Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 101[a]
Norm of Life for a Good Ruler
1 A psalm of David.
I will sing of kindness and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will offer praise in song.
2 I will walk in the path of blamelessness;
when will you come to me?[b]
Within my house[c] I will act
with integrity of heart.
3 I will not allow any shameful act
to be done before my eyes.
[d]I will refuse to associate
with people who do evil.
4 Let the perverse of heart remain far from me;
I will not tolerate the wicked.
5 [e]Anyone who secretly slanders a neighbor
I will reduce to silence.
Anyone with haughty glances and an arrogant heart
I cannot endure.
6 The faithful in the land are the ones
whom I will choose to be my companions.
Only the one who follows the path of integrity
will be allowed to be my servant.
7 No one who practices deceit
will be permitted to remain in my house.
No one who utters lies
will be numbered among my companions.[f]
8 Morning after morning[g] I will banish
all the wicked from the land,
removing all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
Psalm 109[a]
Prayer for One Falsely Accused
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
[c]O God, whom I praise,
do not remain silent.
2 Wicked and deceitful men
have opened their mouths against me;[d]
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
3 They confront me with words of hatred
and assail me without cause.
4 In return for my love they denounce me
even as I offer up prayers for them.[e]
5 They give me back evil in exchange for good
and hatred in place of my love.[f]
6 [g]They say:[h]
“Choose a wicked man to oppose him,
an accuser to stand on his right.
7 At his judgment, let him be found guilty,
with even his prayers deemed sinful.[i]
8 “May his remaining days be few,
with someone else appointed to take his office.[j]
9 May his children become fatherless
and his wife become widowed.
10 “May his children be vagrants and beggars,
driven from the ruins they use for shelter.
11 May the creditor seize all he has,
and strangers abscond with his life savings.
12 [k]“May no one extend mercy to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
13 May his posterity be doomed to extinction
and his name be blotted out within a generation.
14 “May the iniquity of his ancestors be remembered by the Lord,
and the sin of his mother never be wiped out.
15 May their guilt be continually before the Lord,
and may he banish all remembrance of them from the earth.
16 [l]“For he never thought of showing mercy;
rather, he hounded to death
the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted.
17 He loved to level curses[m] at others;
may they recoil on him.
He took no pleasure in blessing;
may no blessing be his.
18 [n]“He clothed himself with cursing as his garment;
it seeped into his body like water
and into his bones like oil.
19 May it be like the robe that envelops him,
like the belt that encircles him every day.”
20 May these evils my accusers wish for me
be inflicted upon them by the Lord.[o]
21 [p]But you, O Lord, my God,
treat me kindly for your name’s sake;[q]
deliver me because of your overwhelming kindness.
22 For I am poor and needy,[r]
and my heart is pierced within me.
23 I am fading away[s] like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting;
my flesh is wasting away.
25 I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers;
upon seeing me, they toss their heads.[t]
26 Come to my aid, O Lord, my God;
save me because of your kindness.[u]
27 Let them know that your hand has done this,
that you, O Lord, have accomplished it.
28 When they curse, you will bless;
when they attack, they will be put to shame,
and your servant will rejoice.[v]
29 My accusers will be clothed in disgrace,
wrapped in their shame as in a cloak.
30 I will thank the Lord with my lips,
and before all the people I will praise him.[w]
121 [a]Since my conduct has been just and upright,
do not abandon me to those who oppress me.
122 Guarantee the well-being of your servant;[b]
do not allow the arrogant to oppress me.
123 My eyes fail[c] as I long for your salvation
and for the promise of your justice.
124 Deal with your servant in accordance with your kindness,[d]
and teach me your decrees.
125 I am your servant; grant me discernment
so that I may understand your statutes.
126 It is time, O Lord, for you to take action;
your law has been broken.
127 That is why I love your precepts
more than gold, even the purest gold.[e]
128 That is why I regard all your commandments as right
and despise every way that is false.
