Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26[a]
Prayer of Innocence
1 Of David.
I
Judge me, Lord!
For I have walked in my integrity.(A)
In the Lord I trust;
I do not falter.
2 Examine me, Lord, and test me;
search my heart and mind.(B)
3 Your mercy is before my eyes;
I walk guided by your faithfulness.(C)
II
4 I do not sit with worthless men,
nor with hypocrites do I mingle.
5 I hate an evil assembly;
with the wicked I do not sit.
6 I will wash my hands[b] in innocence(D)
so that I may process around your altar, Lord,
7 To hear the sound of thanksgiving,
and recount all your wondrous deeds.
8 Lord, I love the refuge of your house,
the site of the dwelling-place of your glory.(E)
III
Psalm 28[a]
Petition and Thanksgiving
1 Of David.
I
To you, Lord, I call;
my Rock, do not be deaf to me,(A)
Do not be silent toward me,
so that I join those who go down to the pit.(B)
2 Hear the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help
when I lift up my hands toward your holy place.[b](C)
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with those who do wrong,(D)
Who speak peace to their neighbors
though evil is in their hearts.(E)
4 Repay them for their deeds,
for the evil that they do.
For the work of their hands repay them;
give them what they deserve.(F)
5 Because they do not understand the Lord’s works,
the work of his hands,(G)
He will tear them down,
never to rebuild them.
II
6 [c]Blessed be the Lord,
who has heard the sound of my pleading.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield,
in whom my heart trusts.
I am helped, so my heart rejoices;
with my song I praise him.
III
8 [d]Lord, you are a strength for your people,
the saving refuge of your anointed.
9 Save your people, bless your inheritance;
pasture and carry them forever!
Psalm 36[a]
Human Wickedness and Divine Providence
1 For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
I
2 Sin directs the heart of the wicked man;
his eyes are closed to the fear of God.(A)
3 For he lives with the delusion:
his guilt will not be known and hated.[b]
4 Empty and false are the words of his mouth;
he has ceased to be wise and do good.
5 On his bed he hatches plots;
he sets out on a wicked way;
he does not reject evil.(B)
II
6 [c]Lord, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your fidelity, to the clouds.(C)
7 Your justice is like the highest mountains;
your judgments, like the mighty deep;
human being and beast you sustain, Lord.
8 How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings.[d](D)
9 They feast on the rich food of your house;
from your delightful stream(E) you give them drink.
10 For with you is the fountain of life,(F)
and in your light we see light.(G)
11 Show mercy on those who know you,
your just defense to the upright of heart.
12 Do not let the foot of the proud overtake me,
nor the hand of the wicked disturb me.
13 There make the evildoers fall;
thrust them down, unable to rise.
Psalm 39[a]
The Vanity of Life
1 For the leader, for Jeduthun.(A) A psalm of David.
I
2 I said, “I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth.”
3 Mute and silent before the wicked,
I refrain from good things.
But my sorrow increases;
4 my heart smolders within me.(B)
In my sighing a fire blazes up,
and I break into speech:
II
5 Lord, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.
6 To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;
indeed, my life is as nothing before you.
Every man is but a breath.(C)
Selah
III
7 Man goes about as a mere phantom;
they hurry about, although in vain;
he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.
8 And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
You are my only hope.
9 From all my sins deliver me;
let me not be the taunt of fools.
10 I am silent and do not open my mouth
because you are the one who did this.
11 Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
12 You chastise man with rebukes for sin;
like a moth you consume his treasures.
Every man is but a breath.
Selah
13 Listen to my prayer, Lord, hear my cry;
do not be deaf to my weeping!
For I am with you like a foreigner,
a refugee, like my ancestors.(D)
14 Turn your gaze from me, that I may smile
before I depart to be no more.
True Friendship[a]
5 Pleasant speech multiplies friends,
and gracious lips, friendly greetings.
6 Let those who are friendly to you be many,
but one in a thousand your confidant.
7 When you gain friends, gain them through testing,(A)
and do not be quick to trust them.
8 For there are friends when it suits them,
but they will not be around in time of trouble.
9 Another is a friend who turns into an enemy,
and tells of the quarrel to your disgrace.
10 Others are friends, table companions,
but they cannot be found in time of affliction.
11 When things go well, they are your other self,
and lord it over your servants.
12 If disaster comes upon you, they turn against you
and hide themselves.
13 Stay away from your enemies,
and be on guard with your friends.
14 Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter;
whoever finds one finds a treasure.
15 Faithful friends are beyond price,
no amount can balance their worth.
16 Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
those who fear God will find them.
17 Those who fear the Lord enjoy stable friendship,
for as they are, so will their neighbors be.
Triumph of the Elect. 9 After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches[a] in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation comes from[b] our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb.”
11 All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, 12 and exclaimed:
“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;[c] they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.(A)
15 “For this reason they stand before God’s throne
and worship him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will not hunger or thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.(B)
17 For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,[d]
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(C)
Chapter 10
The Mission of the Seventy-two.[a] 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy[-two][b] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.(A) 2 He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.(B) 3 Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.(C) 4 [c]Carry no money bag,(D) no sack, no sandals;(E) and greet no one along the way. 5 Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’[d] 6 If a peaceful person[e] lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another.(F) 8 Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you,(G) 9 cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’(H) 10 Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say,(I) 11 ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.(J) 12 I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.(K)
Reproaches to Unrepentant Towns.[f] 13 (L)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!(M) For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 [g](N)And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ 16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”(O)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.