Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance, and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 My God, in You (B)I trust,
Do not let me (C)be ashamed;
Do not let my (D)enemies rejoice over me.
3 Indeed, (E)none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
[a]Those who (F)deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
4 (G)Make me know Your ways, Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in (H)Your truth and teach me,
For You are the (I)God of my salvation;
For You I (J)wait all the day.
6 (K)Remember, Lord, Your compassion and Your faithfulness,
For they have been [b](L)from of old.
7 Do not remember the (M)sins of my youth or my wrongdoings;
(N)Remember me according to Your faithfulness,
For Your (O)goodness’ sake, Lord.
8 (P)The Lord is good and (Q)upright;
Therefore He (R)instructs sinners in the way.
9 He (S)leads the [c]humble in justice,
And He (T)teaches the [d]humble His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (U)faithfulness and truth
To (V)those who comply with His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For the (W)sake of Your name, Lord,
(X)Forgive my wrongdoing, for it is great.
12 Who is the person who (Y)fears the Lord?
He will (Z)instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will (AA)dwell in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will (AB)inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h](AC)secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will (AD)make them know His covenant.
15 My (AE)eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j](AF)rescue my feet from the net.
16 (AG)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am (AH)lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The (AI)troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me (AJ)out of my distresses.
18 (AK)Look at my misery and my trouble,
And (AL)forgive all my sins.
19 Look at my enemies, for they (AM)are many,
And they (AN)hate me with violent hatred.
20 (AO)Guard my soul and save me;
Do not let me (AP)be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let (AQ)integrity and uprightness protect me,
For (AR)I wait for You.
22 (AS)Redeem Israel, God,
From all his distress.
Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
For the music director; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all (A)my heart;
I will (B)tell of all Your [b]wonders.
2 I will rejoice and be (C)jubilant in You;
I will (D)sing praise to Your name, O (E)Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and (F)perish before You.
4 For You have (G)maintained [c]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne [d](H)judging righteously.
5 You have (I)rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked;
You have (J)wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 [e]The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (K)memory of them has perished.
7 But the (L)Lord [f]sits as King forever;
He has established His (M)throne for judgment,
8 And He will (N)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
9 [g]The Lord will also be a (O)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And [h]those who (P)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not (Q)abandoned those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (R)dwells in Zion;
(S)Declare His deeds among the peoples.
12 For (T)He who [i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (U)the cry of the needy.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord;
See my oppression from those (V)who hate me,
You who (W)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 So that I may tell of (X)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may (Y)rejoice in Your [j]salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down (Z)into the pit which they have made;
In the (AA)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has (AB)made Himself known;
He has (AC)executed judgment.
A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. [k]Higgaion Selah
17 The wicked will [l](AD)return to [m]Sheol,
All the nations who (AE)forget God.
18 For the (AF)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the (AG)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 (AH)Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail;
Let the nations be (AI)judged before You.
20 Put them (AJ)in fear, Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (AK)merely human. Selah
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may reside (A)in Your tent?
Who may settle on Your (B)holy hill?
2 One who (C)walks with integrity, practices righteousness,
And (D)speaks truth in his heart.
3 He (E)does not slander [a]with his tongue,
Nor (F)do evil to his neighbor,
Nor (G)bring shame on his friend;
4 A despicable person is despised in his eyes,
But he (H)honors those who fear the Lord;
He (I)takes an oath to his own detriment, and does not change;
5 He (J)does not [b]lend his money [c]at interest,
Nor (K)does he take a bribe against the innocent.
(L)One who does these things will never be shaken.
Daniel Interprets the Vision
19 “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his (A)thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not (B)let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.’ Belteshazzar replied, ‘(C)My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you, and its interpretation to (D)your adversaries! 20 The (E)tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, 21 and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which the animals of the field lived and in whose branches the birds of the sky settled— 22 it is (F)you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your [a]majesty has become great and reached to the sky, and your (G)dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And in that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “(H)Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump [b]with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let [c]him share with the animals of the field until (I)seven [d]periods of time pass over him,” 24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has (J)come upon my lord the king: 25 that you be (K)driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the animals of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven [e]periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the (L)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and (M)bestows it on whomever He wishes. 26 And in that it was commanded to (N)leave the stump [f]with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will [g]remain as yours after you recognize that it is (O)Heaven that rules. 27 Therefore, O king, may my (P)advice be pleasing to you: (Q)wipe away your sin by doing righteousness, and your wrongdoings by (R)showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a (S)prolonging of your prosperity.’
19 We will know by this that we are (A)of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him, 20 that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. 21 (B)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have (C)confidence [a]before God; 22 and (D)whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we (E)keep His commandments and do (F)the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 This is His commandment, that we [b](G)believe in (H)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as (I)He [c]commanded us. 24 The one who (J)keeps His commandments (K)remains in Him, and He in him. (L)We know by this that (M)He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Testing the Spirits
4 (N)Beloved, do not believe every (O)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because (P)many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: (Q)every spirit that (R)confesses that (S)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that (T)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the (U)antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and (V)now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, (W)little children, and (X)have overcome them; because (Y)greater is He who is in you than (Z)he who is in the world. 5 (AA)They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 (AB)We are from God. (AC)The one who knows God listens to us; (AD)the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know (AE)the spirit of truth and (AF)the spirit of error.
Jesus’ Public Ministry
14 And (A)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and (B)news about Him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 And He began (C)teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16 And He came to (D)Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, (E)He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and (F)stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “(G)The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19 (H)To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
20 And He (I)rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and (J)sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. 21 Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your [a]hearing.” 22 And all the people were [b]speaking well of Him, and admiring the [c]gracious words which were coming from His [d]lips; and yet they were saying, “(K)Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will [e]quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done (L)in Capernaum, do here in (M)Your hometown as well.’” 24 But He said, “Truly I say to you, (N)no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel (O)in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a [f]severe famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to [g](P)Zarephath, in the land of (Q)Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was [h]cleansed, but only (R)Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and (S)drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the [i]crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff. 30 But He (T)passed through their midst and went on His way.
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