Book of Common Prayer
Praise to the Lord and Warning against Unbelief.
95 Come, let’s (A)sing for joy to the Lord,
Let’s shout joyfully to (B)the rock of our salvation.
2 Let’s (C)come before His presence (D)with a song of thanksgiving,
Let’s shout joyfully to Him (E)in songs with instruments.
3 For the Lord is a (F)great God
And a great King (G)above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the (H)depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are also His.
5 [a]The sea is His, for it was He (I)who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let’s (J)worship and bow down,
Let’s (K)kneel before the Lord our (L)Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (M)we are the people of His [b](N)pasture and the sheep of His hand.
(O)Today, [c]if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as at [d](P)Meribah,
As on the day of [e](Q)Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers (R)put Me to the test,
They tested Me, though they had seen My work.
10 For (S)forty years I was disgusted with that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 Therefore I (T)swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My (U)rest.”
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A [a]Maskil.
32 (A)How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord (B)does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is (C)no deceit!
3 When (D)I kept silent about my sin, (E)my [b]body wasted away
Through my [c](F)groaning all day long.
4 For day and night (G)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [d](H)vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
5 I (I)acknowledged my sin to You,
And I (J)did not hide my guilt;
I said, “(K)I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You (L)forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [e](M)in a time when You may be found;
Certainly (N)in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
7 You are (O)my hiding place; You (P)keep me from trouble;
You surround me with [f](Q)songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will (R)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you (S)with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be (T)like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 The (U)sorrows of the wicked are many,
But (V)the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
11 Be (W)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (X)upright in heart.
Prayer for Help and Guidance.
A Psalm of David.
143 Hear my prayer, Lord,
(A)Listen to my pleadings!
Answer me in Your (B)faithfulness, in Your (C)righteousness!
2 And (D)do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For (E)no person living is righteous in Your sight.
3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life (F)to the ground;
He (G)has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.
4 Therefore (H)my spirit [a]feels weak within me;
My heart is [b](I)appalled within me.
5 I (J)remember the days of old;
I (K)meditate on all Your accomplishments;
I (L)reflect on the work of Your hands.
6 I (M)spread out my hands to You;
My (N)soul longs for You, like a weary land. Selah
7 (O)Answer me quickly, Lord, my (P)spirit fails;
(Q)Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will be the same as (R)those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear Your (S)faithfulness (T)in the morning,
For I trust (U)in You;
Teach me the (V)way in which I should walk;
For to You I (W)lift up my soul.
9 (X)Save me, Lord, from my enemies;
[c]I take refuge in You.
10 (Y)Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let (Z)Your good Spirit (AA)lead me on level [d]ground.
11 (AB)For the sake of Your name, Lord, (AC)revive me.
(AD)In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And in Your faithfulness, [e](AE)destroy my enemies,
And (AF)eliminate all those who attack my soul,
For (AG)I am Your servant.
Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.
A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and [a]pours out his complaint before the Lord.
102 (A)Hear my prayer, Lord!
And let my cry for help (B)come to You.
2 (C)Do not hide Your face from me on the day of my distress;
(D)Incline Your ear to me;
On the day when I call (E)answer me quickly.
3 For my days (F)have ended in smoke,
And my (G)bones have been scorched like a hearth.
4 My heart (H)has been struck like [b]grass and has (I)withered,
Indeed, I (J)forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the [c]loudness of my groaning
My (K)bones [d]cling to my flesh.
6 I resemble a (L)pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the ruins.
7 I (M)lie awake,
I have become like a solitary bird on a housetop.
8 My enemies (N)have taunted me all day long;
Those who [e](O)deride me [f]have used my name as a (P)curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And (Q)mixed my drink with weeping
10 (R)Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have (S)lifted me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a [g](T)lengthened shadow,
And [h]I (U)wither away like [i]grass.
12 But You, Lord, [j](V)remain forever,
And Your [k](W)name remains to all generations.
13 You will (X)arise and have (Y)compassion on Zion;
For (Z)it is time to be gracious to her,
For the (AA)appointed time has come.
14 Surely Your servants [l]take pleasure in her stones,
And feel pity for her dust.
