Book of Common Prayer
Qoph
145 I cried out (A)with all my heart; answer me, Lord!
I will (B)comply with Your statutes.
146 I cried to You; (C)save me
And I shall keep Your testimonies.
147 I [a](D)rise before dawn and cry for help;
I [b]wait for Your words.
148 My eyes anticipate the (E)night watches,
So that I may (F)meditate on Your [c]word.
149 Hear my voice (G)according to Your faithfulness;
(H)Revive me, Lord, according to Your judgments.
150 Those who follow after wickedness approach;
They are far from Your Law.
151 You are (I)near, Lord,
And all Your commandments are (J)truth.
152 From long ago I have (K)known from Your testimonies
That You have founded them (L)forever.
Resh
153 (M)Look at my (N)affliction and rescue me,
For I have not (O)forgotten Your Law.
154 (P)Plead my cause and (Q)redeem me;
Revive me according to Your [d]word.
155 Salvation is (R)far from the wicked,
For they (S)do not seek Your statutes.
156 [e](T)Great are Your mercies, Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
157 Many are my (U)persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not (V)turn aside from Your testimonies.
158 I see the (W)treacherous and (X)loathe them,
Because they do not keep Your word.
159 Consider how I (Y)love Your precepts;
(Z)Revive me, Lord, according to Your faithfulness.
160 The (AA)sum of Your word is (AB)truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments (AC)is everlasting.
Shin
161 (AD)Rulers persecute me without cause,
But my heart (AE)stands in awe of Your words.
162 I (AF)rejoice at Your [f]word,
Like one who (AG)finds great plunder.
163 I (AH)hate and loathe falsehood,
But I (AI)love Your Law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You
Because of Your (AJ)righteous judgments.
165 Those who love Your Law have (AK)great peace,
And [g](AL)nothing causes them to stumble.
166 I (AM)hope for Your salvation, Lord,
And do Your commandments.
167 My (AN)soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I (AO)love them exceedingly.
168 I (AP)keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my (AQ)ways are before You.
Tav
169 Let my (AR)cry [h]come before You, Lord;
(AS)Give me understanding (AT)according to Your word.
170 Let my (AU)pleading come before You;
(AV)Save me according to Your [i]word.
171 Let my (AW)lips pour out praise,
For You (AX)teach me Your statutes.
172 Let my (AY)tongue sing about Your [j]word,
For all Your (AZ)commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your (BA)hand be [k]ready to help me,
For I have (BB)chosen Your precepts.
174 I (BC)long for Your salvation, Lord,
And Your Law is my (BD)delight.
175 Let my (BE)soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
176 I have (BF)wandered about like a lost sheep; search for Your servant,
For I do (BG)not forget Your commandments.
Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of Ascents.
128 (A)Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who (B)walks in His ways.
2 When you (C)eat the (D)fruit of the labor of your hands,
You will be happy and (E)it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a (F)fruitful vine
[a]Within your house,
Your children like (G)olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for so shall a man
Who fears the Lord be blessed.
5 (H)The Lord bless you (I)from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 Indeed, may you see your (J)children’s children.
(K)Peace be upon Israel!
Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.
A Song of Ascents.
129 “[b]Many times they have (L)attacked me from my (M)youth up,”
(N)Let Israel say,
2 “[c]Many times they have attacked me from my youth up;
Yet they have (O)not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord (P)is righteous;
He has cut up the (Q)ropes of the wicked.
5 May all who (R)hate Zion
Be (S)put to shame and turned backward;
6 May they be like (T)grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it [d]grows up;
7 With which the harvester does not fill his [e]hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his [f](U)arms;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The (V)blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
130 Out of the (W)depths I have cried to You, Lord.
2 Lord, (X)hear my voice!
Let (Y)Your ears be attentive
To the (Z)sound of my pleadings.
3 If You, [g]Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds,
Lord, who could (AA)stand?
4 But there is (AB)forgiveness with You,
So that You may be [h](AC)revered.
5 I wait for the Lord, my (AD)soul waits,
And I [i]wait (AE)for His word.
6 My soul waits in hope for the Lord
More than the watchmen (AF)for the morning;
Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 Israel, (AG)wait for the Lord;
For with the Lord there is (AH)mercy,
And with Him is (AI)abundant redemption.
8 And He will (AJ)redeem Israel
From all his guilty deeds.
41 Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to [a](A)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there [b]a (B)portion of the people.
The Prophecies of Balaam
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2 Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.
4 Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord (C)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7 And he took up his discourse and said,
“From (D)Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, saying,
‘(E)Come, declare Jacob cursed for me,
And come, curse Israel!’
8 (F)How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse?
And how am I to curse him whom the Lord has not cursed?
9 For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
(G)Behold, a people that lives in isolation,
And does not consider itself to be among the nations.
10 (H)Who has counted the dust of Jacob,
Or the number of the fourth part of Israel?
(I)May [c]I die the death of the upright,
(J)And may my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (K)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” 12 He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak (L)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? [a](A)Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
The Conflict of Serving Two Masters
14 For we know that the Law is (B)spiritual, but I am (C)fleshly, (D)sold [b](E)into bondage to sin. 15 For (F)I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing (G)what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with (H)the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, (I)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my (J)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For (K)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, (L)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then (M)the [c]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God [d]in (N)the inner person, 23 but I see (O)a different law in [e]the parts of my body waging war against the (P)law of my mind, and making me a prisoner [f]of (Q)the law of sin, the law which is in [g]my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [h](R)the body of this (S)death? 25 (T)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh (U)the law of sin.
Parable of the Landowner
33 “Listen to another parable. (A)There was a [a]landowner who (B)planted a (C)vineyard and put a [b]fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to [c]vine-growers and (D)went on a journey. 34 And when the [d]harvest time approached, he (E)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he (F)sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the [e]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and (G)lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”
42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘(H)A stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the [f]chief cornerstone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a [g]people producing its fruit. 44 And (I)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 And although they sought to arrest Him, they (J)feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a (K)prophet.
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