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.
Israel’s History after the Exodus
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel (A)across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the (B)Arabah opposite [a]Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from (C)Horeb by the way of Mount (D)Seir to (E)Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the (F)fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, (G)according to all that the Lord had commanded him to give to them, 4 after he had [b](H)defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and (I)Og the king of Bashan, who lived in (J)Ashtaroth [c]and Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,
6 “The Lord our God (K)spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have [d]stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and set your journey, and go to (L)the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in (M)the [e]Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord (N)swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their [f]descendants after them.’
9 “I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘(O)I am not able to bear the burden of you alone. 10 The Lord your God has (P)multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, (Q)just as He has [g]promised you! 12 How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife? 13 [h](R)Choose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 You answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and [i]appointed them heads over you, leaders of thousands and [j]of hundreds, [k]of fifties and [l]of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your [m]fellow countrymen, and (S)judge righteously between a man and his [n]fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him. 17 (T)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall (U)not fear [o]man, for the judgment is God’s. (V)The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 (W)I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
Solicitude for Israel
9 (A)I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For (B)I could [a]wish that I myself were (C)accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen (D)according to the flesh, 4 who are (E)Israelites, to whom belongs (F)the adoption as sons, and (G)the glory and (H)the covenants and (I)the giving of the Law and (J)the temple service and (K)the promises, 5 whose are (L)the fathers, and (M)from whom is [b]the Christ according to the flesh, (N)who is over all, (O)God (P)blessed [c]forever. Amen.
6 But it is not as though (Q)the word of God has failed. (R)For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children (S)because they are Abraham’s [d]descendants, but: “[e](T)through Isaac your [f]descendants will be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are (U)children of God, but the (V)children of the promise are regarded as [g]descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: “(W)At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 (X)And not only this, but there was (Y)Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that (Z)God’s purpose according to His choice would [h]stand, not [i]because of works but [j]because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “(AA)The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “(AB)Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 (AC)What shall we say then? (AD)There is no injustice with God, is there? (AE)May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “(AF)I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who (AG)runs, but on (AH)God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “(AI)For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed [k]throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He (AJ)hardens whom He desires.
27 “(A)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “(B)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you (C)are [a]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, (D)you brood of vipers, how [b]will you escape the [c]sentence of [d](E)hell?
34 “(F)Therefore, behold, (G)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will (H)scourge in your synagogues, and (I)persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous (J)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the (K)son of Berechiah, whom (L)you murdered between the [e]temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon (M)this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 “(N)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who (O)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, (P)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 Behold, (Q)your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘(R)Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
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