15 [m]So the [n](AB)nations will fear the name of the Lord,
And (AC)all the kings of the earth, Your glory.
16 For the Lord has (AD)built up Zion;
He has (AE)appeared in His glory.
17 He has (AF)turned His attention to the prayer of the [o]destitute
And has not despised their prayer.
18 [p]This will be (AG)written for the (AH)generation to come,
[q]That (AI)a people yet to be created [r]may praise [s]the Lord:
19 For He (AJ)looked down from His holy height;
(AK)From heaven the Lord looked [t]upon the earth,
20 To hear the (AL)groaning of the prisoner,
To (AM)set free [u]those who were doomed to death,
21 So that people may (AN)tell of the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When (AO)the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23 He has broken my strength in the way;
He has (AP)shortened my days.
24 I say, “My God, (AQ)do not take me away in the middle of my days,
Your (AR)years are [v]throughout all generations.
25 In time of old You (AS)founded the earth,
And the (AT)heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 [w]Even they will (AU)perish, but You endure;
All of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will pass away.
27 But You are [x](AV)the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.
28 The (AW)children of Your servants will continue,
And their [y](AX)descendants will be established before You.”
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
130 Out of the (A)depths I have cried to You, Lord.
2 Lord, (B)hear my voice!
Let (C)Your ears be attentive
To the (D)sound of my pleadings.
3 If You, [a]Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds,
Lord, who could (E)stand?
4 But there is (F)forgiveness with You,
So that You may be [b](G)revered.
5 I wait for the Lord, my (H)soul waits,
And I [c]wait (I)for His word.
6 My soul waits in hope for the Lord
More than the watchmen (J)for the morning;
Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 Israel, (K)wait for the Lord;
For with the Lord there is (L)mercy,
And with Him is (M)abundant redemption.
8 And He will (N)redeem Israel
From all his guilty deeds.
Nineveh Repents
3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (A)Nineveh, the great city, and (B)proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 3 So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was [a]an (C)exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he (D)cried out and said, “Forty more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a (E)fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, removed his robe from himself, (F)covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the [b]dust. 7 And he issued a (G)proclamation, and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: No person, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat, or drink water. 8 But every person and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and people are to (H)call on God vehemently, and they are to (I)turn, each one from his evil way, and from the violence which is in their hands. 9 (J)Who knows, God may turn and relent, and turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw their deeds, that they (K)turned from their evil way, then (L)God relented of the disaster which He had declared He would [c]bring on them. So He did not do it.
Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
4 But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became (M)angry. 2 Then he (N)prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was this not [d]what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I (O)fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a (P)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster. 3 So now, Lord, please (Q)take my [e]life from me, for death is (R)better to me than life.” 4 But the Lord said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of [f]it. There he made a shelter for himself and (S)sat under it in the shade, until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God designated a [g]plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to [h]relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah [i]was overjoyed about the plant. 7 But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it (T)withered. 8 And when the sun came up God designated a scorching (U)east wind, and the (V)sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “(W)Death is better to me than life!”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [j]came up overnight and perished [k]overnight. 11 Should I not also (X)have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not (Y)know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many (Z)animals?”
Jesus, the Example
12 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s (A)rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s (B)run with (C)endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking only at Jesus, the [a](D)originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him (E)endured the cross, (F)despising the shame, and has (G)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For (H)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary [b](I)and lose heart.
A Father’s Discipline
4 (J)You have not yet resisted [c](K)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“(L)My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor (M)faint when you are punished by Him;
6 (N)For (O)whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; (P)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, (Q)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had [d]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we (R)respected them; shall we not much more be subject to (S)the Father of [e]spirits, and (T)live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, (U)so that we may share His holiness. 11 (V)For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the (W)peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, [f](X)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and (Y)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather (Z)be healed.
14 (AA)Pursue peace with all people, and the (AB)holiness without which no one will (AC)see the Lord.
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Now He also told this parable to some people who (A)trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and (B)viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men (C)went up into the [a]temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee (D)stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I (E)fast twice a week; I (F)pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, (G)standing some distance away, (H)was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but (I)was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be [b]merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; (J)for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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