Book of Common Prayer
A psalm of David. A prayer.
38 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry.
Don’t punish me when you are burning with anger.
2 You have wounded me with your arrows.
You have struck me with your hand.
3 Because of your anger, my whole body is sick.
Because of my sin, I’m not healthy.
4 My guilt has become too much for me.
It is a load too heavy to carry.
5 My wounds are ugly. They stink.
I’ve been foolish. I have sinned.
6 I am bent over. I’ve been brought very low.
All day long I go around weeping.
7 My back is filled with burning pain.
My whole body is sick.
8 I am weak and feel as if I’ve been broken in pieces.
I groan because of the great pain in my heart.
9 Lord, everything I really want is clearly known to you.
You always hear me when I sigh.
10 My heart pounds, and my strength is gone.
My eyes can hardly see.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds.
My neighbors stay far away from me.
12 Those who are trying to kill me set their traps.
Those who want to harm me talk about destroying me.
All day long they make their plans and tell their lies.
13 Like a deaf person, I can’t hear.
Like someone who can’t speak, I can’t say a word.
14 I’m like someone who doesn’t hear.
I’m like someone whose mouth can’t make any reply.
15 Lord, I wait for you to help me.
Lord my God, I know you will answer.
16 I said, “Don’t let my enemies have the joy of seeing me fall.
Don’t let them brag when my feet slip.”
17 I am about to fall.
My pain never leaves me.
18 I admit that I have done wrong.
I am troubled by my sin.
19 Though I have done nothing to cause it, many people have become my enemies.
They hate me without any reason.
20 They pay me back with evil, even though I was good to them.
They bring charges against me, though I try only to do what is good.
21 Lord, don’t desert me.
My God, don’t be far away from me.
22 Lord my Savior,
come quickly to help me.
ד Daleth
25 I lie in the dust. I’m about to die.
Keep me alive as you have promised.
26 I told you how I’ve lived, and you gave me your answer.
Teach me your orders.
27 Help me understand how your rules direct me to live.
Then I may think deeply about the wonderful things you have done.
28 My sadness has worn me out.
Give me strength as you have promised.
29 Keep me from cheating and telling lies.
Be kind to me and teach me your law.
30 I have chosen to be faithful to you.
I put my trust in your laws.
31 Lord, I’m careful to obey your covenant laws.
Don’t let me be put to shame.
32 I am quick to follow your commands,
because you have added to my understanding.
ה He
33 Lord, teach me how your orders direct me to live.
Then I will live that way to the very end.
34 Help me understand your law so that I may follow it.
I will obey it with all my heart.
35 Teach me to live as you command,
because that makes me very happy.
36 Make me want to follow your covenant laws
instead of wanting to gain things only for myself.
37 Turn my eyes away from things that are worthless.
Keep me alive as you have promised.
38 Keep your promise to me.
Then other people will have respect for you.
39 Please don’t let me be put to shame.
Your laws are good.
40 I really want to follow your rules.
Keep me alive, because you do what is right.
ו Waw
41 Lord, show me your faithful love.
Save me as you have promised.
42 Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me,
because I trust in your word.
43 Help me always to tell the truth about how faithful you are.
I have put my hope in your laws.
44 I will always obey your law,
for ever and ever.
45 I will lead a full and happy life,
because I’ve tried to obey your rules.
46 I will talk about your covenant laws to kings.
I will not be put to shame.
47 I take delight in obeying your commands
because I love them.
48 I reach out for your commands that I love.
I do this so that I may think deeply about your orders.
The Lord Appoints Isaiah to Speak for Him
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was seated on his throne. His long robe filled the temple. He was highly honored. 2 Above him were seraphs. Each of them had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces. With two wings they covered their feet. And with two wings they were flying. 3 They were calling out to one another. They were saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who rules over all.
The whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 The sound of their voices caused the stone doorframe to shake. The temple was filled with smoke.
5 “How terrible it is for me!” I cried out. “I’m about to be destroyed! My mouth speaks sinful words. And I live among people who speak sinful words. Now I have seen the King with my own eyes. He is the Lord who rules over all.”
6 A seraph flew over to me. He was holding a hot coal. He had used tongs to take it from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with the coal. He said, “This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away. Your sin has been paid for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord. He said, “Who will I send? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
9 So he said, “Go and speak to these people. Tell them,
“ ‘You will hear but never understand.
You will see but never know what you are seeing.’
10 Make the hearts of these people stubborn.
Plug up their ears.
Close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes.
They might hear with their ears.
They might understand with their hearts.
And they might turn to me and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will it be like that?”
He answered,
“It will last until the cities of Israel are destroyed.
It will last until no one is living in them.
It will last until the houses are deserted.
The fields will be completely destroyed.
12 It will last until the Lord has sent everyone far away.
The land will be totally deserted.
13 Suppose only a tenth of the people remain there.
Even then the land will be completely destroyed again.
But when oak trees and terebinth trees
are cut down, stumps are left.
And my holy people will be like stumps
that begin to grow again.”
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. Silas and Timothy join me in writing.
We are sending this letter to you, the members of the church in Thessalonica. You belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
Paul Prays and Gives Thanks
3 Brothers and sisters, we should always thank God for you. That is only right, because your faith is growing more and more. We also thank God that the love you all have for one another is increasing. 4 So among God’s churches we brag about the fact that you don’t give up easily. We brag about your faith in all the suffering and testing you are going through.
5 All of this proves that when God judges, he is fair. So you will be considered worthy to enter God’s kingdom. You are suffering for his kingdom. 6 God is fair. He will pay back trouble to those who give you trouble. 7 He will help you who are troubled. And he will also help us. All these things will happen when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come in blazing fire. He will come with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who don’t know God. He will punish those who don’t obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be destroyed forever. They will be shut out of heaven. They will never see the glory of the Lord’s strength. 10 All these things will happen when he comes. On that day his glory will be seen in his holy people. Everyone who has believed will be amazed when they see him. This includes you, because you believed the witness we gave you.
11 Keeping this in mind, we never stop praying for you. Our God has chosen you. We pray that he will make you worthy of his choice. We pray he will make every good thing you want to do come true. We pray that he will do this by his power. We pray that he will make perfect all that you have done by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus will receive glory through what you have done. We also pray that you will receive glory through what he has done. We pray all these things in keeping with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
53 Then they all went home. 8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At sunrise he arrived again in the temple courtyard. All the people gathered around him there. He sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman. She had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of the group. 4 They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who was not her husband. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to kill such women by throwing stones at them. Now what do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap Jesus with that question. They wanted to have a reason to bring charges against him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 They kept asking him questions. So he stood up and said to them, “Has any one of you not sinned? Then you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 He bent down again and wrote on the ground.
9 Those who heard what he had said began to go away. They left one at a time, the older ones first. Soon only Jesus was left. The woman was still standing there. 10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Hasn’t anyone found you guilty?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then I don’t find you guilty either,” Jesus said. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.