Book of Common Prayer
Aleph[a]
119 Great blessings belong to those who live pure lives!
They follow the Lord’s teachings.
2 Great blessings belong to those who follow his rules!
They seek him with all their heart.
3 They don’t do wrong.
They follow his ways.
4 Lord, you gave us your instructions
and told us to always obey them.
5 How I wish I could be more faithful
in obeying your laws!
6 Then I would never feel ashamed
when I look closely at your commands.
7 The more I understand how fair your laws are,
the more sincerely I will praise you.
8 I will obey your laws,
so please don’t leave me!
Beth
9 How can a young person live a pure life?
By obeying your word.
10 I try with all my heart to serve you.
Help me obey your commands.
11 I study your teachings very carefully
so that I will not sin against you.
12 Lord, you are worthy of praise!
Teach me your laws.
13 I will repeat the laws we have heard from you.
14 I enjoy following your rules
as much as others enjoy great riches.
15 I will study your instructions.
I will give thought to your way of life.
16 I enjoy your laws.
I will not forget your word.
Gimel
17 Be good to me, your servant,
so that I may live to obey your word.
18 Open my eyes so that I can see
all the wonderful things in your teachings.
19 I feel like a stranger visiting here on earth.
I need to know your commands.
Don’t keep them hidden from me.
20 I constantly feel a hunger
to understand your laws.
21 You tell the proud how angry you are with them.
All those who refuse to obey your word are cursed.
22 Don’t let me be ashamed and embarrassed.
I have obeyed your rules.
23 Even if rulers say bad things about me,
I am your servant,
and I continue to study your laws.
24 Your rules make me happy.
They give me good advice.
To the director: With the sheminith. A song of David.
12 Save me, Lord!
We can no longer trust anyone!
All the good, loyal people are gone.
2 People lie to their neighbors.
They say whatever they think people want to hear.
3 The Lord should cut off their lying lips
and cut out their bragging tongues.
4 Those people think they can win any argument.
They say, “We are so good with words,
no one will be our master.”
5 They took advantage of the poor
and stole what little they had.
But the Lord knows what they did, and he says,
“I will rescue those who are poor and helpless,
and I will punish those who hurt them.”[a]
6 The Lord’s words are true and pure,
like silver purified by fire,
like silver melted seven times to make it perfectly pure.
7 Lord, take care of the helpless.
Protect them forever from the wicked people in this world.
8 The wicked are all around us,
and everyone thinks evil is something to be praised!
To the director: A song of David.
13 How long will you forget me, Lord?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you refuse to accept me?[b]
2 How long must I wonder if you have forgotten me?
How long must I feel this sadness in my heart?
How long will my enemy win against me?
3 Lord my God, look at me and give me an answer.
Make me feel strong again, or I will die.
4 If that happens, my enemy will say, “I beat him!”
He will be so happy that he won.
5 But I trust in your faithful love, Lord.
I will be happy when you save me.
6 Then I will sing to the Lord
because he was so good to me.
To the director: A song of David.
14 Only fools think there is no God.
People like that are evil and do terrible things.
They never do what is right.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
to see if there is anyone who is wise,
anyone who looks to him for help.
3 But everyone has gone the wrong way.
Everyone has turned bad.
No one does anything good.
No, not one person!
4 Those who are evil treat my people like bread to be eaten.
And they never ask for the Lord’s help.
Don’t they know what they are doing?
5 They will have plenty to fear,
because God is with those who do what is right.
6 You wicked people want to spoil the hopes of the poor,
but the Lord will protect them.
7 I wish the one who lives on Mount Zion
would bring victory to Israel!
When the Lord makes his people successful again,
the people of Jacob will be happy;
the people of Israel will be glad.
The First Family
4 Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Cain.[a] Eve said, “With the Lord’s help, I have made a man!”
2 Eve gave birth again to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain became a farmer.
The First Murder
3-4 At harvest time,[b] Cain brought a gift to the Lord. He brought some of the food that he grew from the ground, but Abel brought some animals from his flock. He chose some of his best sheep and brought the best parts from them.[c]
The Lord accepted Abel and his gift. 5 But he did not accept Cain and his offering. Cain was sad because of this, and he became very angry. 6 The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? 7 You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don’t, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it.”[d]
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[e] So they went to the field. Then Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my job to watch over my brother?”
10-11 Then the Lord said, “What have you done? You killed your brother and the ground opened up to take his blood from your hands. Now his blood is shouting to me from the ground. So you will be cursed from this ground. 12 Now when you work the soil, the ground will not help your plants grow. You will not have a home in this land. You will wander from place to place.”
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “This punishment is more than I can bear! 14 You are forcing me to leave the land, and I will not be able to be near you or have a home! Now I must wander from place to place, and anyone I meet could kill me.”
15 Then the Lord said to Cain, “No, if anyone kills you, I will punish that person much, much more.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to show that no one should kill him.
Cain’s Family
16 Cain went away from the Lord and lived in the land of Nod.[f]
11 Jesus, the one who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. 12 He says,
“God, I will tell my brothers and sisters about you.
Before all your people I will sing your praises.” (A)
13 He also says,
“I will trust in God.” (B)
And he says,
“I am here, and with me are the children God has given me.” (C)
14 These children are people with physical bodies. So Jesus himself became like them and had the same experiences they have. Jesus did this so that, by dying, he could destroy the one who has the power of death—the devil. 15 Jesus became like these people and died so that he could free them. They were like slaves all their lives because of their fear of death. 16 Clearly, it is not angels that Jesus helps. He helps the people who are from Abraham. 17 For this reason, Jesus had to be made like us, his brothers and sisters, in every way. He became like people so that he could be their merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. Then he could bring forgiveness for the people’s sins. 18 And now he can help those who are tempted. He is able to help because he himself suffered and was tempted.
Jesus, the Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God. He takes away the sins of the world! 30 This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘There is a man coming after me who is greater than I am, because he was living even before I was born.’ 31 I did not know who he was. But I came baptizing people with water so that Israel could know that he is the Messiah.[a]”
32-34 Then John said this for everyone to hear: “I also did not know who the Messiah was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man. He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen this happen. I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on this man. So this is what I tell people: ‘He is the Son of God.’[b]”
The First Followers of Jesus
35 The next day John was there again and had two of his followers with him. 36 He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 The two followers heard him say this, so they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw the two men following him. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39 He answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with him. They saw the place where he was staying, and they stayed there with him that day. It was about four o’clock.
40 These men followed Jesus after they had heard about him from John. One of them was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to go and find his brother Simon. Andrew said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
42 Then Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.[c]”)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International