Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 101
Of David. A psalm.
101 Oh, let me sing about faithful love and justice!
I want to sing my praises to you, Lord!
2 I want to study the way of integrity—
how long before it gets here?
I will walk with a heart of integrity
in my own house.
3 I won’t set my eyes on anything worthless.
I hate wrongdoing;
none of that will stick to me.
4 A corrupt heart will be far from me.
I won’t be familiar with evil.
5 I will destroy anyone
who secretly tells lies about a neighbor.
I can’t stomach anyone
who has proud eyes or an arrogant heart.
6 My eyes focus on those
who are faithful in the land,
to have them close to me.
The person who walks without blame
will work for me.
7 But the person who acts deceitfully
won’t stay in my house.
The person who tells lies
won’t last for long before me.
8 Every morning I will destroy
all those who are wicked in the land
in order to eliminate all evildoers
from the Lord’s city.
Psalm 109
To the leader. Of David. A psalm.
109 God of my praise, don’t keep quiet,
2 because the mouths of wicked liars
have opened up against me,
talking about me with lying tongues.
3 Hateful words surround me;
they attack me for no reason.
4 Instead of returning my love, they accuse me—
but I am at prayer.
5 They repay me evil for good,
hatred in return for my love.
6 “Appoint a wicked person to be against this person,” they say,
“an accuser to stand right next to him.
7 When the sentence is passed, let him be found guilty—
let his prayer be found sinful!
8 Let his days be few;
let someone else assume his position.
9 Let his children become orphans;
let his wife turn into a widow.
10 Let his children wander aimlessly, begging,
driven out of their ruined homes.
11 Let a creditor seize everything he owns;
let strangers plunder his wealth.
12 Let no one extend faithful love to him;
let no one have mercy on his orphans.
13 Let his descendants be eliminated;
let their names be wiped out in just one generation!
14 Let his father’s wrongdoing be remembered before the Lord;
let his mother’s sin never be wiped out.
15 Let them be before the Lord always,
and let God eliminate the very memory of them from the land.
16 All because this person didn’t remember to demonstrate faithful love,
but chased after the poor and needy—
even the brokenhearted—with deadly intent!
17 Since he loved to curse,
let it come back on him!
Since he didn’t care much for blessing,
let it be far away from him!
18 Since he wore curses like a coat,
let them seep inside him like water,
seep into his bones like oil!
19 Let them be like the clothes he wears,
like a belt that is always around him.”
20 But let all that be the reward my accusers get from the Lord,
the reward for those who speak evil against me!
21 But you, Lord, my Lord!—
act on my behalf for the sake of your name;
deliver me because your faithful love is so good;
22 because I am poor and needy,
and my heart is broken.
23 Like a lengthening shadow, I’m passing away;
I’m shaken off, like some locust.
24 My legs are weak from fasting;
my body is skin and bones.
25 I’ve become a joke to my accusers;
when they see me, they just shake their heads.
26 Help me, Lord my God!
Save me according to your faithful love!
27 And let them know that this is by your hand—
that you have done it, Lord!
28 Let them curse—but you, bless me!
If they rise up, let them be disgraced,
but let your servant celebrate!
29 Let my accusers be dressed in shame;
let them wear their disgrace like a coat.
30 But I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
among a great crowd I will praise God!
ע ayin
121 I’ve done what is just and right.
Don’t just hand me over to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee good things for your servant.
Please don’t let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes are worn out looking for your saving help—
looking for your word that will set things right.
124 Act toward your servant according to your faithful love.
Teach me your statutes!
125 I’m your servant!
Help me understand so I can know your laws.
126 It is time for the Lord to do something!
Your Instruction has been broken.
127 But I love your commandments
more than gold, even more than pure gold.
128 That’s why I walk straight by every single one of your precepts.
That’s why I hate every false path.
פ pe
129 Your laws are wonderful!
That’s why I guard them.
130 Access to your words[a] gives light,
giving simple folk understanding.
131 I open my mouth up wide, panting,
because I long for your commandments.
132 Come back to me and have mercy on me;
that’s only right for those who love your name.
133 Keep my steps steady by your word;
don’t let any sin rule me.
134 Redeem me from the people who oppress me
so I can keep your precepts.
135 Shine your face on your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
136 Rivers of tears stream from my eyes
because your Instruction isn’t being kept.
צ tsade
137 Lord, you are righteous,
and your rules are right.
138 The laws you commanded are righteous,
completely trustworthy.
139 Anger consumes me
because my enemies have forgotten what you’ve said.
140 Your word has been tried and tested;
your servant loves your word!
141 I’m insignificant and unpopular,
but I don’t forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness lasts forever!
Your Instruction is true!
143 Stress and strain have caught up with me,
but your commandments are my joy!
144 Your laws are righteous forever.
Help me understand so I can live!
God the potter
18 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: 2 Go down to the potter’s house, and I’ll give you instructions about what to do there. 3 So I went down to the potter’s house; he was working on the potter’s wheel. 4 But the piece he was making was flawed while still in his hands, so the potter started on another, as seemed best to him. 5 Then the Lord’s word came to me: 6 House of Israel, can’t I deal with you like this potter, declares the Lord? Like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine, house of Israel! 7 At any time I may announce that I will dig up, pull down, and destroy a nation or kingdom; 8 but if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I’ll relent and not carry out the harm I intended for it. 9 At the same time, I may announce that I will build and plant a nation or kingdom; 10 but if that nation displeases and disobeys me, then I’ll relent and not carry out the good I intended for it. 11 Now say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am a potter preparing a disaster for you; I’m working out a plan against you. So each one of you, turn from your evil ways; reform your ways and your actions.
Set free by the Spirit
8 So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness. God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin. 4 He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness. 5 People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit. 6 The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. 7 So the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. It doesn’t submit to God’s Law, because it can’t. 8 People who are self-centered aren’t able to please God.
9 But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. 10 If Christ is in you, the Spirit is your life because of God’s righteousness, but the body is dead because of sin. 11 If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your human bodies also, through his Spirit that lives in you.
27 Don’t work for the food that doesn’t last but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Human One[a] will give you. God the Father has confirmed him as his agent to give life.”
28 They asked, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?”
29 Jesus replied, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.”
30 They asked, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”[b]
32 Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said, “Sir,[c] give us this bread all the time!”
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But I told you that you have seen me and still don’t believe. 37 Everyone whom the Father gives to me will come to me, and I won’t send away anyone who comes to me. 38 I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of the one who sent me, that I won’t lose anything he has given me, but I will raise it up at the last day. 40 This is my Father’s will: that all who see the Son and believe in him will have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible