Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for Rescue from Death.
A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.
30 I will (A)exalt You, Lord, for You have (B)lifted me up,
And have not let my (C)enemies rejoice over me.
2 Lord my God,
I (D)cried to You for help, and You (E)healed me.
3 Lord, You have (F)brought up my soul from [a]Sheol;
You have kept me alive, [b]that I would not (G)go down to the pit.
4 (H)Sing praise to the Lord, you (I)His godly ones,
And (J)praise the mention of His holiness.
5 For (K)His anger is but for a moment,
His (L)favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may (M)last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
6 Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will (N)never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You (O)hid Your face, I was dismayed.
8 To You, Lord, I called,
And to the Lord I pleaded for compassion:
9 “What gain is there in my blood, if I (P)go down to the pit?
Will the (Q)dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A [a]Maskil.
32 (A)How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord (B)does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is (C)no deceit!
3 When (D)I kept silent about my sin, (E)my [b]body wasted away
Through my [c](F)groaning all day long.
4 For day and night (G)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [d](H)vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
5 I (I)acknowledged my sin to You,
And I (J)did not hide my guilt;
I said, “(K)I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You (L)forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [e](M)in a time when You may be found;
Certainly (N)in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
7 You are (O)my hiding place; You (P)keep me from trouble;
You surround me with [f](Q)songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will (R)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you (S)with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be (T)like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 The (U)sorrows of the wicked are many,
But (V)the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
11 Be (W)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (X)upright in heart.
BOOK 2
Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c](A)pants for You, God.
2 My soul (B)thirsts for God, for the (C)living God;
When shall I come and [d](D)appear before God?
3 My (E)tears have been my food day and night,
While they (F)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 I remember these things and (G)pour out my soul within me.
For I (H)used to go over with the multitude and walk them to the house of God,
With a voice of (I)joy and thanksgiving, a multitude celebrating a festival.
5 (J)Why are you [e](K)in despair, my soul?
And why are you (L)restless within me?
(M)Wait for God, for I will [f]again praise [g]Him
For the [h](N)help of His [i]presence, my God.
6 My soul is [j]in despair within me;
Therefore I (O)remember You from (P)the land of the Jordan
And the [k]peaks of (Q)Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your (R)breakers and Your waves have passed over me.
8 The Lord will (S)send His goodness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me (T)in the night,
A prayer to (U)the God of my life.
9 I will say to God (V)my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go about (W)mourning [l]because of the (X)oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries taunt me,
While they (Y)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 (Z)Why are you [m]in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will again praise [n]Him
For the [o]help of His presence, my God.
Prayer for Help.
43 (AA)Vindicate me, God, and (AB)plead my case against an ungodly nation;
[p]Save me from (AC)the deceitful and unjust person!
2 For You are the (AD)God of my strength; why have You (AE)rejected me?
Why do I go about (AF)mourning [q]because of the oppression of the enemy?
Moses Interceded
22 “These words the Lord spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, from the cloud, and from the thick darkness, with a great voice, and He added nothing more. (A)He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with mankind, yet he lives. 25 (B)Now then, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die! 26 For (C)who is there of [a]humanity who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 [b]Go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
28 “Now the Lord heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, (D)and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 (E)If only they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and (F)keep all My commandments always, so that (G)it would go well with them and with their sons forever! 30 Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 (H)But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, so that they may [c]follow them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’ 32 So you shall be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; (I)you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 (J)You shall walk [d]entirely in the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, (K)so that you may live and that it may be well for you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
13 But having the same (A)spirit of faith, according to what is written: “(B)I believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, 14 knowing that He who (C)raised the Lord Jesus (D)will also raise us with Jesus, and will (E)present us with you. 15 For all things are (F)for your sakes, so that grace, having [a](G)spread to more and more people, will cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we (H)do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our (I)inner person is (J)being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary, (K)light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we (L)look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The Temporal and Eternal
5 For we know that if our [b](M)earthly (N)tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house (O)not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed, in this tent we (P)groan, longing to be (Q)clothed with our [c]dwelling from heaven, 3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed, we who are in this tent (R)groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be (S)clothed, so that what is (T)mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who (U)gave us the Spirit as a [d]pledge.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that (V)while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for (W)we walk by faith, not by [e]sight— 8 but we are of good courage and (X)prefer rather to be absent from the body and (Y)to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be (Z)pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before (AA)the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for [f]his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus (A)was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to [a](B)Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in (C)Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his [b]arms. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘(D)Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in (E)this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that (F)during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And [c]besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may (G)warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have [d](H)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, (I)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
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