Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Vindication
Of David.[a]
26 Judge me, O Yahweh, because I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted Yahweh and not wavered.
2 Prove me, O Yahweh, and test me.
Try my innermost being[b] and my mind.[c]
3 Because your loyal love is before my eyes,
and I walk about in your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with deceitful people,
nor will I go about with hypocrites.
5 I hate the crowd of evildoers,
and with the wicked I will not sit.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence,
and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,
7 to declare with a voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Yahweh, I love the dwelling of your house,[d]
and the place where your glory abides.[e]
9 Do not destroy me[f] with the sinners,
nor my life with men of bloodshed,
10 in whose hands is an evil plan,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.[g]
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground.
In assemblies I will bless Yahweh.
A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer
A psalm of David.[a]
28 To you, O Yahweh, I call.
O my rock, do not be deaf to me.
Or else, if you are silent to me,
then I will become like those descending to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your holy inner sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked
or with the workers of evil,
who speak of peace with their neighbors,
while evil is in their heart.
4 Give to them according to their work,
even according to the evil of their deeds.
Give to them according to the work of their hands;
repay them their rightful due.
5 Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh,
nor the work of his hands,
he will destroy them
and not rebuild them.
6 Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him and I am helped.
So my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will give thanks to him.
8 Yahweh is their strength,
and he is the refuge for the salvation of his anointed one.
9 Save your people
and bless your heritage.
Shepherd them also and carry them always.
Human Wickedness and God’s Love
For the music director. Of David, the servant of Yahweh.[a]
36 An oracle: the wicked has rebellion
in the midst of his[b] heart.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his eyes,
hating to detect his iniquity.[c]
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit.
He has ceased to have insight and to do good.
4 He plans sin on his bed.
He puts himself on a way that is not good.
He does not reject evil.
5 O Yahweh, your loyal love extends into the heavens,
your faithfulness unto the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,[d]
your judgments like the great deep.
You save man and beast, O Yahweh.
7 How precious is your loyal love, O God,
and the children of humankind
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed with the fullness[e] of your house,[f]
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Prolong your loyal love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
11 Do not let a foot of pride come against me,
nor let a wicked hand make me to wander homeless.
12 There doers of evil have fallen;
they are thrust down and not able to rise.
The Brevity of Human Life
For the music director. For Jeduthun.[a] A psalm of David.[b]
39 I said, “I will guard my ways
that I may not sin[c] with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle over my mouth
as long as the wicked are before me.”
2 I was mute with silence. I was silent even from saying good things,
and my pain was stirred up.
3 My heart grew hot inside me;
in my sighing a fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue,
4 “Let me know, O Yahweh, my end,
and what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how transient I am.”
5 Look, you have made my days mere handbreadths,
and my lifespan as nothing next to you.
Surely every person standing firm is complete vanity. Selah
6 Surely a man walks about as a mere shadow;[d]
surely in vain they bustle about.
He heaps up possessions but does not know who will gather them in.
7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is for you.
8 From all my transgressions deliver me;
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
9 I am mute. I do not open my mouth,
for you, yourself, have done it.
10 Remove from me your affliction.
By the opposition of your hand I perish.
11 When with rebukes you chastise a man for sin,
you[e] consume[f] like a moth his delightful things.
Surely everyone is a mere vapor.[g] Selah
12 Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my tears.
For I am an alien[h] with you,
a sojourner like all my ancestors.[i]
13 Look away from me that I may be cheerful,
before I depart and I am no more.
15 Then she lowered them with a rope through the window, as her house was on the outer side of the wall, and she was residing in the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Go to the mountain, so that the pursuers will not find you, and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers return, and afterward you may go on your way.”[a] 17 The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath of yours that you made us swear. 18 When we come to the land, you must tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you must gather your father and mother, and your brothers, and your whole family to your house. 19 If anyone goes outside the doors of your house, they will be responsible for their own death,[b] and we will be innocent. Anyone who will be with you in the house, we will be responsible for their death[c] if a hand is laid on them.[d] 20 But if you report this business of ours, we will be released from your oath that you made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your word it will be.” Then she sent them away, and they went, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 They departed and came to the mountain, and they stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers searched all along the way[e] but did not find them. 23 The two men returned and went down from the mountain, and they crossed over and came to Joshua son of Nun, and they told him everything that happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hand; also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away in fear because of our presence.”
Gentile Branches Grafted in
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Therefore, inasmuch as I am apostle to the Gentiles, I promote my ministry, 14 if somehow I may provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean except life from the dead? 16 Now if the first fruits are holy, so also is the whole batch of dough, and if the root is holy, so also are the branches.
17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although you[a] were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree’s richness, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you boast against them, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in.” 20 Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant thoughts, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural[b] branches, neither will he spare you.[c] 22 See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God—if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And those also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches[d] be grafted into their own olive tree?
The Parable of the Talents
14 For it is like a man going on a journey. He summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his own ability, and he went on a journey immediately. 16 The one who had received the five talents went out and[a] traded with them and gained five more. 17 In the same way the one who had the two gained two more. 18 But the one who had received the one went away and[b] dug up the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 And the one who had received the five talents came up and[c] brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 22 And the one who had the two talents also came up and[d] said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 24 And the one who had received the one talent came up also and[e] said, ‘Master, because I[f] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter seed.[g] 25 And because I[h] was afraid, I went away and[i] hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours!’ 26 But his master answered and[j] said to him, ‘Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter seed.[k] 27 Then you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and when I[l] returned I would have gotten back what was mine with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it[m] to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness—in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’
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