Book of Common Prayer
Mem
97 How I love your law!
The whole day it is my meditation.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they[a] are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the elders,
for I keep your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
so that I may heed your word.
102 I have not turned aside from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
103 How smooth[b] are your words[c] to my palate,
more than honey in my mouth.
104 From your precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate every false way.
Nun
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to heed your righteous ordinances.[d]
107 I am very much afflicted;
O Yahweh, revive me according to your word.
108 Please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Yahweh,
and teach me your ordinances.
109 My life is in danger[e] continually,
yet I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
yet I do not wander from your precepts.
111 I have taken as my own your testimonies forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to do your statutes
forever, to the end.
Samek
113 I hate the double-minded,[f]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Turn aside from me, you evildoers,
for I will keep the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me according to your word,[g] that I may live,
and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Uphold me, that I may be delivered,
and have regard for your statutes continually.
118 You reject all who stray from your statutes,
for their deceit is a breach of faith.
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like dross,
therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.
An Appeal from God to Israel
For the music director; on the Gittith. Of Asaph.[a]
81 Shout out to God our strength;
shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a song and strike[b] the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre, together with the harp.
3 Blow the horn at new moon,
at full moon, for our feast day,
4 because it is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a statute[c] in Joseph
when he went out against the land of Egypt,
where I heard a language I did not know.[d]
6 “I removed his shoulder from a burden.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 In this[e] trouble you called, and I rescued you.
Within the secret place of thunder I answered you;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, if you would but listen to me.
9 There shall be no strange god among you,
and you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 But my people did not listen to my voice,
and Israel did not yield to me.
12 So I let them[f] go in the stubbornness of their heart;
they walked in their counsels.
13 Oh that my people would listen to me;
that Israel would walk in my ways.
14 I would subdue their enemies quickly,
and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 Those who hate Yahweh would cringe before him,
and their fate[g] would be forever.
16 But he would feed him[h] from the choicest wheat,[i]
and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock.”
God Commands Justice
A psalm of Asaph.[j]
82 God stands in the divine assembly;[k]
he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[l]
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked?[m] Selah
3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan;
provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the helpless and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or consider.[n]
They go about in the darkness,
so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I have said,[o] “You are gods,
and sons of the Most High, all of you.
7 However, you will die like men,[p]
and you will fall like one of the princes.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you shall inherit[q] all the nations.
15 and truth is missing,
and he who turns aside from evil is plundered.
And Yahweh saw,
and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice
16 And he saw that there was no man,
and he was appalled that there was no one who intercedes,
so[a] his arm came to assist him,
and his righteousness was what[b] sustained him.
17 And he put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head,
and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a robe.
18 According to deeds, so he will repay;
wrath to his enemies, requital to those who are his enemies.[c]
He will repay requital to the coastlands.
19 So[d] they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west,
and his glory from the sunrise,
for he will come like a narrow stream;
the wind of Yahweh drives it on.
20 “And a redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression,”
declares[e] Yahweh.
21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh:
15 You know this, that all those in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he refreshed me many times, and was not ashamed of my imprisonment, 17 but when he[a] was in Rome, he diligently sought me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day! And how much he served me in Ephesus you know very well.
Exhortation to Be Strong in Grace
2 You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these things to faithful people who will be competent to teach others also. 3 Suffer together with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one who serves as a soldier is entangled in the activities of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him. 5 And also if anyone competes he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The farmer who works hard must be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Consider what I am saying, for the Lord will grant you understanding in all these things.
A Trustworthy Saying
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David according to my gospel, 9 in connection with which I suffer misfortune to the point of imprisonment[b] as a criminal, but the word of God is not bound. 10 Because of this, I endure all things for the sake of the chosen, in order that they also may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy:
On Divorce
10 And from there he set out and[a] came to the region of Judea and the other side of the Jordan, and again crowds came together to him. And again, as he was accustomed to do,[b] he began to teach[c] them. 2 And they asked[d] him if it was permitted for a man to divorce his[e] wife, in order to[f] test him. 3 And he answered and[g] said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 So they said, “Moses permitted a man[h] to write a certificate of divorce and to send her[i] away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. 6 But from the beginning of creation ‘he made them male and female.[j] 7 Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife,[k] 8 and the two will become one flesh,’[l] so that they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
10 And in the house again the disciples began to ask[m] him about this. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and[n] marries another, she commits adultery.”
Little Children Brought to Jesus
13 And they were bringing young children to him so that he could touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when[o] Jesus saw it,[p] he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the young children come to me. Do not forbid them, for to such belongs[q] the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.” 16 And after[r] taking them[s] into his arms, he blessed them, placing his[t] hands on them.
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