Book of Common Prayer
א Aleph
119 Blessed are those who live without blame.
They live in keeping with the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are those who obey his covenant laws.
They trust in him with all their hearts.
3 They don’t do anything wrong.
They live as he wants them to live.
4 You have given me rules
that I must obey completely.
5 I hope I will always stand firm
in following your orders.
6 Then I won’t be put to shame
when I think about all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an honest heart
as I learn about how fair your decisions are.
8 I will obey your orders.
Please don’t leave me all alone.
ב Beth
9 How can a young person keep their life pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I trust in you with all my heart.
Don’t let me wander away from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
so that I won’t sin against you.
12 Lord, I give praise to you.
Teach me your orders.
13 With my lips I talk about
all the decisions you have made.
14 Following your covenant laws gives me joy
just as great riches give joy to others.
15 I spend time thinking about your rules.
I consider how you want me to live.
16 I take delight in your orders.
I won’t fail to obey your word.
ג Gimel
17 Be good to me while I am alive.
Do this so that I may obey your word.
18 Open my eyes so that I can see
the wonderful truths in your law.
19 I’m a stranger on earth.
Don’t hide your commands from me.
20 My heart is filled with longing
for your laws at all times.
21 You correct proud people. They are under your curse.
They wander away from your commands.
22 I obey your covenant laws.
So don’t let evil people laugh at me or hate me.
23 Even if rulers sit together and tell lies about me,
I will spend time thinking about your orders.
24 Your covenant laws are my delight.
They give me wise advice.
For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord! No one does what is right anymore.
Those who are faithful have disappeared from the human race.
2 Everyone tells lies to their neighbors.
With their lips they praise others, but they don’t really mean it.
3 May the Lord close all lips that don’t mean what they say.
May he stop every tongue that brags.
4 They say, “What we speak with our tongues will win the battle.
What we say with our lips will keep us safe. No one will have victory over us.”
5 The Lord says, “The poor are being robbed.
Those who are in need groan.
So I will stand up to help them.
I will keep them safe from those who tell lies about them.”
6 The words of the Lord are perfect.
They are like silver made pure in a clay furnace.
They are like gold made pure seven times over.
7 Lord, you will keep needy people safe.
You will always keep sinners from hurting us.
8 Proud and sinful people walk around openly
when the evil they do is praised by the human race.
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
13 Lord, how long must I wait? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you turn your face away from me?
2 How long must I struggle with my thoughts?
How long must my heart be sad day after day?
How long will my enemies keep winning the battle over me?
3 Lord my God, look at me and answer me.
Give me new life, or I will die.
4 Then my enemies will say, “We have beaten him.”
They will be filled with joy when I die.
5 But I trust in your faithful love.
My heart is filled with joy because you will save me.
6 I will sing praise to the Lord.
He has been so good to me.
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
14 Foolish people say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They do all kinds of horrible and evil things.
No one does anything good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on all people.
He wants to see if there are any who understand.
He wants to see if there are any who trust in God.
3 All of them have turned away.
They have all become evil.
No one does anything good,
no one at all.
4 Do all these people who do evil know nothing?
They eat up my people as if they were eating bread.
They never call out to the Lord.
5 But just look at them! They are filled with terror
because God is among those who do right.
6 You who do evil keep poor people from succeeding.
But the Lord is their place of safety.
7 How I pray that the God who saves Israel will come out of Zion!
Then the Lord will bless his people with great success again.
So let the people of Jacob be filled with joy! Let Israel be glad!
Job’s Reply
6 Job replied,
7 Job continued,
“Don’t all human beings have to work hard on this earth?
Aren’t their days like the days of hired workers?
2 I’ve been like a slave
who longs for the evening shadows to come.
I’ve been like a hired worker
who is waiting to be paid.
3 I’ve been given several months that were useless to me.
My nights have been filled with suffering.
4 When I lie down I think,
‘How long will it be before I can get up?’
The night drags on.
I toss and turn until sunrise.
5 My body is covered with worms and sores.
My skin is broken. It has boils all over it.
6 “My days pass by faster than a weaver can work.
They come to an end. I don’t have any hope.
7 God, remember that my life is only a breath.
I’ll never be happy again.
8 The eyes that see me now won’t see me anymore.
You will look for me. But I’ll be gone.
9 When a cloud disappears, it’s gone forever.
And anyone who goes down to the grave never returns.
10 He never comes home again.
Even his own family doesn’t remember him.
11 “So I won’t keep quiet.
When I’m suffering greatly, I’ll speak out.
When my spirit is bitter, I’ll tell you how unhappy I am.
12 Am I the ocean? Am I the sea monster?
If I’m not, why do you guard me so closely?
13 Sometimes I think my bed will comfort me.
I think my couch will keep me from being unhappy.
14 But even then you send me dreams that frighten me.
You send me visions that terrify me.
15 So I would rather choke to death.
That would be better than living in this body of mine.
16 I hate my life. I don’t want to live forever.
Leave me alone. My days don’t mean anything to me.
17 “What are human beings that you think so much of them?
What are they that you pay so much attention to them?
18 You check up on them every morning.
You test them every moment.
19 Won’t you ever look away from me?
Won’t you leave me alone even for one second?
20 If I’ve really sinned, tell me what I’ve done to you.
You see everything we do.
Why do you shoot your arrows at me?
Have I become a problem to you?
21 Why don’t you forgive the wrong things I’ve done?
Why don’t you forgive me for my sins?
I’ll soon lie down in the dust of my grave.
You will search for me. But I’ll be gone.”
Cornelius Calls for Peter
10 A man named Cornelius lived in Caesarea. He was a Roman commander in the Italian Regiment. 2 Cornelius and all his family were faithful and worshiped God. He gave freely to people who were in need. He prayed to God regularly. 3 One day about three o’clock in the afternoon he had a vision. He saw clearly an angel of God. The angel came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius was afraid. He stared at the angel. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to poor people are like an offering to God. So he has remembered you. 5 Now send men to Joppa. Have them bring back a man named Simon. He is also called Peter. 6 He is staying with another Simon, a man who works with leather. His house is by the sea.”
7 The angel who spoke to him left. Then Cornelius called two of his servants. He also called a godly soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened. Then he sent them to Joppa.
Peter Has a Vision
9 It was about noon the next day. The men were on their journey and were approaching the city. Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry. He wanted something to eat. While the meal was being prepared, Peter had a vision. 11 He saw heaven open up. There he saw something that looked like a large sheet. It was being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It had all kinds of four-footed animals in it. It also had reptiles and birds in it. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “No, Lord! I will not!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything that is not pure and ‘clean.’ ”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time. It said, “Do not say anything is not pure that God has made ‘clean.’ ”
16 This happened three times. Right away the sheet was taken back up to heaven.
Jesus Goes to the Feast of Booths
7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He didn’t want to travel around in Judea. That was because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 The Jewish Feast of Booths was near. 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea. Then your disciples there will see the works that you do. 4 No one who wants to be well known does things in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 Even Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in him.
6 So Jesus told them, “The time for me to show who I really am is not here yet. For you, any time would be the right time. 7 The people of the world can’t hate you. But they hate me. This is because I am a witness that their works are evil. 8 You go to the feast. I am not going up to this feast. This is because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he said this, he stayed in Galilee.
10 But when his brothers had left for the feast, he went also. But he went secretly, not openly. 11 At the feast the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus. They were asking, “Where is he?”
12 Many people in the crowd were whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No. He fools the people.” 13 But no one would say anything about him openly. They were afraid of the leaders.
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