Book of Common Prayer
Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.
A Psalm of David, for a memorial.
38 Lord, (A)do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
2 For Your (B)arrows have sunk deep into me,
And (C)Your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is (D)no healthy part in my flesh (E)because of Your indignation;
There is no health (F)in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my (G)guilty deeds have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5 My [a]wounds grow foul and fester
Because of (H)my foolishness.
6 I am bent over and (I)greatly bowed down;
I (J)go in mourning all day long.
7 For my [b]sides are filled with (K)burning,
And there is (L)no healthy part in my flesh.
8 I feel (M)faint and [c]badly crushed;
I [d](N)groan because of the [e]agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all (O)my desire is [f]before You;
And my (P)sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, (Q)my strength fails me;
And the (R)light of my eyes, even [g]that [h]has gone from me.
11 My [i](S)loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen (T)stand far away.
12 Those who (U)seek my life (V)lay snares for me;
And those who (W)seek to injure me have [j]threatened destruction,
And they (X)plot deception all day long.
13 But I, like a person who is deaf, do not hear;
And I am like a (Y)person who cannot speak, who does not open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am like a person who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
15 For (Z)I wait for You, Lord;
You (AA)will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, (AB)would exalt themselves over me.”
17 For I am (AC)ready to fall,
And (AD)my [k]sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I (AE)admit my guilt;
I am full of (AF)anxiety because of my sin.
19 But my (AG)enemies are vigorous and [l]strong,
And those who wrongfully (AH)hate me are many.
20 And those who (AI)repay evil for good,
They (AJ)become my enemies, because I follow what is good.
21 Do not abandon me, Lord;
My God, (AK)do not be far from me!
22 (AL)Hurry to help me,
Lord, (AM)my salvation!
Daleth
25 My (A)soul clings to the dust;
(B)Revive me (C)according to Your word.
26 I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
(D)Teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
And I will (E)meditate on Your wonders.
28 My (F)soul [a]weeps because of grief;
(G)Strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your Law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way;
I have [b]placed Your judgments before me.
31 I (H)cling to Your testimonies;
Lord, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will (I)enlarge my heart.
He
33 (J)Teach me, the way of Your statutes, Lord,
And I shall comply with it to the end.
34 (K)Give me understanding, so that I may (L)comply with Your Law
And keep it (M)with all my heart.
35 Make me walk in the (N)path of Your commandments,
For I (O)delight in it.
36 (P)Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to (Q)dishonest gain.
37 Turn my (R)eyes away from looking at what is worthless,
And (S)revive me in Your ways.
38 (T)Establish Your [c]word to Your servant
[d]As that which produces reverence for You.
39 (U)Take away my disgrace which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
40 Behold, I (V)long for Your precepts;
Revive me through Your righteousness.
Vav
41 May Your (W)favor also come to me, Lord,
Your salvation (X)according to Your [e]word;
42 So that I will have an (Y)answer for one who (Z)taunts me,
For I trust in Your word.
43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I [f](AA)wait for Your judgments.
44 So I will (AB)keep Your Law continually,
Forever and ever.
45 And I will (AC)walk [g]at liberty,
For I (AD)seek Your precepts.
46 I will also speak of Your testimonies (AE)before kings
And shall not be ashamed.
47 I will (AF)delight in Your commandments,
Which I (AG)love.
48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,
Which I (AH)love;
And I will (AI)meditate on Your statutes.
24 This is what the Lord says, He who is your (A)Redeemer, and the One who (B)formed you from the womb:
“I, the Lord, am the Maker of all things,
(C)Stretching out the heavens by Myself
And spreading out the earth [a]alone,
25 (D)Causing the [b]omens of diviners to fail,
[c]Making fools of fortune-tellers;
(E)Causing wise men to turn back
And [d]making their knowledge ridiculous,
26 (F)Confirming the word of His servant
And [e]carrying out the purpose of His messengers.
It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’
And of the (G)cities of Judah, ‘(H)They shall be built.’
And I will raise her ruins again.
27 I am the One who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Dry up!’
And I will make your rivers (I)dry up.
28 It is I who says of (J)Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he will carry out all My desire.’
And [f]he says of Jerusalem, ‘(K)She will be built,’
And of the temple, ‘[g]Your foundation will be laid.’”
God Uses Cyrus
45 This is what the Lord says to (L)Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right (M)hand,
To (N)subdue nations before him
And [h]to (O)undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you and (P)make the [i]rough places smooth;
I will (Q)shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron (R)bars.
3 I will give you the [j](S)treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who (T)calls you by your name.
4 For the sake of (U)Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also (V)called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have (W)not known Me.
5 I am the Lord, and (X)there is no one else;
(Y)There is no God except Me.
I will [k](Z)arm you, though you have not known Me,
6 So that (AA)people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is (AB)no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
7 The One (AC)forming light and (AD)creating darkness,
Causing [l]well-being and (AE)creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.
Be Imitators of God
5 (A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and (B)walk in love, just as Christ also (C)loved [a]you and (D)gave Himself up for us, an (E)offering and a sacrifice to God [b]as a (F)fragrant aroma.
3 But (G)sexual immorality [c]or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among [d]saints; 4 and there must be no (H)filthiness [e]or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which (I)are not fitting, but rather (J)giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that (K)no sexually immoral or [f]impure or greedy person, which [g]amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom (L)of Christ and God.
6 (M)See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things (N)the wrath of God comes upon (O)the [h]sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become (P)partners with them; 8 for (Q)you were once (R)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as (S)children of light 9 (for (T)the fruit of the light consists in all (U)goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 [i](V)as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 (W)Do not participate in the useless (X)deeds of (Y)darkness, but instead even (Z)expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible (AA)when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason [j]it says,
Parable of the Sower and Soils
4 Again (A)He began to teach (B)by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that (C)He got into a boat on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in (D)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” 9 And He was saying, “(E)He who has ears to hear, [a]let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, [b]His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for (F)those who are outside, everything comes (G)in parables, 12 so that (H)while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.”
Explanation of the Parable
13 (I)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately (J)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they [c]fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of (K)the [d]world, and the (L)deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it [e]becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and (M)bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”
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