Book of Common Prayer
A Plea for Deliverance and Forgiveness
A Psalm of David.
25 To (A)You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I (B)trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
(C)Let not my enemies triumph over me.
3 Indeed, let no one who [a]waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
4 (D)Show me 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, O Lord, (E)Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.
7 Do not remember (F)the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
(G)According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 (H)For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man that fears the Lord?
(I)Him shall [b]He teach in the way He chooses.
13 (J)He himself shall dwell in [c]prosperity,
And (K)his descendants shall inherit the earth.
14 (L)The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
15 (M)My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall [d]pluck my feet out of the net.
16 (N)Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am [e]desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
18 (O)Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with [f]cruel hatred.
20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 (P)Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!
Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Righteous Judgments
To the Chief Musician. To the tune of [a]“Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.
9 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and (A)rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, (B)O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
5 You have rebuked the [b]nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have (C)blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has (D)perished.
7 (E)But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8 (F)He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
9 The Lord also will be a (G)refuge[c] for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
10 And those who (H)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!
(I)Declare His deeds among the people.
12 (J)When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the [d]humble.
13 Have mercy on me, O Lord!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of [e]the daughter of Zion.
I will (K)rejoice in Your salvation.
15 (L)The [f]nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16 The Lord is (M)known by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
(N)Meditation.[g] Selah
The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord
A Psalm of David.
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the (B)truth in his heart;
3 He who (C)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
(D)Nor does he [b]take up a reproach against his friend;
4 (E)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who (F)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things (G)shall never be moved.
Daniel Explains the Second Dream
19 Then Daniel, (A)whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts (B)troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.”
Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may (C)the dream [a]concern those who hate you, and its interpretation [b]concern your enemies!
20 (D)“The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, 21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home— 22 (E)it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, (F)and your dominion to the end of the earth.
23 (G)“And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, (H)and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven [c]times pass over him’; 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 They shall (I)drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you (J)eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven [d]times shall pass over you, (K)till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and (L)gives it to whomever He chooses.
26 “And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that (M)Heaven[e] rules. 27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; (N)break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. (O)Perhaps there may be (P)a [f]lengthening of your prosperity.”
19 And by this we [a]know (A)that we are of the truth, and shall [b]assure our hearts before Him. 20 (B)For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, (C)we have confidence toward God. 22 And (D)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments (E)and do those 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 (F)and love one another, as He gave [c]us commandment.
The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error
24 Now (G)he who keeps His commandments (H)abides in Him, and He in him. And (I)by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Love for God and One Another
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but (J)test the spirits, whether they are of God; because (K)many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: (L)Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess [d]that Jesus [e]Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than (M)he who is in the world. 5 (N)They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and (O)the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. (P)By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry(A)
14 (B)Then Jesus returned (C)in the power of the Spirit to (D)Galilee, and (E)news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He (F)taught in their synagogues, (G)being glorified by all.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth(H)
16 So He came to (I)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, (J)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The(K) Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me [a]to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To (L)set at liberty those who are [b]oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is (M)fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and (N)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, (O)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”
23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in (P)Capernaum,[c] do also here in (Q)Your country.’ ” 24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no (R)prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, (S)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to [d]Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 (T)And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were (U)filled with [e]wrath, 29 (V)and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then (W)passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.