Book of Common Prayer
Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.
Aleph.
119 How blessed are those whose way is [a](A)blameless,
Who (B)walk in the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who (C)observe His testimonies,
Who (D)seek Him (E)with all their heart.
3 They also (F)do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have [b](G)ordained Your precepts,
[c]That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my (H)ways may be established
To (I)keep Your statutes!
6 Then I (J)shall not be ashamed
When I look [d]upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall (K)give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not (L)forsake me utterly!
Beth.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By (M)keeping it according to Your word.
10 With (N)all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me (O)wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have (P)treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Lord;
(Q)Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have (R)told of
All the (S)ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have (T)rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[e]As much as in all riches.
15 I will (U)meditate on Your precepts
And [f]regard (V)Your ways.
16 I shall [g](W)delight in Your statutes;
I shall (X)not forget Your word.
Gimel.
17 (Y)Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19 I am a (Z)stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed [h](AA)with longing
After Your ordinances at all times.
21 You (AB)rebuke the arrogant, [i]the (AC)cursed,
Who (AD)wander from Your commandments.
22 (AE)Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I (AF)observe Your testimonies.
23 Even though (AG)princes sit and talk against me,
Your servant (AH)meditates on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my (AI)delight;
They are [j]my counselors.
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (A)the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They (B)speak [b]falsehood to one another;
With (C)flattering [c]lips and with a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [d]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (H)set him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The (I)words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver (J)tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will (K)preserve him from this generation forever.
8 The (L)wicked strut about on every side
When [e](M)vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will You (N)forget me forever?
How long (O)will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I (P)take counsel in my soul,
Having (Q)sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 (R)Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
(S)Enlighten my eyes, or I will (T)sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will (U)say, “I have overcome him,”
And (V)my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have (W)trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall (X)rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will (Y)sing to the Lord,
Because He has (Z)dealt bountifully with me.
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
14 The fool has (AA)said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable [f]deeds;
There is (AB)no one who does good.
2 The Lord has (AC)looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who [g](AD)understand,
Who (AE)seek after God.
3 They have all (AF)turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is (AG)no one who does good, not even one.
3 Yet (A)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and (B)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “(C)Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people, for they had not yet (D)put him in the prison. 5 Meanwhile, (E)Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they (F)lifted the siege from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘(G)Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, (H)Pharaoh’s army which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. 8 The Chaldeans will also (I)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not (J)deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. 10 For (K)even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and (L)burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had lifted the siege from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to (M)take [a]possession of some property there among the people. 13 While he was at the (N)Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he (O)arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are [b]going over to the Chaldeans!” 14 But Jeremiah said, “(P)A lie! I am not [c]going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Then the officials were (Q)angry at Jeremiah and beat him, and they (R)put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into the prison. 16 For Jeremiah had come into the [d](S)dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Now King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king (T)secretly asked him and said, “Is there a (U)word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be (V)given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” 18 Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “(W)In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 (X)Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The (Y)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? 20 But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my (Z)petition [e]come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” 21 Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the (AA)court of the guardhouse and gave him a loaf of (AB)bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was (AC)gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.
13 Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 (A)What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will (B)sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. 16 Otherwise if you bless [a]in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the [b]ungifted say (C)the “Amen” at your (D)giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not (E)edified. 18 I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; 19 however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Instruction for the Church
20 (F)Brethren, (G)do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil (H)be infants, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In (I)the Law it is written, “(J)By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord. 22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but (K)prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe. 23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and [c]ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that (L)you are mad? 24 But if all (M)prophesy, and an unbeliever or an [d]ungifted man enters, he is (N)convicted by all, he is called to account by all; 25 (O)the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will (P)fall on his face and worship God, (Q)declaring that God is certainly among you.
The Meaning of Discipleship
24 “(A)A [a]disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. (B)If they have called the head of the house [b](C)Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
26 “Therefore do not (D)fear them, (E)for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 (F)What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim (G)upon the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather (H)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in [c](I)hell. 29 (J)Are not two sparrows sold for a [d]cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But (K)the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So do not fear; (L)you are more valuable than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore (M)everyone who [e]confesses Me before men, I will also confess [f]him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But (N)whoever [g]denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.