Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 25
A Psalm of David.
1 To You, O Lord,
do I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust in You;
may I not be ashamed;
may my enemies not triumph over me.
3 Yes, let none who wait on You
be ashamed;
let them be ashamed
who transgress without cause.
4 Make me to know Your ways, O Lord;
teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all the day.
6 Remember Your mercies, O Lord, and Your lovingkindness,
for they are from old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my transgressions;
according to Your lovingkindness remember me,
on account of Your goodness, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore He will teach sinners in the way.
9 The meek will He guide in judgment,
and the meek He will teach His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth,
for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity,
for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will teach him in the way He should choose.
13 He will dwell at ease,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
14 The counsel of the Lord is with those who fear him,
and He will make His covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for He will lead my feet from the net.
16 Turn to me, and be gracious to me,
for I am isolated and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Look on my pain and misery,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many,
and they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Watch over my life, and deliver me!
Let me not suffer shame,
for I seek refuge in You.
21 Truth and integrity will preserve me
while I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all their troubles.
Psalm 9
For the Music Director. To the melody of “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will declare all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies are turned back,
they will stumble and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging what is right.
5 You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked,
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 O you enemy, destructions have come to you for a perpetual end.
You have destroyed cities;
their memory perished with them.
7 But the Lord remains forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will give judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion;
declare His deeds among the people.
12 He who avenges deaths remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the humble.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord; consider my trouble from those who hate me,
O You who lifts me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all Your praise
in the gates of the daughter of Zion,
that I may rejoice in Your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made;
their own foot is caught in the net which they hid.
16 The Lord is known by the judgment that He executes;
the wicked one is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah
17 The wicked will be turned to Sheol,
and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor will the hope of the poor perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord, may mortals not prevail;
let the nations be judged in Your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord,
that the nations themselves may know they are mortals. Selah
Psalm 15
A Psalm of David.
1 Lord, who will abide in Your tabernacle?
Who will dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
and does righteousness,
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 he who does not slander with the tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor bears a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
he who swears to avoid evil
and does not change;
5 he who does not put his money out to usury,
nor take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be moved.
Daniel Interprets the Dream
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spoke and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream, or its interpretation, trouble you.”
Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, if only the dream was for those who hate you, and its interpretation for your enemies! 20 The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens, and was visible to all the earth, 21 and whose leaves were fair, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all, under which the animals of the field lived, and upon whose branches the fowl of the heavens had their habitation: 22 It is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.
23 “Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut the tree down and destroy it, yet leave the stump of its roots in the ground, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. And let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let its portion be with the animals of the field until seven periods of time pass over it’—
24 “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: 25 You shall be driven away from men, and your dwelling shall be with the wild animals. You shall be given grass to eat like oxen, and wet with the dew of heaven. And seven times shall pass over you, until you have learned that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He chooses. 26 Inasmuch as they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, your kingdom shall be assured to you after you acknowledge that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
Confidence Before God
19 By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall reassure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence before God. 22 And whatever we ask, we will receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He commanded us. 24 Now the one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He remains in us, through the Spirit whom He has given us.
Test the Spirits
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world, and therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are of God, and whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry(A)
14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And His fame went throughout the surrounding region. 15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by everyone.
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth(B)
16 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. When He had unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”[a]
20 Then He rolled up the scroll, and He gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all those who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All bore witness to Him, and wondered at the gracious words which came from His mouth. Then they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
23 He said to them, “You will surely say to Me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal Yourself. Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ ”
24 He also said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truthfully, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. 26 Yet to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, a city of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. But none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. 29 They rose up and thrust Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down headlong. 30 But passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.