Book of Common Prayer
Qoph.
145 I cried (A)with all my heart; answer me, O Lord!
I will (B)observe Your statutes.
146 I cried to You; (C)save me
And I shall keep Your testimonies.
147 I [a](D)rise before dawn and cry for help;
I [b]wait for Your words.
148 My eyes anticipate the (E)night watches,
That I may (F)meditate on Your [c]word.
149 Hear my voice (G)according to Your lovingkindness;
(H)Revive me, O Lord, according to Your ordinances.
150 Those who follow after wickedness draw near;
They are far from Your law.
151 You are (I)near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are (J)truth.
152 Of old I have (K)known from Your testimonies
That You have founded them (L)forever.
Resh.
153 (M)Look upon my (N)affliction and rescue me,
For I do not (O)forget Your law.
154 (P)Plead my cause and (Q)redeem me;
Revive me according to Your [d]word.
155 Salvation is (R)far from the wicked,
For they (S)do not seek Your statutes.
156 [e](T)Great are Your mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your ordinances.
157 Many are my (U)persecutors and my adversaries,
Yet I do not (V)turn aside from Your testimonies.
158 I behold the (W)treacherous and (X)loathe them,
Because they do not keep Your [f]word.
159 Consider how I (Y)love Your precepts;
(Z)Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160 The (AA)sum of Your word is (AB)truth,
And every one of Your righteous ordinances (AC)is everlasting.
Shin.
161 (AD)Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart (AE)stands in awe of Your words.
162 I (AF)rejoice at Your [g]word,
As one who (AG)finds great spoil.
163 I (AH)hate and despise falsehood,
But I (AI)love Your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your (AJ)righteous ordinances.
165 Those who love Your law have (AK)great peace,
And [h](AL)nothing causes them to stumble.
166 I (AM)hope for Your salvation, O Lord,
And do Your commandments.
167 My (AN)soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I (AO)love them exceedingly.
168 I (AP)keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my (AQ)ways are before You.
Tav.
169 Let my (AR)cry [i]come before You, O Lord;
(AS)Give me understanding (AT)according to Your word.
170 Let my (AU)supplication come before You;
(AV)Deliver me according to Your [j]word.
171 Let my (AW)lips utter praise,
For You (AX)teach me Your statutes.
172 Let my (AY)tongue sing of Your [k]word,
For all Your (AZ)commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your (BA)hand be [l]ready to help me,
For I have (BB)chosen Your precepts.
174 I (BC)long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my (BD)delight.
175 Let my (BE)soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
176 I have (BF)gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do (BG)not forget Your commandments.
Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of Ascents.
128 (A)How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who (B)walks in His ways.
2 When you shall (C)eat of the [a](D)fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and (E)it will be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a (F)fruitful vine
[b]Within your house,
Your children like (G)olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.
5 (H)The Lord bless you (I)from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 Indeed, may you see your (J)children’s children.
(K)Peace be upon Israel!
Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.
A Song of Ascents.
129 “[c]Many times they have [d](L)persecuted me from my (M)youth up,”
(N)Let Israel now say,
2 “[e]Many times they have [f]persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have (O)not prevailed against me.
3 “The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord (P)is righteous;
He has cut in two the (Q)cords of the wicked.
5 May all who (R)hate Zion
Be (S)put to shame and turned backward;
6 Let them be like (T)grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it [g]grows up;
7 With which the reaper does not fill his [h]hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his (U)bosom;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The (V)blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
130 Out of the (W)depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
2 Lord, (X)hear my voice!
Let (Y)Your ears be attentive
To the (Z)voice of my supplications.
3 If You, [i]Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could (AA)stand?
4 But there is (AB)forgiveness with You,
That You may be (AC)feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my (AD)soul does wait,
And [j](AE)in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen (AF)for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, (AG)hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is (AH)lovingkindness,
And with Him is (AI)abundant redemption.
8 And He will (AJ)redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
Samuel Addresses Israel
12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, (A)I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I (B)have [a]appointed a king over you. 2 Now, (C)here is the king walking before you, but (D)I am old and gray, and behold (E)my sons are with you. And (F)I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. 3 Here I am; bear witness against me before the Lord and (G)His anointed. (H)Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or (I)from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that (J)you have found nothing (K)in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who [b](L)appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.
16 Even now, (A)take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 (B)Is it not the wheat harvest today? (C)I will call to the Lord, that He may send [a]thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that (D)your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent [b]thunder and rain that day; and (E)all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “(F)Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins (G)this evil by asking for ourselves a king.” 20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet (H)do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 You must not turn aside, for then you would go after (I)futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. 22 For (J)the Lord will not abandon His people (K)on account of His great name, because the Lord (L)has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, (M)far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but (N)I will instruct you in the good and right way. 24 (O)Only [c]fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider (P)what great things He has done for you. 25 (Q)But if you still do wickedly, (R)both you and your king (S)will be swept away.”
14 Now when (A)the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them (B)Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them (C)that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had (D)not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been (E)baptized [a]in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they (F)began laying their hands on them, and they were (G)receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could (H)obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have (I)no part or portion in this [b]matter, for your heart is not (J)right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, (K)if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in (L)the [c]bondage of iniquity.” 24 But Simon answered and said, “(M)Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
An Ethiopian Receives Christ
25 So, when they had solemnly (N)testified and spoken (O)the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were (P)preaching the gospel to many villages of the (Q)Samaritans.
Jesus before Pilate
23 Then the whole body of them got up and (A)brought Him before Pilate. 2 (B)And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man (C)misleading our nation and (D)forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is [a]Christ, a King.” 3 So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “(E)It is as you say.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “(F)I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, (G)starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”
6 When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to (H)Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem [b]at that time.
Jesus before Herod
8 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for (I)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some [c]sign performed by Him. 9 And he questioned Him [d]at some length; but (J)He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. 11 And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, (K)dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 Now (L)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.
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