Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 25[a]
Prayer for Guidance and Help
1 [b]Of David.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
2 in you, O my God, I trust.
Do not let me be put to shame,
or permit my enemies to gloat over me.
3 No one who places his hope in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will be the lot of all
who break faith without justification.
4 [c]Make your ways known to me, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and instruct me,
for you are God, my Savior,
and in you I hope all the day long.
6 Be mindful, O Lord, that mercy and kindness
have been yours from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth
or my many transgressions,
but remember me in your kindness,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
8 [d]Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore, he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them the path to follow.
10 The ways of the Lord[e] are kindness and truth
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
11 For the sake of your name,[f] O Lord,
pardon my iniquity, great though it be.
12 Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?
He will be shown the path he should choose.[g]
13 He will enjoy lasting prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.[h]
14 The Lord manifests himself to those who fear him,[i]
and he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever upon the Lord,
for he alone can free my feet from the snare.
16 [j]Turn to me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone and afflicted.
17 Relieve the anguish of my heart[k]
and free me from my distress.
18 Look upon my affliction and suffering,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how numerous are my enemies,
and how fierce is their hatred of me.
20 Preserve my life and deliver me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I seek refuge in you.
21 Let integrity and virtue preserve me,
for in you I place my hope.
22 Redeem[l] Israel, O God,
from all its troubles.
Psalms 9–10[a]
Psalm 9[b]
Thanksgiving for the Triumph of Justice
1 For the director.[c] According to Muth Labben. A psalm of David.
2 I will offer praise to you, O Lord,
with my whole heart;
I will recount all your wondrous deeds.[d]
3 I will rejoice and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name,[e] O Most High.
4 For my enemies have turned back;
in your presence they stumble and perish.
5 But you have upheld my just cause,
you who are seated on your throne as a righteous judge.
6 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked,
erasing their name forever and ever.
7 The enemies have suffered endless ruin;
their cities have been utterly destroyed,
and not even their memory remains.
8 The Lord is enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
9 He governs the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
10 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of distress.
11 Those who revere your name place their trust in you,
for you never abandon those who seek you, O Lord.
12 Sing praise to the Lord enthroned in Zion;[f]
proclaim to the nations his wondrous deeds.
13 For the avenger of blood remembers them;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
14 Have mercy on me, O Lord;
behold how my enemies afflict me,
you who save me from the gates of death.
15 Then I will recount all your praises
and rejoice in your salvation
at the gates of the Daughter of Zion.[g]
16 [h]The nations have fallen into the pit they made;
their feet have been caught in the snare they laid.
17 The Lord has made himself known and rendered judgment;
the wicked are ensnared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion,[i] Selah
18 The wicked will depart into the netherworld,
all the nations that turned away from God.
19 But the needy will not be forgotten forever,
nor will the hope of the afflicted ever come to naught.
20 Rise up, O Lord! Do not let man triumph;
let the nations be judged before you.
21 Strike them with fear, O Lord;
let the nations know that they are mere mortals. Selah
Psalm 15[a]
The Righteous: Guests of God
1 A psalm of David.
O Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may abide on your holy mountain?[b]
2 [c]The one who leads a blameless life
and does what is right,
who speaks the truth from the heart
3 and does not slander anyone,
who does not harm a friend
and does not scorn a neighbor,
4 who looks with disdain on the wicked
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who abides by his oath,
no matter what the cost,
5 who does not charge interest on a loan
and refuses to accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never fall.
Job’s Third Response[a]
Chapter 12
Wisdom Will Die with You.[b] 1 Job then answered with these words:
2 “Undoubtedly, you are the voice of the people,
and when you die, wisdom will die with you.
3 But I also have intelligence;
I am not inferior to you in this regard.
Who is ignorant of all these things?
4 [c]“I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
I whom God would answer when I called upon him;
although I am innocent and just, he afflicted me.
5 Those who live untroubled lives scorn the misfortunes of others,
the blows that strike those who are already staggering.
6 Yet the tents of robbers remain undisturbed,
and those who provoke God sleep securely
as well as those who make a god of their strength.[d]
With God Are Wisdom and Power
13 “With God are wisdom and power;
wise counsel and understanding are his.
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
anyone he imprisons cannot gain freedom.
15 If he holds back the waters, drought ensues;
if he releases them, the land is overwhelmed.
16 Strength and wisdom are his;
his too are the deceived and the deceivers.
17 “He deprives counselors of their wits
and makes fools of judges.
18 He looses the sashes of kings
and gives them only a waistcloth to cover their loins.[a]
19 He forces priests to walk barefoot
and overthrows those in positions of power.
20 He silences the lips of trusted counselors
and deprives the aged of their power of discernment.
21 “He pours contempt on princes
and disarms the powerful.
22 He unveils mysteries long obscured in darkness
and brings their meaning to light.
23 He makes nations great and then destroys them;
he enlarges nations and then reduces them to nothing.
24 He weakens the minds of the leaders of the earth
and leaves them to wander in a trackless waste.
25 They grope their way in the darkness without light,
staggering like drunken men.
19 A Church at Antioch.[a] Meanwhile, those who had scattered after the persecution that arose because of Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia,[b] Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word only to Jews. 20 However, among them there were some natives of Cyprus and Cyrene who went to Antioch where they started preaching also to the Greeks, proclaiming to them the good news of the Lord Jesus. 21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of them became believers and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and perceived the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with resolute devotion, 24 for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were added to the Lord.
25 Barnabas then went to Tarsus[c] to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
Threats against the Church[d]
27 A Famine in the World.[e] During these days, some prophets[f] came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a severe famine would afflict the entire world. This in fact occurred during the reign of Claudius. 29 The disciples decided to send relief to the brethren living in Judea, each according to his means. 30 This they did, delivering it to the elders[g] through Barnabas and Saul.
21 I AM![a] Again he said to them,
“I am going away,
and you will search for me
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going, you cannot come.”
22 Then the Jews wondered, “Is he planning to kill himself—because he was saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He continued,
“You belong to what is below,
whereas I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I am not of this world.
24 That is why I told you
that you would die in your sins.
For if you do not believe
that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you then?” they asked him. Jesus answered,
“Just what I have been telling you
from the beginning.
26 I have much to say about you,
and much to condemn.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I have heard from him
I declare to the world.”
27 They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 Therefore, Jesus said,
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will know
that I AM,
that I do nothing on my own authority
and I say nothing except what
the Father has taught me.
29 He who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
for I always do what pleases him.”
30 On hearing these words, many came to believe in him.
31 Jesus and Abraham.[b] Then Jesus said to those Jews who did believe in him,
“If you remain faithful to my word,
you will truly be my disciples.
32 You will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.”
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