Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for Answered Prayer
A psalm; a song for the dedication of the house.[a] Of David.[b]
30 I will exalt you, O Yahweh,
because you have drawn me up,
and have not made my enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Yahweh, my God,
I cried for help to you,
and you healed me.
3 O Yahweh, you have brought my life up from Sheol.
You preserved me alive
from among those going down [c] to the pit.
4 Sing praises to Yahweh, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy fame.[d]
5 For there is a moment in his anger;
there is a lifetime in his favor.
Weeping lodges for the evening,
but in the morning comes rejoicing.
6 But as for me, I had said in my prosperity,
“I shall not be moved ever.”
7 O Yahweh, by your favor
you caused my strong mountain to stand.
You hid your face. I was bewildered.
8 To you, O Yahweh, I called,
and to the Lord I pleaded for grace saying,
9 “What gain is there in my death,[e]
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 “O Yahweh, hear and be gracious to me.
O Yahweh, be my helper.”
11 You have turned my wailing into my dancing.
You have removed my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy
12 so that I[f] may sing praises to you
and not be quiet.
O Yahweh, my God,
I will give thanks to you forever.
Thanksgiving for Forgiveness of Sins
Of David. A maskil.[a]
32 Happy is he whose transgression is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy is a person to whom Yahweh does not impute iniquity
and in whose spirit there is not deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones were worn out
due to my groaning all the day.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
My vigor was changed into the dry heat of summer. Selah
5 I made known my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not cover.
I said, “I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
at the time for finding you.
Surely at the flood of many waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
from trouble you preserve me.
With cries of deliverance you surround me. Selah
8 I[b] will instruct you and teach you
in the way that you should go.
I will advise you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or like a mule, without understanding;
that needs his tackle—bridle and rein—for restraint
or he would not come near you.
10 Many are the pains of the wicked,
but for the one who trusts Yahweh
loyal love surrounds him.
11 Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright of heart.
Hope in God in the Midst of Despair
For the music director. A maskil of the sons of Korah.[a]
42 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?[b]
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These I remember and I pour out my soul within me:
that I would go with the multitude;
I led them in procession to the house[c] of God,
with a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving,
a crowd celebrating a festival.
5 Why are you in despair,[d] O my soul,
and disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
for the salvation of his presence.
6 O my God, within me my soul is in despair;[e]
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the heights of Hermon, from the mountain of Mizar.
7 Deep is calling to deep
at[f] the thunder of your waterfalls.
All your breakers and your waves
have passed over me.
8 By day Yahweh commands his loyal love,
and in the night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a shattering in my bones
my oppressors taunt me,
while they say to me all day,[g]
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair,[h] O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I shall again praise him,
my salvation[i] and my God.
A Prayer for Rescue
43 Judge me, O God, and plead my case
against[j] an unfaithful[k] nation.
From a man of deceit and wickedness rescue me,
2 because you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send your light and your truth;
they shall lead[l] me.
They shall bring me to your holy mountain[m]
and to your dwelling places.
4 Then[n] I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my surpassing joy,[o]
and I will praise you with lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you in despair,[p] O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
my salvation[q] and my God.
22 “These words Yahweh spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire and the very thick cloud with a loud voice, and he did not add anything,[a] and then he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And then[b] when you heard[c] the voice from the midst of the darkness, and as the mountain was burning with fire, and and all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me, 24 you said, ‘Look, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire; this day we have seen[d] that God can speak with a human being, yet he remains alive.[e] 25 And so then why shall we die, for this great fire will consume us if we continue[f] to hear the voice of Yahweh our God any longer, and so we shall die? 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have heard it and remained alive?[g] 27 You go near and hear everything[h] that Yahweh our God will say; and then you tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you, and we will listen, and we will do it.’
28 “And Yahweh heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me,[i] and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you; they are right with respect to all that they have spoken. 29 If only[j] they had such a mind’;[k] that is, to fear me and to keep all my commandments at all times,[l] so that it will go well[m] for them and for their children forever.[n] 30 Go! Say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you stand here with me, and let me tell you all of the commandments and the rules and the regulations that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving to them to take possession of it.’
32 “So you must be careful to do just as Yahweh your God commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left. 33 In exactly the path[o] that Yahweh your God has commanded, you must go, so that you may live and it will go well[p] for you and you may live long[q] in the land that you will take possession of.”
13 But because we[a] have the same spirit of faith in accordance with what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,”[b] we also believe, therefore we also speak, 14 because we[c] know that the one who raised Jesus[d] will also raise us together with Jesus and present us together with you. 15 For all these things are for your sake[e], in order that the grace that is increasing through the many may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but even if our outer person is being destroyed, yet our inner person is being renewed day after day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure and proportion[f], 18 because[g] we are not looking at what is seen, but what is not seen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal.
Absent from the Body and at Home with the Lord
5 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed, in this house we groan, because we[h] desire to put on our dwelling from heaven, 3 if indeed, even after we[i] have taken it off,[j] we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed we who are in this tent groan, being burdened for this reason, that[k] we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the down payment, the Spirit.
6 Therefore, although we are[l] always confident and know that while we[m] are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we live by faith, not by sight— 8 so we are confident and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore indeed we have as our ambition, whether at home in the body or absent from the body, to be acceptable to him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, in order that each one may receive back the things through the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Now a certain man was rich, and dressed in purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. 20 And a certain poor man named[a] Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, 21 and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came and[b] licked his sores. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.[c] And the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades he lifted up his eyes as he[d] was in torment and[e] saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus at his side.[f] 24 And he called out and[g] said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain. 26 And in addition to all these things, a great chasm has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross over from here to you are not able to do so,[h] nor can they cross over from there to us.’ 27 So he said, ‘Then I ask you, father, that you send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he could warn them, in order that they also should not come to this place of torment!’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must listen to them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.’”
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