Book of Common Prayer
Lead Me in Your Righteousness
For the choir director. For [a]the flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Give ear to my words, O Yahweh,
Consider my (B)meditation.
2 Give heed to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will order my [c]prayer to You and eagerly (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who delights in wickedness;
(H)Evil does not sojourn with You.
5 The (I)boastful shall not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak falsehood;
Yahweh abhors (M)the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)in the abundance of Your lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)worship in (P)fear of You.
8 O Yahweh, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of [e]my foes;
Make Your way [f]straight before me.
9 There is (T)nothing [g]reliable in their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Hold them guilty, O God;
(W)By their own devices let them fall!
In the abundance of their transgressions (X)thrust them out,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But let all who (Z)take refuge in You (AA)be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And [i]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may exult in You.
12 For it is You who (AD)blesses the righteous one, O Yahweh,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a large shield.
Yahweh, Rescue My Soul
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. According to the [j]Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
6 O Yahweh, (AF)do not reprove me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, for I am (AG)pining away;
(AH)Heal me, O Yahweh, for (AI)my bones are dismayed.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O Yahweh—(AK)how long?
4 Return, O Yahweh, (AL)rescue my [k]soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
5 For (AM)there is no remembrance of You in death;
In Sheol who will give You thanks?
Do Not Forget the Afflicted
Lamedh
10 [a]Why (A)do You stand afar off, O Yahweh?
Why (B)do You hide [b]Yourself in times of distress?
2 In his (C)lofty pride the wicked [c]hotly pursues the afflicted;
[d]Let them be (D)caught in the thoughts which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [e]the greedy man curses and (G)spurns Yahweh.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, (H)does not seek Him.
All his [f]thoughts are, “(I)There is no God.”
5 His ways [g](J)prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says in his heart, “(L)I will not be shaken;
[h]From generation to generation (M)I will not be in adversity.”
Pe
7 His (N)mouth is full of curses and deceit and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
Ayin
8 He sits in the [i](Q)places of the villages where one lies in wait;
In the hiding places he (R)kills the innocent;
His eyes [j]stealthily watch for the [k](S)unfortunate.
9 He lies in wait in a hiding place as (T)a lion in his [l]lair;
He (U)lies in wait to catch (V)the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his (W)net.
10 He [m]crouches, he [n]bows down,
And the [o]unfortunate fall [p]by his mighty ones.
11 He (X)says in his heart, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
Qoph
12 Arise, O Yahweh; O God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)spurned God?
He has said in his heart, “You will not require it.”
Resh
14 You have seen it, for You have beheld (AB)mischief and vexation to [q]take it into Your hand.
The [r](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
Shin
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[s](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
Tav
17 O Yahweh, You have heard the (AI)desire of the [t]humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will cause Your ear to give heed
18 To give justice to the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause (AN)terror.
Yahweh Is in His Holy Temple
For the choir director. Of David.
11 In Yahweh I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain;
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They [u](AR)make ready their arrow upon the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 Yahweh is in His (AU)holy temple; [v]Yahweh’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 Yahweh (AX)tests the righteous,
But (AY)the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 May He (AZ)rain [w]snares upon the wicked;
(BA)Fire and brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For Yahweh is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [x]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)behold His face.
Cities for the Levites
35 (A)Now Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. 3 And the cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts.
9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “(A)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 (B)then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your (C)cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has struck down any person (D)unintentionally may flee there. 12 (E)And the cities shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You (F)shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities [a]in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner and for the foreign resident among them; that anyone who strikes a person down (G)unintentionally may flee there.
30 ‘(A)If anyone strikes down a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the mouth of witnesses, but (B)no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 And you shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land [a]before the death of the priest. 33 (C)So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land, and no propitiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except (D)by the blood of him who shed it. 34 And you shall not (E)defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which (F)I dwell; for I Yahweh am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”
God Is for Us
31 (A)What then shall we say to these things? (B)If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who indeed (C)did not spare His own Son, but (D)delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against (E)God’s elect? (F)God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who (G)condemns? Christ Jesus is He who (H)died, yes, rather who was [a](I)raised, who is (J)at the right hand of God, who also (K)intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from (L)the love of [b]Christ? Will (M)affliction, or turmoil, or (N)persecution, or (O)famine, or (P)nakedness, or (Q)peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“(R)For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly (S)conquer through (T)Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither (U)death, nor life, nor (V)angels, nor rulers, nor (W)things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from (X)the love of God, which is (Y)in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
13 “(A)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, (B)because you shut off the kingdom of heaven [a]from [b]people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 [c][Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because (C)you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [d](D)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of [e](E)hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, (F)blind guides, who say, ‘(G)Whoever swears by the [f]sanctuary, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [g]sanctuary is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! For (H)which is [h]more important, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the [i]offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, (I)which is [j]more important, the [k]offering, or the altar that sanctifies the [l]offering? 20 Therefore, [m]whoever swears by the altar, swears both by [n]the altar and by everything on it. 21 And [o]whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears both by the [p]sanctuary and by Him who (J)dwells within it. 22 And [q]whoever swears by heaven, (K)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “(L)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [r]cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You (M)blind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (N)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [s]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (O)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
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