Book of Common Prayer
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion, (C)wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I (F)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [b]are justified [c]when You speak
And [d]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in secret You will (L)make wisdom known to me.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
[g]Cleanse me, and I will be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Let me hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, God,
And renew a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will [j]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Save me from (AA)the guilt of bloodshed, God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, [k](AD)open my lips,
So that my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
A Cry of Distress and a Curse on Adversaries.
For the music director; according to [a]Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, God,
For the (A)waters have [b]threatened my life.
2 I have sunk in deep (B)mud, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a [c](C)flood overflows me.
3 I am (D)weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My (E)eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those (F)who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would [d]destroy me (G)are powerful, those who oppose me with lies;
(H)What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
5 God, You know (I)my foolishness,
And (J)my guilt is not hidden from You.
6 May those who wait for You not (K)be ashamed because of me, Lord [e]God of armies;
May those who seek You not be dishonored because of me, God of Israel,
7 Because (L)for Your sake I have endured disgrace;
(M)Dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become (N)estranged [f]from my brothers,
And a stranger to my mother’s sons.
9 For (O)zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And (P)the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept (Q)in my soul with fasting,
It became my (R)disgrace.
11 When I made (S)sackcloth my clothing,
I became (T)a proverb to them.
12 Those who (U)sit in the gate talk about me,
And (V)songs of mockery by those habitually drunk are about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, Lord, (W)at an acceptable time;
God, in the (X)greatness of Your mercy,
Answer me with [g]Your saving truth.
14 Rescue me from the (Y)mud and do not let me sink;
May I be (Z)rescued from those who hate me, and from the (AA)depths of water.
15 May the [h](AB)flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up,
Nor the (AC)pit close its mouth on me.
16 Answer me, Lord, for (AD)Your mercy is good;
(AE)According to the greatness of Your compassion, (AF)turn to me,
17 And (AG)do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am (AH)in distress; answer me quickly.
18 Come near to my soul and (AI)redeem it;
(AJ)Ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my (AK)disgrace, my shame, and my dishonor;
All my enemies are [i]known to You.
Jeremiah’s Prayer
12 (A)Righteous are You, Lord, when I plead my case with You;
Nevertheless I would (B)discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the (C)way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who (D)deal in treachery at ease?
2 You have (E)planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have also produced fruit.
You are (F)near [a]to their lips
But far from their [b]mind.
3 But You (G)know me, Lord;
You see me
And (H)examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter,
And [c]set them apart for a (I)day of slaughter!
4 How long is the (J)land to mourn,
And the (K)vegetation of the [d]countryside to dry up?
Due to the (L)wickedness of those who live in it,
(M)Animals and birds have been snatched away,
Because people have said, “He will not see our final (N)end.”
5 “If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out,
How can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the (O)thicket by the Jordan?
6 For even your (P)brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have called aloud after you.
Do not believe them, though they say (Q)nice things to you.”
God’s Answer
7 “I have (R)forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have handed the (S)beloved of My soul
Over to her enemies.
8 My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has [e](T)roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to (U)hate her.
9 Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the (V)birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the (W)animals of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 Many (X)shepherds have ruined My (Y)vineyard,
They have (Z)trampled down My field;
They have made My (AA)pleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
11 [f]It has been made a desolation;
Desolate, it (AB)mourns [g]before Me;
The (AC)whole land has been made desolate,
Because no one (AD)takes it to heart.
12 On all the [h](AE)bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For the (AF)sword of the Lord is devouring
From one end of the land even to the [i]other;
There is (AG)no peace for [j]anyone.
13 They have (AH)sown wheat but have harvested thorns,
They have (AI)strained themselves [k]to no profit.
So be ashamed of your (AJ)produce
Because of the (AK)fierce anger of the Lord.”
14 This is what the Lord says concerning all My (AL)wicked neighbors who (AM)do harm to the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel: “Behold, I am going to drive them out of their land, and I will (AN)drive the house of Judah out from among them. 15 And it will come about that after I have driven them out, I will (AO)again have compassion on them; and I will (AP)bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16 Then, if they will really (AQ)learn the ways of My people, to (AR)swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they taught My people to (AS)swear by Baal, they will be (AT)built up in the midst of My people.
The Goal of Life
3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, (A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Beware of the (B)dogs, beware of the (C)evil workers, beware of the [a]false circumcision; 3 for (D)we are the true [b]circumcision, who (E)worship in the Spirit of God and take (F)pride in (G)Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although (H)I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: 5 (I)circumcised the eighth day, of the (J)nation of Israel, of the (K)tribe of Benjamin, a (L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, (M)a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, (N)a persecutor of the church; as to the (O)righteousness which is in the Law, found (P)blameless.
7 But (Q)whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss [c]in view of the surpassing value of [d](R)knowing (S)Christ Jesus my Lord, [e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having (T)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, (U)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may (V)know Him and (W)the power of His resurrection and [f](X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being (Y)conformed to His death; 11 if somehow I may (Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already [g](AA)grasped it all or have already (AB)become perfect, but I press on if I may also (AC)take hold of that [h]for which I (AD)was even taken hold of by (AE)Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: (AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I (AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the (AH)upward call of God in (AI)Christ Jesus.
9 The (A)large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, (B)whom He raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because (C)on account of him (D)many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
12 On the next day, when (E)the large crowd that had come to (F)the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “(G)Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed, the (H)King of Israel!” 14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 “(I)Do not fear, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 (J)These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus (K)was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. 17 So (L)the [a]people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. 18 (M)For this reason also the [b]people went to meet Him, (N)because they heard that He had performed this [c]sign. 19 So the Pharisees said [d]to one another, “You see that you are not accomplishing anything; look, the world has gone after Him!”
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