Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Guidance, Deliverance, and Forgiveness
Of David.[a]
25 To you, O Yahweh, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust you; let me not be put to shame.
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you should be put to shame.
Those who betray without cause should be put to shame.
4 Make me know your ways, O Yahweh.
Teach me your paths.
5 Cause me to walk in your truth and teach me,
because you are the God of my salvation.
I await you all day long.[b]
6 Remember your compassion, O Yahweh,
and your acts of loyal love,
because they are from of old.
7 Do not remember
the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
According to your loyal love remember me if you will,
for the sake of your goodness, O Yahweh.
8 Good and right is Yahweh;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He causes the humble to walk in justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of Yahweh are loyal love and faithfulness
for those who keep his covenant and statutes.[c]
11 Also, for the sake of your name, O Yahweh,
forgive my sin, because it is great.
12 Who is the man fearing Yahweh?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will lodge in prosperity,
and his offspring will possess the land.
14 Intimate fellowship with Yahweh is for those who fear him,
and he makes known his covenant to them.
15 My eyes are continually toward Yahweh,
because he will take my feet from the net.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me
because I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Remove the troubles of my heart;
bring me out from my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and trouble,
and forgive[d] all my sins.
19 Consider that my enemies are many,
and they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Protect my life and deliver me.
Let me not be put to shame, because I take shelter in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
because I wait for you.
22 O God, redeem Israel
from all its troubles.
Praise for Yahweh’s Justice
For the music director, according to Muth-labben.[a] A psalm of David.[b]
9 I will thank Yahweh with all my heart.
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will sing the praise of your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they will stumble and perish because of your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne judging correctly.
5 You have rebuked the nations;
you have destroyed the wicked.
Their name you have blotted out
forever and ever.
6 The enemies are destroyed in ruins forever,
and you have uprooted their cities;
their very memory has perished.
7 But Yahweh sits enthroned forever.
He has established his throne for judgment.
8 And he will judge the world with righteousness.
He will judge the peoples with equity.
9 And Yahweh will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of distress.
10 And those who know your name will trust in you,
for you do not forsake those who seek you, O Yahweh.
11 Sing praises to Yahweh who sits enthroned[c] in Zion.
Tell his deeds among the peoples,
12 for he who avenges bloodshed[d] remembers them.
He does not forget the distressed cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh.
See my suffering from those who hate me,
you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 so that I may tell of all your praises.
In the gates of the daughter of Zion
let me rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have fallen in the pit that they made;
their foot is caught in the net that they hid.
16 Yahweh has made himself known;
he has executed judgment.
The wicked is snared by the work of his hands. Higgaion[e] Selah
17 The wicked shall turn back to Sheol,
all the nations forgetting God,
18 for the needy shall not always be forgotten;
the hope of the poor shall never perish.
19 Rise up, O Yahweh, let not humans[f] prevail;
let the nations be judged before you.
20 O Yahweh, put them in fear.
Let the nations know they are merely human. Selah
A Description of Those Who May Dwell with Yahweh
A psalm of David.[a]
15 O Yahweh, who may reside in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right.
He who speaks honestly in his heart.
3 He does not slander with his tongue.
He does not harm his friend,
nor bring up[b] a disgrace against his neighbor.
4 In his eyes a rejected one is contemptible,
but he honors those who respect Yahweh.
He takes an oath to his own injury and does not retract it.
5 He does not lend his money at interest,
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
32 “And also, with respect to the foreigner, he who is not of your people Israel, but comes from a distant land, for the sake of your great name and your powerful hand and outstretched arm, when he comes and prays to this house, 33 then may you yourself hear from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all peoples of earth will know of your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that your name possesses[a] this house that I have built.
34 “When your people go out to battle against their enemy according to the way that you have sent them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35 then may you hear their prayer and their pleas from the heavens and uphold their case. 36 When they sin against you—for there is no person who does not sin—and you become angry with them and place them before their enemy that they carry them away as captives to a land far or near, 37 but if they repent[b] in the land where they were taken captive and repent[c] and beg you for mercy in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and acted perversely and done wickedly, 38 and we return to you,’ with their whole heart and with all their inmost being in the land of their captivity where they took them captive, and if they pray toward their land that you have given to their ancestors[d] and the city that you have chosen and to the house that I have built for your name, 39 then may you hear their prayer and their pleas from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and uphold their case and forgive your people who sinned against you. 40 Now, O my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place!
41 “And now arise, O Yahweh God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! O Yahweh God, let the priests be clothed with salvation, and let your holy ones rejoice in your goodness! 42 O Yahweh God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember the loyal love of your servant, David!”
God Answers with Fire from Heaven
7 And when Solomon finished praying, then fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house. 2 And the priests were not able to go into the house of Yahweh, for the glory of Yahweh had filled the house. 3 When all the Israelites[e] saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they knelt down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loyal love is everlasting.
The Temple Dedication
4 Then the king and all the people were offering a sacrifice before Yahweh. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 And the priests stood at their posts with the Levites, with the instruments of the song of Yahweh that King David had made to give thanks to Yahweh—for his loyal love is everlasting—whenever David offered praise by their hand. Now the priests sounded trumpets standing opposite them, and all Israel stood.
7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was before the house of Yahweh, for there he had made the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, for the bronze altar that Solomon had made was not able to hold the burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and the fat.
Partiality Forbidden
2 My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. 2 For if someone[a] enters into your assembly[b] in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters, 3 and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, “Be seated here in a good place,” and to the poor person you say, “You stand or be seated there[c] by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich exploiting you and they themselves dragging you into the courts? 7 Do they themselves not blaspheme the good name of the one to whom you belong[d]?
8 However, if you carry out the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”[e] you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and thus[f] are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point only has become guilty of all of it. 11 For the one who said “Do not commit adultery”[g] also said “Do not murder.”[h] Now if you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 Thus speak and thus act as those who are going to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 And Peter followed him from a distance, right inside, into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the officers and warming himself by the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, and they did not find it.[a] 56 For many gave false testimony against him, and their[b] testimony was not consistent. 57 And some stood up and[c] began to give false testimony[d] against him, saying, 58 “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple made by hands, and within three days I will build another not made by hands.” 59 And their testimony was not even consistent about this. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst of them and[e] asked Jesus, saying, “Do you not reply anything? What are these people testifying against you?” 61 But he was silent and did not reply anything. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power[f] and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his clothes and[g] said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?”[h] And they all condemned him as deserving death.[i] 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him with their fists, and to say to him “Prophesy!” And the officers received him with slaps in the face.[j]
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