Pe
129 [f]Wonderful are your statutes;
therefore, I willingly observe them.
130 The explanation[g] of your words gives light
and imparts understanding to the simple.
131 I open wide my mouth and sigh,[h]
longing eagerly for your precepts.
132 [i]Turn and have mercy on me,
as you always do to those who love your name.[j]
133 Guide my steps in accord with your word
and never let evil triumph over me.
134 Rescue me from the oppression of men
so that I may observe your commandments.
135 Allow your face to shine[k] upon your servant
and teach me your decrees.
136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because your law is disregarded.[l]
Sadhe
137 [m]You are righteous, O Lord,
and your judgments are right.
138 You have set down your statutes as righteous
and as completely faithful.
139 Zeal has consumed me
because my adversaries ignore your words.
140 Your word has been tested through and through,[n]
and your servant cherishes it.
141 Although I am despised and unimportant,
I do not forget your commands.
142 Your righteousness is everlasting,
and your law is forever true.
143 I am afflicted by anguish and distress,
but your precepts are my delight.
144 Your statutes are forever righteous;
grant me understanding and I will live.
Qoph
11 to devote themselves to immorality.
Idolatry and Debauchery
Wine, both old and new,
deprives my people of understanding.
12 They consult a piece of wood for advice,
and their divining rod[a] provides the answers they seek.
For a spirit of promiscuity has led them astray,
and their immorality causes them to forsake their God.
13 They offer sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn incense on the hills,
beneath oak and poplar and terebinth
because the shade they afford is pleasant.
14 I shall not punish your daughters for becoming prostitutes
or your daughters-in-law for committing adultery.
For your men themselves consort with harlots
and offer sacrifice with temple prostitutes;
a people thus devoid of understanding is doomed.
15 Though you, O Israel, play the whore,
do not allow Judah to incur such guilt.
Do not come to Gilgal
or go up to Beth-aven,
and do not swear, “As the Lord lives!”[b]
16 For Israel is as stubborn as a heifer;
will the Lord now feed them
like lambs in a broad meadow?
17 Ephraim has associated with idols;
let them alone.
18 When their drinking binge has ended,
they indulge in sexual orgies,
preferring lewdness to their glory.
19 The wind has carried them off in its wings,
and their sacrifices will only bring them shame.
Various Events and Paul’s Defenses at Jerusalem
15 Paul Is Welcomed by the Elders.[a] At the end of our stay, we made preparations and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, with whom we were to stay.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren gave us a warm welcome. 18 On the next day, Paul paid a visit to James. We accompanied him, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they gave praise to God. Then they said to Paul, “You can see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous upholders of the Law. 21 They have been informed in your regard that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or to observe their custom. 22 What then is to be done? They are sure to hear that you have arrived.
23 “This is what we suggest that you do. We have four men here who are under a vow. 24 Take these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay the expenses involved with the shaving of their heads. In this way, all will know that there is nothing in these reports they have been given about you and that you observe the Law. 25 As for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have informed them of our decision that they must abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything that has been strangled, and from unchastity.”
26 Therefore, on the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. He then entered the temple to give notice of the date when the period of purification would end and the offerings would be made for each of them.
27 Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew).[a][b]After this, he went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting at his customs post. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” 28 and, leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
29 Jesus Dines with Sinners. Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for him, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”[c] 31 Jesus said to them in reply, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but rather those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
33 A Time of Joy and Grace.[d] Then they said to him, “John’s disciples fast frequently and pray often, and the disciples of the Pharisees do likewise, but your disciples eat and drink.” 34 Jesus said to them, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then, in those days, they will fast.”
36 He also told them this parable: “No one tears a piece from a new cloak and sews it on an old cloak. If he does, the new cloak will be torn, and the piece from it will not match that of the old. 37 Nor does anyone pour new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and spill out, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 Rather new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one who has been drinking old wine will wish for new wine, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
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