Book of Common Prayer
Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.
A Psalm of David, for a memorial.
38 Lord, (A)do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
2 For Your (B)arrows have sunk deep into me,
And (C)Your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is (D)no healthy part in my flesh (E)because of Your indignation;
There is no health (F)in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my (G)guilty deeds have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5 My [a]wounds grow foul and fester
Because of (H)my foolishness.
6 I am bent over and (I)greatly bowed down;
I (J)go in mourning all day long.
7 For my [b]sides are filled with (K)burning,
And there is (L)no healthy part in my flesh.
8 I feel (M)faint and [c]badly crushed;
I [d](N)groan because of the [e]agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all (O)my desire is [f]before You;
And my (P)sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, (Q)my strength fails me;
And the (R)light of my eyes, even [g]that [h]has gone from me.
11 My [i](S)loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen (T)stand far away.
12 Those who (U)seek my life (V)lay snares for me;
And those who (W)seek to injure me have [j]threatened destruction,
And they (X)plot deception all day long.
13 But I, like a person who is deaf, do not hear;
And I am like a (Y)person who cannot speak, who does not open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am like a person who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
15 For (Z)I wait for You, Lord;
You (AA)will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, (AB)would exalt themselves over me.”
17 For I am (AC)ready to fall,
And (AD)my [k]sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I (AE)admit my guilt;
I am full of (AF)anxiety because of my sin.
19 But my (AG)enemies are vigorous and [l]strong,
And those who wrongfully (AH)hate me are many.
20 And those who (AI)repay evil for good,
They (AJ)become my enemies, because I follow what is good.
21 Do not abandon me, Lord;
My God, (AK)do not be far from me!
22 (AL)Hurry to help me,
Lord, (AM)my salvation!
Daleth
25 My (A)soul clings to the dust;
(B)Revive me (C)according to Your word.
26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
(D)Teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
And I will (E)meditate on Your wonders.
28 My (F)soul [a]weeps because of grief;
(G)Strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your Law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way;
I have [b]placed Your judgments before me.
31 I (H)cling to Your testimonies;
Lord, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will (I)enlarge my heart.
He
33 (J)Teach me, the way of Your statutes, Lord,
And I shall comply with it to the end.
34 (K)Give me understanding, so that I may (L)comply with Your Law
And keep it (M)with all my heart.
35 Make me walk in the (N)path of Your commandments,
For I (O)delight in it.
36 (P)Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to (Q)dishonest gain.
37 Turn my (R)eyes away from looking at what is worthless,
And (S)revive me in Your ways.
38 (T)Establish Your [c]word to Your servant
[d]As that which produces reverence for You.
39 (U)Take away my disgrace which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
40 Behold, I (V)long for Your precepts;
Revive me through Your righteousness.
Vav
41 May Your (W)favor also come to me, Lord,
Your salvation (X)according to Your [e]word;
42 So that I will have an (Y)answer for one who (Z)taunts me,
For I trust in Your word.
43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I [f](AA)wait for Your judgments.
44 So I will (AB)keep Your Law continually,
Forever and ever.
45 And I will (AC)walk [g]at liberty,
For I (AD)seek Your precepts.
46 I will also speak of Your testimonies (AE)before kings
And shall not be ashamed.
47 I will (AF)delight in Your commandments,
Which I (AG)love.
48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,
Which I (AH)love;
And I will (AI)meditate on Your statutes.
25 “When you father children and have [a]grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you (A)act corruptly, and (B)make [b]an idol in the form of anything, and (C)do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I (D)call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will (E)certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not [c]live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will (F)scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 (G)There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, (H)wood and stone, (I)which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything. 29 (J)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him (K)with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you (L)are in distress and all these things happen to you, (M)in the latter days (N)you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a (O)compassionate God; (P)He will not abandon you nor (Q)destroy you, nor (R)forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
23 But (A)I call God as witness to my soul, that it was (B)to spare you that I did not come again to (C)Corinth. 24 Not that we (D)domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are (E)standing firm.
Reaffirm Your Love
2 But I decided this [a]for my own sake, that I (F)would not come to you in sorrow again. 2 For if I (G)cause you sorrow, who then will be the one making me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? 3 This is the very thing I (H)wrote you, so that (I)when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having (J)confidence in you all that my joy was the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I (K)wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.
5 But (L)if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not for me, but in some degree—[b]not to say too much—for all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a person is (M)this punishment which was imposed by the majority, 7 so that on the other hand, you should rather (N)forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end (O)I also wrote, so that I might [c](P)put you to the test, whether you are (Q)obedient in all things. 10 But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes (R)in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by (S)Satan, for (T)we are not ignorant of his schemes.
12 Now when I came to (U)Troas for the (V)gospel of Christ and when a (W)door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I (X)had no rest for my spirit, not finding (Y)Titus my brother; but (Z)saying goodbye to them, I went on to (AA)Macedonia.
14 (AB)But thanks be to God, who always (AC)leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the (AD)fragrance of the (AE)knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a (AF)fragrance of Christ to God among (AG)those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 16 (AH)to the one an [d]aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is (AI)adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like the many, [e](AJ)peddling the word of God, but (AK)as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ (AL)in the sight of God.
The Prodigal Son
11 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me (A)the share of the estate that [a]is coming to me.’ And so he divided his [b](B)wealth between them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in [c]wild living. 14 Now when he had [d]spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without. 15 So he went and [e]hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything. 17 But when he came to [f]his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here [g]from hunger! 18 I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and [h]in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers.”’ 20 So he set out and came to [i]his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and [j](C)embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and [k]in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out (D)the best robe and put it on him, and [l](E)put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let’s eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was (F)dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never [m]neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your [n](G)wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you [o]have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was (H)dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”
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