Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem
97 Lord, I really love your law!
All day long I spend time thinking about it.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because your commands are always in my heart.
99 I know more than all my teachers do,
because I spend time thinking about your covenant laws.
100 I understand more than the elders do,
because I obey your rules.
101 I’ve kept my feet from every path that sinners take
so that I might obey your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your laws,
because you yourself have taught me.
103 Your words are very sweet to my taste!
They are sweeter than honey to me.
104 I gain understanding from your rules.
So I hate every path that sinners take.
נ Nun
105 Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way.
It is like a light that guides me.
106 I have made a promise
to follow your laws, because they are right.
107 I have suffered very much.
Lord, keep me alive as you have promised.
108 Lord, accept the praise I freely give you.
Teach me your laws.
109 I keep putting my life in danger.
But I won’t forget to obey your law.
110 Evil people have set a trap for me.
But I haven’t wandered away from your rules.
111 Your covenant laws are your gift to me forever.
They fill my heart with joy.
112 I have decided to obey your orders
to the very end.
ס Samekh
113 I hate people who can’t make up their minds.
But I love your law.
114 You are my place of safety.
You are like a shield that keeps me safe.
I have put my hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you who do evil!
Then I can do what my God commands me to do.
116 My God, keep me going as you have promised. Then I will live.
Don’t let me lose all hope.
117 Take good care of me, and I will be saved.
I will always honor your orders.
118 You turn your back on all those who wander away from your orders.
Their wrong thoughts will be proved to be wrong.
119 You throw away all the sinners on earth as if they were trash.
So I love your covenant laws.
120 My body trembles because I have respect for you.
I have great respect for your laws.
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing joyfully to God! He gives us strength.
Give a loud shout to the God of Jacob!
2 Let the music begin. Play the tambourines.
Play sweet music on harps and lyres.
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the New Moon feast.
Blow it again when the moon is full and the Feast of Booths begins.
4 This is an order given to Israel.
It is a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He gave it as a covenant law for the people of Joseph.
It was given when God went out to punish Egypt.
There I heard a voice I didn’t recognize.
6 The voice said, “I removed the load from your shoulders.
I set your hands free from carrying heavy baskets.
7 You called out when you were in trouble, and I saved you.
I answered you out of a thundercloud.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 “My people, listen and I will warn you.
Israel, I wish you would listen to me!
9 Don’t have anything to do with the gods of other nations.
Don’t bow down and worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God.
I brought you up out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
11 “But my people wouldn’t listen to me.
Israel wouldn’t obey me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn way.
I let them follow their own sinful plans.
13 “I wish my people would listen to me!
I wish Israel would live as I want them to live!
14 Then I would quickly bring their enemies under control.
I would use my power against their attackers.
15 Those who hate me would bow down to me in fear.
They would be punished forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with the sweetest honey.”
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes his place at the head of a large gathering of leaders.
He announces his decisions among them.
2 He says, “How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others?
How long will you show mercy to sinful people?
3 Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.
Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.
4 Save those who are weak and needy.
Save them from the power of sinful people.
5 “You leaders don’t know anything.
You don’t understand anything.
You are in the dark about what is right.
Law and order have been destroyed all over the world.
6 “I said, ‘You leaders are like gods.
You are all children of the Most High God.’
7 But you will die, like mere human beings.
You will die like every other leader.”
8 God, rise up. Judge the earth.
All the nations belong to you.
The King Honors Mordecai
6 That night the king couldn’t sleep. So he ordered the official records of his rule to be brought in. He ordered someone to read them to him. 2 What Mordecai had done was written there. He had uncovered the plans of Bigthana and Teresh. They were two of the king’s officers who guarded the door of the royal palace. They had decided to kill King Xerxes.
3 “What great honor has Mordecai received for doing that?” the king asked.
“Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.
4 The king asked, “Who is in the courtyard?” Haman had just entered the outer courtyard of the palace. He had come to speak to the king about putting Mordecai to death. He wanted to talk about putting Mordecai’s body on the pole he had prepared for him.
5 The king’s attendants said to him, “Haman is standing in the courtyard.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered.
6 Haman entered. Then the king asked him, “What should be done for the man I want to honor?”
Haman said to himself, “Is there anyone the king would rather honor than me?” 7 So he answered the king. He said, “Here is what you should do for the man you want to honor. 8 Have your servants get a royal robe you have worn. Have them bring a horse you have ridden on. Have a royal mark placed on its head. 9 Then give the robe and horse to one of your most noble princes. Let the robe be put on the man you want to honor. Let him be led on the horse through the city streets. Let people announce in front of him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor!’ ”
10 “Go right away,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe. Bring the horse. Do exactly what you have suggested. Do it for Mordecai the Jew. He’s sitting out there at the palace gate. Make sure you do everything you have suggested.”
11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He put the robe on Mordecai. And he led him on horseback through the city streets. He walked along in front of him and announced, “This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor!”
12 After that, Mordecai returned to the palace gate. But Haman rushed home. He covered his head because he was very sad. 13 He told his wife Zeresh everything that had happened to him. He also told all his friends.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh spoke to him. They said, “Your fall from power started with Mordecai. He’s a Jew. So now you can’t stand up against him. You are going to be destroyed!” 14 They were still talking with him when the king’s officials arrived. They hurried Haman away to the feast Esther had prepared.
Paul Goes to Ephesus
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road to Ephesus. When he arrived, he found some believers there. 2 He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
“No,” they answered. “We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John baptized people, calling them to turn away from their sins. He told them to believe in the one who was coming after him. Jesus is that one.” 5 After hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Paul placed his hands on them. Then the Holy Spirit came on them. They spoke in languages they had not known before. They also prophesied. 7 There were about 12 men in all.
8 Paul entered the synagogue. There he spoke boldly for three months. He gave good reasons for believing the truth about God’s kingdom. 9 But some of them wouldn’t listen. They refused to believe. In public they said evil things about the Way of Jesus. So Paul left them. He took the believers with him. Each day he talked with people in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years. So all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Asia Minor heard the word of the Lord.
Jesus Is Tempted in the Desert
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan River. The Spirit led him into the desert. 2 There the devil tempted him for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing during that time. At the end of the 40 days, he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man must not live only on bread.’ ” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
5 Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place. In an instant, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. 6 He said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and glory. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:13)
9 Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem. He had Jesus stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 It is written,
“ ‘The Lord will command his angels to take good care of you.
11 They will lift you up in their hands.
Then you won’t trip over a stone.’ ” (Psalm 91:11,12)
12 Jesus answered, “Scripture says, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:16)
13 When the devil finished all this tempting, he left Jesus until a better time.
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