made me stand like a strong mountain;(I)
when You hid Your face, I was terrified.(J)
8 Lord, I called to You;
I sought favor from my Lord:(K)
9 “What gain is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise You?
Will it proclaim Your truth?(L)
10 Lord, listen and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”(M)
Psalm 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
Davidic. A Maskil.
1 How joyful is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered!(A)
2 How joyful is the man
the Lord does not charge with sin(B)
and in whose spirit is no deceit!(C)
3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
from my groaning all day long.(D)
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy on me;(E)
my strength was drained[a]
as in the summer’s heat.(F)
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You
and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said,
“I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and You took away the guilt of my sin.(G)
6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You
at a time that You may be found.[b](H)
When great floodwaters come,
they will not reach him.(I)
7 You are my hiding place;(J)
You protect me from trouble.(K)
You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.(A)
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”(C)
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:(D)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(E)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(F)
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(G)
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.(H)
8 The Lord will send His faithful love by day;(I)
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,(J)
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”(K)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”(L)
11 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(M)
Psalm 43[b]
1 Vindicate me, God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.(N)
2 For You are the God of my refuge.
Why have You rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?(O)
3 Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me.(P)
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
to Your dwelling place.(Q)
4 Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.(R)
I will praise You with the lyre,
God, my God.(S)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(T)
16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den.(A) The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually,(B) rescue you!” 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den.(C) The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting.(D) No diversions[a] were brought to him, and he could not sleep.(E)
Daniel Released
19 At the first light of dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he reached the den, he cried out in anguish to Daniel. “Daniel, servant of the living God,” the king said,[b] “has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you(F) from the lions?”
21 Then Daniel spoke with the king: “May the king live forever. 22 My God sent His angel(G) and shut the lions’ mouths. They haven’t hurt me, for I was found innocent before Him. Also, I have not committed a crime against you my king.”
23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. So Daniel was taken out of the den, uninjured, for he trusted in his God.(H) 24 The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel[c](I) were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives.(J) They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Darius Honors God
25 Then King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation, and language who live in all the earth: “May your prosperity abound.(K) 26 I issue a decree(L) that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel:(M)
For He is the living God,
and He endures forever;
His kingdom will never be destroyed,(N)
and His dominion has no end.
27 He rescues and delivers;
He performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth,(O)
for He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel prospered(P) during the reign of Darius and[d] the reign of Cyrus the Persian.(Q)
Greeting
The Elder:(A)
To my dear friend[a] Gaius: I love you in the truth.(B)
2 Dear friend,[b] I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically(C) just as you are spiritually.[c] 3 For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified(D) to your faithfulness to the truth—how you are walking in the truth.(E) 4 I have no greater joy(F) than this: to hear that my children(G) are walking in the truth.
Gaius Commended
5 Dear friend,[d] you are showing faithfulness[e] by whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified to your love in front of the church.(H) You will do well to send them on their journey(I) in a manner worthy of God,(J) 7 since they set out for the sake of the Name,(K) accepting nothing from pagans.(L) 8 Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we can be coworkers with[f] the truth.
Diotrephes and Demetrius
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them,(M) does not receive us.(N) 10 This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering(O) us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.
11 Dear friend,[g] do not imitate what is evil,(P) but what is good. The one who does good is of God;(Q) the one who does evil has not seen God.(R) 12 Demetrius has a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. And we also testify for him, and you know(S) that our testimony is true.(T)
Farewell
13 I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.[h]
Peace be with you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.
The Call of Matthew
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office,(A) and He said to him, “Follow Me!” 28 So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow Him.
Dining with Sinners
29 Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for Him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were guests[a] with them.(B) 30 But the Pharisees and their scribes(C) were complaining to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus replied to them, “The healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
A Question about Fasting
33 Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”[b]
34 Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests[c] fast while the groom is with them, can you? 35 But the time[d] will come(D) when the groom will be taken away from them—then they will fast in those days.”
36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine should be put into fresh wineskins.[e] 39 And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’”[f]
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