Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of destruction, out of the [b]miry clay,
And (D)He set my feet upon a rock (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not [c]turned to the proud, nor to those who (J)lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 [d](N)Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have [e]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is [f]written of me.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, O my God;
(P)Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
O Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[g]Your (V)lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [h]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make (AB)haste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [i]life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [j]in my hurt.
15 Let those (AE)be [k]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation (AH)say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 Since (AI)I am afflicted and needy,
[l](AJ)Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54 Save me, O God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, O God;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. [e]Selah.
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And [e]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [f]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [g]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[h]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [i]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [j]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [k]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [l]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [m](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Job’s Past Was Glorious
29 And Job again took up his (A)discourse and said,
24 “If I have put my confidence in (A)gold,
And called fine gold my trust,
25 If I have (B)gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had secured so much;
26 If I have (C)looked at the [a]sun when it shone
Or the moon going in splendor,
27 And my heart became secretly enticed,
And my hand [b]threw a kiss from my mouth,
28 That too would have been (D)an iniquity calling for [c]judgment,
For I would have (E)denied God above.
29 “Have I (F)rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy,
Or [d]exulted when evil befell him?
30 “[e]No, (G)I have not [f]allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life in (H)a curse.
31 “Have the men of my tent not said,
‘Who can [g]find one who has not been (I)satisfied with his meat’?
32 “The alien has not lodged outside,
For I have opened my doors to the [h]traveler.
33 “Have I (J)covered my transgressions like [i]Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
34 Because I (K)feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
And kept silent and did not go out of doors?
35 “Oh that I had one to hear me!
Behold, here is my [j]signature;
(L)Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my (M)adversary has written,
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
I would bind it to myself like a crown.
37 “I would declare to Him (N)the number of my steps;
Like (O)a prince I would approach Him.
38 “If my (P)land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39 If I have (Q)eaten its [k]fruit without money,
Or have (R)caused [l]its owners to lose their lives,
40 Let (S)briars [m]grow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were (A)relating what (B)signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
James’s Judgment
13 After they had stopped speaking, [a](C)James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. 14 (D)Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 With this the words of (E)the Prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 ‘(F)After these things (G)I will return,
And I will rebuild the [b]tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 (H)So that the rest of [c]mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles [d](I)who are called by My name,’
18 (J)Says the Lord, who [e](K)makes these things known from long ago.
19 Therefore it is (L)my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from [f](M)things contaminated by idols and from (N)fornication and from (O)what is strangled and from blood. 21 For (P)Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since [g]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but (A)was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31 (B)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and (C)consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “(D)Lord, (E)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and (F)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He (G)was deeply moved in spirit and [a](H)was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus (I)wept. 36 So (J)the Jews were saying, “See how He (K)loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not this man, who (L)opened the eyes of the blind man, [b]have kept this man also from dying?”
38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a (M)cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time [c]there will be a stench, for he has been dead (N)four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, “(O)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the (P)stone. Then Jesus (Q)raised His eyes, and said, “(R)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but (S)because of the [d]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that (T)You sent Me.” 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth, (U)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and (V)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
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