Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 38
A psalm of David. For the memorial offering.
38 Please, Lord, don’t punish me when you are mad;
don’t discipline me when you are furious.
2 Your arrows have pierced me;
your fist has come down hard on me.
3 There’s nothing in my body that isn’t broken
because of your rage;
there’s no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 My wrongdoings are stacked higher than my head;
they are a weight that’s way too heavy for me.
5 My wounds reek; they are all infected
because of my stupidity.
6 I am hunched over, completely down;
I wander around all day long, sad.
7 My insides are burning up;
there’s nothing in my body that isn’t broken.
8 I’m worn out, completely crushed;
I groan because of my miserable heart.
9 Everything I long for is laid out before you, my Lord;
my sighs aren’t hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds; my strength abandons me.
Even the light of my eyes is gone.
11 My loved ones and friends keep their distance
from me in my sickness;
those who were near me now stay far away.
12 Those who want me dead lay traps;
those who want me harmed utter threats,
muttering lies all day long.
13 But I’m like someone who is deaf,
who can’t hear;
like someone who can’t speak,
whose mouth won’t open.
14 I’ve become like a person
who doesn’t hear what is being said,
whose mouth has no good comeback.
15 But I wait for you, Lord!
You will answer, my Lord, my God!
16 Because I prayed:
“Don’t let them celebrate over me
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips,”
17 because I’m very close to falling,
and my pain is always with me.
18 Yes, I confess my wrongdoing;
I’m worried about my sin.
19 But my mortal enemies are so strong;
those who hate me for no reason seem countless.
20 Those who give, repay good with evil;
they oppose me for pursuing good.
21 Don’t leave me all alone, Lord!
Please, my God, don’t be far from me!
22 Come quickly and help me,
my Lord, my salvation!
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25 My life is stuck in the dirt.
Now make me live again according to your promise!
26 I confessed my ways and you answered me.
Now teach me your statutes!
27 Help me understand what your precepts are about
so I can contemplate your wondrous works!
28 My spirit sags because of grief.
Now raise me up according to your promise!
29 Remove all false ways from me;
show mercy to me by means of your Instruction.
30 I’ve chosen the way of faithfulness;
I’m set on your rules.
31 I’m holding tight to your laws, Lord.
Please don’t let me be put to shame.
32 I run the same path as your commandments
because you give my heart insight.
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33 Lord, teach me what your statutes are about,
and I will guard every part of them.
34 Help me understand so I can guard your Instruction
and keep it with all my heart.
35 Lead me on the trail of your commandments
because that is what I want.
36 Turn my heart to your laws,
not to greedy gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Make me live by your way.
38 Confirm your promise to your servant—
the promise that is for all those who honor you.
39 Remove the insults that I dread
because your rules are good.
40 Look how I desire your precepts!
Make me live by your righteousness.
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41 Lord, let your faithful love come to me—
let your salvation come to me according to your promise—
42 so I can have a response for those who mock me
because I have trusted in your word!
43 Please don’t take your true word out of my mouth,
because I have waited for your rules.
44 I will always keep your Instruction,
always and forever!
45 I will walk around in wide-open spaces,
because I have pursued your precepts.
46 I will talk about your laws
before rulers with no shame whatsoever.
47 I will rejoice in your commandments
because I love them.
48 I will lift up my hands to your commandments
because I love them,
and I will contemplate all your statutes.
Belshazzar’s party
5 King Belshazzar threw a huge party for a thousand of his princes, and he drank a lot of wine in front of them. 2 While he was under the wine’s influence, Belshazzar commanded that the gold and silver equipment that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem’s temple be brought to the party so that the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives could drink wine out of them. 3 So the gold[a] equipment that had been carried out of the temple, God’s house in Jerusalem, was brought in; and the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives drank out of it. 4 They drank a lot of wine; and they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
Writing on the wall
5 Right then the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the king’s palace wall in the light of the lamp. The king saw the hand that wrote. 6 The king’s mood changed immediately, and he was deeply disturbed. He felt weak, and his knees were shaking. 7 The king yelled, calling for the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners.
The king told these sages of Babylon: “Anyone who can read this writing and tell me its meaning will wear royal robes, will have a gold chain around his neck, and will rule the kingdom as third in command.”
8 Then all the king’s sages arrived, but they couldn’t read the writing or interpret it for the king. 9 At that point King Belshazzar was really frightened. All the color drained from his face, and his princes were also very worried.
10 Upon hearing the commotion coming from the king and his princes, the queen entered the banqueting hall and declared, “Long live the king! Don’t be so disturbed. Don’t be so frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the breath[b] of holy gods in him! When your father was alive, this man was shown to possess illumination, insight, and wisdom like the very wisdom of the gods.[c] Your father King Nebuchadnezzar appointed this man as chief over the dream interpreters, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners. Yes, your father did this 12 because this man—Daniel, the one the king named Belteshazzar—possesses an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and insight into the meaning of dreams. He can explain ambiguities and resolve mysteries. Now in light of all that, summon Daniel! He will explain the meaning of this thing.”
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God. Whoever loves someone who is a parent loves the child born to the parent. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep God’s commandments. 3 This is the love of God: we keep God’s commandments. God’s commandments are not difficult, 4 because everyone who is born from God defeats the world. And this is the victory that has defeated the world: our faith. 5 Who defeats the world? Isn’t it the one who believes that Jesus is God’s Son?
Testimony about Jesus
6 This is the one who came by water and blood: Jesus Christ. Not by water only but by water and blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 The three are testifying— 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and the three are united in agreement. 9 If we receive human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because this is what God testified: he has testified about his Son. 10 The one who believes in God’s Son has the testimony within; the one who doesn’t believe God has made God a liar, because that one has not believed the testimony that God gave about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God gave eternal life to us, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have God’s Son does not have life.
38 After leaving the synagogue, Jesus went home with Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and the family asked Jesus to help her. 39 He bent over her and spoke harshly to the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and served them.
40 When the sun was setting, everyone brought to Jesus relatives and acquaintances with all kinds of diseases. Placing his hands on each of them, he healed them. 41 Demons also came out of many people. They screamed, “You are God’s Son.” But he spoke harshly to them and wouldn’t allow them to speak because they recognized that he was the Christ. 42 When daybreak arrived, Jesus went to a deserted place. The crowds were looking for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s kingdom in other cities too, for this is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued preaching in the Judean synagogues.
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