Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26[a]
Prayer for the Righteous
1 Of David.
O Lord, come to my defense,
for I have lived a blameless life.
I have placed my trust in the Lord,
and never have I wavered in that regard.
2 Test me, O Lord, and try me;
probe my heart and my mind.
3 For your kindness[b] is before my eyes,
and I am constantly guided by your truth.
4 I do not sit in the company of deceivers,
nor do I associate with hypocrites.
5 I abhor the assembly of the wicked,
and I refuse to associate with evildoers.
6 I wash my hands in innocence[c]
and join the procession around your altar, O Lord,
7 giving voice to your praises
and proclaiming all your wondrous deeds.[d]
8 I love the house where you dwell, O Lord,
the place where your glory resides.[e]
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with those who thirst for blood,[f]
10 whose hands carry out evil schemes,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 Rather, I choose to walk in innocence;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground;[g]
in the full assembly I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 28[a]
Thanksgiving for Supplications Heard
1 Of David.
To you I call out, O Lord, my Rock;[b]
do not turn a deaf ear to my cry.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear my voice in supplication
as I plead for your help,
as I lift up my hands[c]
toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Do not snatch me away with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil,
who talk of peace to their neighbors
while treachery is in their hearts.[d]
4 [e]Repay them as their deeds deserve
in accordance with the evil they inflict;
repay them for the works of their hands
and heap upon them what they justly deserve.
5 Since they have paid no heed to the deeds of the Lord
or to the works of his hands,
he will strike them down
and refuse to restore them.
6 Blessed[f] be the Lord,
for he has heard my cry of supplication.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart[g] places its trust in him.
He has helped me, and I exult;
then with my song I praise him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
the refuge where his anointed one[h] finds salvation.
9 Save your people and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd[i] and sustain them forever.
Psalm 36[a]
Human Weakness and Divine Goodness
1 For the director.[b] Of David the servant of the Lord.
2 Sin speaks to the wicked man in his heart;[c]
in his eyes there is no fear of God.
3 He deludes himself with the idea
that his guilt will not be discovered and hated.[d]
4 The words his mouth utters are malicious and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and act uprightly.
5 Even when he lies on his bed,[e]
he is hatching evil plots.
He commits himself to a wicked course
and refuses to reject evil.
6 [f]O Lord, your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
7 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep;
you sustain both humans and beasts, O Lord.
8 How precious, O God, is your kindness![g]
People seek refuge in the shadow of your wings.
9 They feast on the abundance of your house,[h]
and you give them to drink from your delightful streams.
10 For with you is the fountain of life,[i]
and by your light we see light.
11 Continue to bestow your kindness[j] on those who know you,
and your saving justice on the upright of heart.
12 Let not the foot of the arrogant tread upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me out.
13 Behold, the evildoers have fallen;
they are overthrown and unable to rise.
Psalm 39[a]
The Brevity and Vanity of Life
1 For the director.[b] For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
2 I said, “I will be careful of my behavior
so as not to sin with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth[c]
whenever the wicked are in my presence.”
3 I kept completely silent
and refrained from speech,
but my distress only increased.
4 My heart[d] smoldered within me,
and, as I pondered, my mind was inflamed,
and my tongue began to speak:
5 [e]“O Lord, let me know my end
and the number of days left to me;
show me how fleeting my life is.
6 You have allotted me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight;
human existence is a mere breath. Selah
7 Humans are nothing but a passing shadow;
the riches they amass are a mere breath,
and they do not know who will enjoy them.[f]
8 “So now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
9 Deliver me from all my sins;
do not subject me to the taunts of fools.[g]
10 “I was silent and did not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
11 Remove your scourge from me;
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
12 You rebuke and punish people for their sins;
like a moth you consume all their desires;
human existence is a mere puff of wind. Selah
13 [h]“Hear my prayer, O Lord;
do not be deaf to my cry
or ignore my weeping.
For I am a wayfarer[i] before you,
a nomad like all my ancestors.
14 Turn your eyes away so that I may be glad
before I depart and am no more.”[j]
A Faithful Friend Is beyond Price[a]
5 Kindness in speech multiplies friends,
and a gracious tongue leads to friendly responses.
6 Be at peace with many people,
but allow only one in a thousand to be your adviser.
7 When you wish to acquire a new friend, first test him,
and do not be too hasty to trust him.
8 One type of person is only a friend when it suits him,
but at the first sign of trouble he will desert you.
9 Another type of friend will eventually become your enemy
and shame you by making public your quarrel.
10 And still another will be your guest at table
but will not stand by you in time of trouble.
11 When you are prospering, he is your second self
and lords it over your servants;
12 however, if you are brought low, he will turn against you
and avoid any contact with you.
13 Keep clear of your enemies
and be wary of your friends.
14 A faithful friend is a sure shelter;
anyone who finds one possesses a treasure.
15 A faithful friend is beyond price;
there is no possible way to measure his worth.
16 A faithful friend is the elixir of life,
and he who fears the Lord will find him.
17 He who fears the Lord directs his friendship aright,
for as he is, so also will his neighbor be.
9 After this, in my vision, I witnessed a vast throng that no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and language. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels who were standing around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures, prostrated themselves before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen. Praise and glory,
wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor and power and might,
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders spoke to me and inquired, “Who are these people, all dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?” 14 I replied, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “That is why they stand before the throne of God
and worship him day and night in his temple,
and the one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will never again experience hunger or thirst,
nor will the sun or any scorching heat cause them discomfort.
17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd.
He will guide them to springs of living water,[a]
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The Mission of All the Disciples
Chapter 10
The Mission of the Seventy-Two[a] 1 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. 2 He said to them: “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers for his harvest.
3 “Go on your way. Behold, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Carry no money bag or sack and wear no sandals. Greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 If a man of peace lives there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.
7 “Remain in the same house, and eat and drink whatever is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat whatever is set before you. 9 Cure the sick who are there, and say, ‘The kingdom of God has come unto you.’
10 “But whenever you enter a town and the people do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to us we wipe off our feet as a sign against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.’ 12 I tell you, on that day[b] it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town.
13 Woe to the Cities of Galilee.[c]“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the mighty deeds performed in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have come to repentance long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will be brought down to the netherworld.[d]
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
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