Book of Common Prayer
Mem
97 How I love your law!
The whole day it is my meditation.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they[a] are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the elders,
for I keep your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
so that I may heed your word.
102 I have not turned aside from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
103 How smooth[b] are your words[c] to my palate,
more than honey in my mouth.
104 From your precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate every false way.
Nun
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to heed your righteous ordinances.[d]
107 I am very much afflicted;
O Yahweh, revive me according to your word.
108 Please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Yahweh,
and teach me your ordinances.
109 My life is in danger[e] continually,
yet I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
yet I do not wander from your precepts.
111 I have taken as my own your testimonies forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to do your statutes
forever, to the end.
Samek
113 I hate the double-minded,[f]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Turn aside from me, you evildoers,
for I will keep the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me according to your word,[g] that I may live,
and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Uphold me, that I may be delivered,
and have regard for your statutes continually.
118 You reject all who stray from your statutes,
for their deceit is a breach of faith.
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like dross,
therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.
An Appeal from God to Israel
For the music director; on the Gittith. Of Asaph.[a]
81 Shout out to God our strength;
shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a song and strike[b] the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre, together with the harp.
3 Blow the horn at new moon,
at full moon, for our feast day,
4 because it is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a statute[c] in Joseph
when he went out against the land of Egypt,
where I heard a language I did not know.[d]
6 “I removed his shoulder from a burden.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 In this[e] trouble you called, and I rescued you.
Within the secret place of thunder I answered you;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, if you would but listen to me.
9 There shall be no strange god among you,
and you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 But my people did not listen to my voice,
and Israel did not yield to me.
12 So I let them[f] go in the stubbornness of their heart;
they walked in their counsels.
13 Oh that my people would listen to me;
that Israel would walk in my ways.
14 I would subdue their enemies quickly,
and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 Those who hate Yahweh would cringe before him,
and their fate[g] would be forever.
16 But he would feed him[h] from the choicest wheat,[i]
and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock.”
God Commands Justice
A psalm of Asaph.[j]
82 God stands in the divine assembly;[k]
he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[l]
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked?[m] Selah
3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan;
provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the helpless and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or consider.[n]
They go about in the darkness,
so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I have said,[o] “You are gods,
and sons of the Most High, all of you.
7 However, you will die like men,[p]
and you will fall like one of the princes.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you shall inherit[q] all the nations.
Elisha Recovers a Lost Axe Head
6 Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please look; the place where we are living before you is too cramped for us. 2 Let us please go to the Jordan and each bring from there one log that we might make a place there for us to live.” Then he said, “Do so.” 3 Then a certain one said, “Please be prepared and go with your servants,” and he said, “I will go.” 4 He went with them, and they went to the Jordan, and they cut down the trees. 5 It happened as the one was felling the log, that the iron ax fell into the water. He called out and said, “Oh, no! My master, it was borrowed!” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” So he showed him the place, and then he cut off a stick and threw it there and made the iron ax float. 7 Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself,” so he stretched out his hand and took it.
Arameans Plot to Take Elisha
8 The king of Aram was fighting with Israel, so he consulted with his officers, saying, “My camp is at such and such a place.”[a] 9 Then the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Take care while crossing over to this place, because the Arameans are descending there.” 10 So the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God said to him and warned him, so he was on guard there continually.[b]
11 Then the heart of the king of Aram was stormy because of this matter, so he called his servants and said to them, “Can you not tell me who among us sides with the king of Israel?”[c] 12 Then one of his servants said, “No, my lord the king, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel things which you speak in your own bedchamber.”[d] 13 Then he said, “Go and see where he is so that I can send and capture him.” Then he was told to him, “Look, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses, chariots, and an oppressing army there. They arrived at night and surrounded the town. 15 The attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and look, the army was surrounding the city with horses and chariots. His servant said to him, “Oh no, my master! What shall we do?” 16 And he said, “Don’t be afraid, for more are with us than are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Yahweh, please open his eyes that he may see,” and Yahweh opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw, and look, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 They came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, “Please strike this people with blindness,” so he struck them with blindness as Elisha had spoken.[e] 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way and this is not the city. Come after me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” Then he brought them to Samaria.
20 It happened at the moment they came to Samaria, Elisha said, “O Yahweh, open the eyes of these that they may see,” so Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw, and look, the middle of Samaria! 21 Then the king of Israel said to Elisha when he saw them, “Shall I kill them? Shall I kill, my father?” 22 And he said, “You shall not kill. Would you kill those whom you took captive with the sword or with the bow? Put food and water before them that they may eat and drink and then go to their master.” 23 So he made a great feast for them, and they ate and drank; then he sent them, and they went to their master. And the bands of the Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.
9 I wrote to you in the letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10 By no means did I mean the sexually immoral people of this world or the greedy people and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would have to depart out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to associate with any so-called brother, if he is a sexually immoral person or a greedy person or an idolater or an abusive person or a drunkard or a swindler—with such a person not even to eat. 12 For what is it to me to judge those outside? Should you not judge those inside? 13 But those outside God will judge. Remove the evil person from among yourselves[a].
Lawsuits between Believers
6 Does anyone among you, if he[b] has a matter against someone else, dare to go to court before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if by you the world is judged, are you unworthy of the most insignificant courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention ordinary matters? 4 Therefore, if you have courts with regard to ordinary matters, do you seat[c] these despised people in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. So is there not anyone wise among you who will be able to render a decision between his brothers? 6 But brother goes to court with brother, and this before unbelievers! 7 Therefore it is already completely a loss for you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you wrong and defraud, and do this to brothers!
The Sermon on the Mount: Retaliation
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’[a] 39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer, but whoever strikes you on the right cheek,[b] turn the other to him also. 40 And the one who wants to go to court with you and take your tunic, let him have[c] your outer garment also. 41 And whoever forces you to go one mile,[d] go with him two. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
The Sermon on the Mount: Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’[e] and ‘Hate your enemy.’[f] 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same? 48 Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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