Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Guidance, Deliverance, and Forgiveness
Of David.[a]
25 To you, O Yahweh, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust you; let me not be put to shame.
Do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you should be put to shame.
Those who betray without cause should be put to shame.
4 Make me know your ways, O Yahweh.
Teach me your paths.
5 Cause me to walk in your truth and teach me,
because you are the God of my salvation.
I await you all day long.[b]
6 Remember your compassion, O Yahweh,
and your acts of loyal love,
because they are from of old.
7 Do not remember
the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
According to your loyal love remember me if you will,
for the sake of your goodness, O Yahweh.
8 Good and right is Yahweh;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He causes the humble to walk in justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of Yahweh are loyal love and faithfulness
for those who keep his covenant and statutes.[c]
11 Also, for the sake of your name, O Yahweh,
forgive my sin, because it is great.
12 Who is the man fearing Yahweh?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will lodge in prosperity,
and his offspring will possess the land.
14 Intimate fellowship with Yahweh is for those who fear him,
and he makes known his covenant to them.
15 My eyes are continually toward Yahweh,
because he will take my feet from the net.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me
because I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Remove the troubles of my heart;
bring me out from my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and trouble,
and forgive[d] all my sins.
19 Consider that my enemies are many,
and they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Protect my life and deliver me.
Let me not be put to shame, because I take shelter in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
because I wait for you.
22 O God, redeem Israel
from all its troubles.
Praise for Yahweh’s Justice
For the music director, according to Muth-labben.[a] A psalm of David.[b]
9 I will thank Yahweh with all my heart.
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will sing the praise of your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they will stumble and perish because of your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne judging correctly.
5 You have rebuked the nations;
you have destroyed the wicked.
Their name you have blotted out
forever and ever.
6 The enemies are destroyed in ruins forever,
and you have uprooted their cities;
their very memory has perished.
7 But Yahweh sits enthroned forever.
He has established his throne for judgment.
8 And he will judge the world with righteousness.
He will judge the peoples with equity.
9 And Yahweh will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of distress.
10 And those who know your name will trust in you,
for you do not forsake those who seek you, O Yahweh.
11 Sing praises to Yahweh who sits enthroned[c] in Zion.
Tell his deeds among the peoples,
12 for he who avenges bloodshed[d] remembers them.
He does not forget the distressed cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh.
See my suffering from those who hate me,
you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 so that I may tell of all your praises.
In the gates of the daughter of Zion
let me rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have fallen in the pit that they made;
their foot is caught in the net that they hid.
16 Yahweh has made himself known;
he has executed judgment.
The wicked is snared by the work of his hands. Higgaion[e] Selah
17 The wicked shall turn back to Sheol,
all the nations forgetting God,
18 for the needy shall not always be forgotten;
the hope of the poor shall never perish.
19 Rise up, O Yahweh, let not humans[f] prevail;
let the nations be judged before you.
20 O Yahweh, put them in fear.
Let the nations know they are merely human. Selah
A Description of Those Who May Dwell with Yahweh
A psalm of David.[a]
15 O Yahweh, who may reside in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right.
He who speaks honestly in his heart.
3 He does not slander with his tongue.
He does not harm his friend,
nor bring up[b] a disgrace against his neighbor.
4 In his eyes a rejected one is contemptible,
but he honors those who respect Yahweh.
He takes an oath to his own injury and does not retract it.
5 He does not lend his money at interest,
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
Spies View the Land
2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men from Acacia Grove[a] as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night[b] there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some men from the Israelites[c] have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 And the king of Jericho sent for Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who came to you, the ones who have entered your house, for they have come to search out the whole land.” 4 But the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when it was time to shut the gate for the night,[d] the men left, and I do not know where they went. Chase after them quickly, for you may catch up to them.” 6 (But she had taken them to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax[e] that she had spread out[f] on the roof.) 7 So the men chased after them on the way to the Jordan[g] at the fords; and they shut the gate behind the pursuers that had gone out after them.
8 Before they went to sleep,[h] she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away in fear because of your presence. 10 For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the waters of the Red Sea[i] before you when you went out from Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 We heard this, and our hearts[j] melted, and no courage was left in anyone[k] because of your presence. For Yahweh your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. 12 So then please swear to me by Yahweh, because I have shown loyalty to you,[l] and you will also show loyalty[m] to my family.[n] You must give me a sign of good faith,[o] 13 and you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all that belongs to them; you will deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our lives for yours.[p] If you do not report this business of ours, we will show you loyalty and faithfulness[q] when Yahweh gives us the land.”
A Remnant of Israel Remains
11 Therefore I say, God has not rejected his people, has he?[a] May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, from the descendants of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew! Or do you not know, in the passage about[b] Elijah, what the scripture says—how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!”[c] 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand people[d] who have not bent the knee to Baal.”[e] 5 So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant selected by grace[f]. 6 But if by grace, it is no longer by works, for otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What Israel was searching for, this it did not obtain. But the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened, 8 just as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear,
until this very day.”[g]
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
and a cause for stumbling and a retribution to them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see,
and cause their backs to bend continually[h].”[i]
11 I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, did they?[j] May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.[k] 12 And if their trespass means riches for the world and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and[a] went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 For when[b] the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take olive oil with them. 4 But the wise ones took olive oil in flasks with their lamps. 5 And when[c] the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.[d] 6 But in the middle of the night there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your olive oil, because our lamps are going out!’ 9 But the wise ones answered saying, “Certainly there will never be enough for us and for you! Go instead to those who sell olive oil[e] and buy some[f] for yourselves.’ 10 But while[g] they had gone away to buy it[h] the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding celebration, and the door was shut. 11 And later the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open the door[i] for us!’ 12 But he answered and[j] said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you!’ 13 Therefore be on the alert, because you do not know the day or the hour!
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