Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Vindication
Of David.[a]
26 Judge me, O Yahweh, because I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted Yahweh and not wavered.
2 Prove me, O Yahweh, and test me.
Try my innermost being[b] and my mind.[c]
3 Because your loyal love is before my eyes,
and I walk about in your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with deceitful people,
nor will I go about with hypocrites.
5 I hate the crowd of evildoers,
and with the wicked I will not sit.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence,
and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,
7 to declare with a voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Yahweh, I love the dwelling of your house,[d]
and the place where your glory abides.[e]
9 Do not destroy me[f] with the sinners,
nor my life with men of bloodshed,
10 in whose hands is an evil plan,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.[g]
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground.
In assemblies I will bless Yahweh.
A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer
A psalm of David.[a]
28 To you, O Yahweh, I call.
O my rock, do not be deaf to me.
Or else, if you are silent to me,
then I will become like those descending to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your holy inner sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked
or with the workers of evil,
who speak of peace with their neighbors,
while evil is in their heart.
4 Give to them according to their work,
even according to the evil of their deeds.
Give to them according to the work of their hands;
repay them their rightful due.
5 Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh,
nor the work of his hands,
he will destroy them
and not rebuild them.
6 Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him and I am helped.
So my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will give thanks to him.
8 Yahweh is their strength,
and he is the refuge for the salvation of his anointed one.
9 Save your people
and bless your heritage.
Shepherd them also and carry them always.
Human Wickedness and God’s Love
For the music director. Of David, the servant of Yahweh.[a]
36 An oracle: the wicked has rebellion
in the midst of his[b] heart.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his eyes,
hating to detect his iniquity.[c]
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit.
He has ceased to have insight and to do good.
4 He plans sin on his bed.
He puts himself on a way that is not good.
He does not reject evil.
5 O Yahweh, your loyal love extends into the heavens,
your faithfulness unto the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,[d]
your judgments like the great deep.
You save man and beast, O Yahweh.
7 How precious is your loyal love, O God,
and the children of humankind
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed with the fullness[e] of your house,[f]
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Prolong your loyal love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
11 Do not let a foot of pride come against me,
nor let a wicked hand make me to wander homeless.
12 There doers of evil have fallen;
they are thrust down and not able to rise.
The Brevity of Human Life
For the music director. For Jeduthun.[a] A psalm of David.[b]
39 I said, “I will guard my ways
that I may not sin[c] with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle over my mouth
as long as the wicked are before me.”
2 I was mute with silence. I was silent even from saying good things,
and my pain was stirred up.
3 My heart grew hot inside me;
in my sighing a fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue,
4 “Let me know, O Yahweh, my end,
and what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how transient I am.”
5 Look, you have made my days mere handbreadths,
and my lifespan as nothing next to you.
Surely every person standing firm is complete vanity. Selah
6 Surely a man walks about as a mere shadow;[d]
surely in vain they bustle about.
He heaps up possessions but does not know who will gather them in.
7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is for you.
8 From all my transgressions deliver me;
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
9 I am mute. I do not open my mouth,
for you, yourself, have done it.
10 Remove from me your affliction.
By the opposition of your hand I perish.
11 When with rebukes you chastise a man for sin,
you[e] consume[f] like a moth his delightful things.
Surely everyone is a mere vapor.[g] Selah
12 Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my tears.
For I am an alien[h] with you,
a sojourner like all my ancestors.[i]
13 Look away from me that I may be cheerful,
before I depart and I am no more.
65 Solomon held the festival at that time and all of Israel with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath up to the wadi[a] of Egypt before Yahweh our God, for seven days and seven days, a total of fourteen days. 66 On the eighth day, he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and they went to their tents rejoicing and in good spirits[b] because of all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
Yahweh’s Challenge to Solomon
9 It happened that as Solomon finished the building of the house of Yahweh, the king’s house, and all the things Solomon desired to do, 2 Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house which you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 As for you, if you walk before me as David your father walked, with integrity of heart[c] and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep my ordinances and my judgments, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘A man will not be cut off for you from upon the throne of Israel.’
6 “If ever you or any of your descendants[d] turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I have set before you and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the face of the land that I have given to them, even the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast away from my face; and Israel shall become a proverb and an object of taunting among all the peoples. 8 This house shall become a heap of ruins; all those passing by will be appalled by it and hiss, and they will say, ‘On what account did Yahweh do this to this land and to this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they have forsaken Yahweh their God who brought their ancestors[e] out from the land of Egypt and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. Therefore, Yahweh brought on them all of this disaster.’”
Faith and Works
14 What is the benefit, my brothers, if someone says that he has faith but does not have works? That faith is not able to save him, is it?[a] 15 If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day, 16 and one of you should say to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well[b],” but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what is the benefit? 17 Thus also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”[c] Show me your faith apart from your[d] works, and I will show you my[e] faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he[f] offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working together with his works, and by the works the faith was perfected. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,”[g] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And likewise was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she[h] welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Peter Denies Jesus Three Times
66 And while[a] Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the female slaves of the high priest came up 67 And when[b] she saw Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and[c] said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it,[d] saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean!” And he went out into the gateway, and a rooster crowed.[e] 69 And the female slave, when she[f] saw him, began to say again to the bystanders, “This man is one of them!” 70 But he denied it[g] again. And after a little while, again the bystanders began to say[h] to Peter, “You really are one of them, because you also are a Galilean, and your accent shows it!”[i][j] 71 And he began to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know this man whom you are talking about!” 72 And immediately a rooster crowed for the second time. And Peter remembered the statement, how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times,” and throwing himself down, he began to weep.[k]
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