Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
Of David.
26 Establish justice for me, Lord,
because I have walked with integrity.
I’ve trusted the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord; put me to the test!
Purify[a] my mind[b] and my heart.
3 Because your faithful love is right in front of me—
I walk in your truth!
4 I don’t spend time with people up to no good;
I don’t keep company with liars.
5 I detest the company of evildoers,
and I don’t sit with wicked people.
6 I wash my hands—they are innocent!
I walk all around your altar, Lord,
7 proclaiming out loud my thanks,
declaring all your wonderful deeds!
8 I love the beauty[c] of your house, Lord;
I love the place where your glory resides.
9 Don’t gather me[d] up with the sinners,
taking my life along with violent people
10 in whose hands are evil schemes,
whose strong hands are full of bribes.
11 But me? I walk with integrity.
Save me! Have mercy on me!
12 My feet now stand on level ground.
I will bless the Lord in the great congregation.
Psalm 28
Of David.
28 I cry out to you, Lord.
You are my rock; don’t refuse to hear me.
If you won’t talk to me,
I’ll be just like those going down to the pit.
2 Listen to my request for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands to your holy inner sanctuary.
3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked and those who do evil;
the type who talk nice to their friends
while evil thoughts are in their hearts!
4 Pay them back for what they’ve done!
Pay them back for their evil deeds!
Pay them back for their handiwork!
Give back to them exactly what they deserve!
5 Because they have no regard for what the Lord has done,
no regard for his handiwork,
God will tear them down and never rebuild!
6 Bless the Lord
because he has listened to my request for mercy!
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him.
I was helped, my heart rejoiced,
and I thank him with my song.
8 The Lord is his people’s strength;
he is a fortress of protection for his anointed one.
9 Save your people, God!
Bless your possession!
Shepherd them and carry them for all time!
Psalm 36
For the music leader. Of the Lord’s servant David.
36 I know the sinful utterance of the wicked:[a]
No fear of God confronts their own eyes,
2 because in their own eyes they are slick with talk
about their guilt ever being found out and despised.[b]
3 The words of their mouths are evil and dishonest.
They have stopped being wise and stopped doing good.
4 They plot evil even while resting in bed!
They commit themselves to a path that is no good.
They don’t reject what is evil.
5 But your loyal love, Lord, extends to the skies;
your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strongest mountains;
your justice is like the deepest sea.
Lord, you save both humans and animals.
7 Your faithful love is priceless, God!
Humanity finds refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the bounty of your house;
you let them drink from your river of pure joy.
9 Within you is the spring of life.
In your light, we see light.
10 Extend your faithful love to those who know you;
extend your righteousness to those whose heart is right.
11 Don’t let the feet of arrogant people walk all over me;
don’t let the hands of the wicked drive me off.
12 Look—right there is where the evildoers have fallen,
pushed down, unable to get up!
Psalm 39
For the music leader. To Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
39 I promised I would watch my steps
so as not to sin with my tongue;
promised to keep my mouth shut
as long as the wicked were in my presence.
2 So I was completely quiet, silent.
I kept my peace, but it did no good.
My pain got worse.
3 My heart got hot inside me;
while stewing over it, the fire burned.
Then I spoke out with my tongue:
4 “Let me know my end, Lord.
How many days do I have left?
I want to know how brief my time is.”
5 You’ve made my days so short;
my lifetime is like nothing in your eyes.
Yes, a human life is nothing but a puff of air! Selah
6 Yes, people wander around like shadows;
yes, they hustle and bustle, but pointlessly;
they don’t even know who will get the wealth they’ve amassed.
7 So now, Lord, what should I be waiting for?
My hope is set on you.
8 Deliver me from all my sins;
don’t make me some foolish person’s joke.
9 I am completely silent; I won’t open my mouth
because you have acted.
10 Get this plague of yours off me!
I’m being destroyed by the blows from your fist.
11 You discipline people for their sin, punishing them;
like a moth, you ruin what they treasure.
Yes, a human life is just a puff of air! Selah
12 Hear my prayer, Lord!
Listen closely to my cry for help!
Please don’t ignore my tears!
I’m just a foreigner—
an immigrant staying with you,
just like all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me
so I can be happy again
before I pass away and am gone.
15 So watch your conduct closely, because you didn’t see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the very fire itself. 16 Don’t ruin everything and make an idol for yourself: a form of any image, any likeness—male or female— 17 or any likeness whatsoever, whether of a land animal, a bird that flies in the sky, 18 an insect that crawls on the earth, or a fish that lives in the sea. 19 Don’t look to the skies, to the sun or the moon or the stars, all the heavenly bodies, and be led astray, worshipping and serving them. The Lord your God has granted these things to all the nations who live under heaven. 20 But the Lord took you and brought you out of that iron furnace, out of Egypt, so that you might be his own treasured people, which is what you are right now.
21 The Lord was angry with me because of your deeds and swore that I couldn’t cross the Jordan River or enter the wonderful land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 I will die here in this land. I won’t cross the Jordan River. But you will, and you will take possession of that wonderful land. 23 So all of you, watch yourselves! Don’t forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you by making an idol or an image of any kind or anything the Lord your God forbids, 24 because the Lord your God is an all-consuming fire. He is a passionate God.
Paul explains his change of plans
12 We have conducted ourselves with godly sincerity and pure motives in the world, and especially toward you. This is why we are confident, and our conscience confirms this. We didn’t act with human wisdom but we relied on the grace of God. 13 We don’t write anything to you except what you can read and also understand. I hope that you will understand totally 14 since you have already understood us partly. Understand that in the day of our Lord Jesus, we will make you proud as you will also make us proud.
15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you could have a second opportunity to see me. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then come to you again on my way back from Macedonia, at which point I was hoping you would help me on my way to Judea.
17 So I wasn’t unreliable when I planned to do this, was I? Or do I make decisions with a substandard human process so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our message to you isn’t both yes and no. 19 God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the one who was preached among you by us—through me, Silvanus, and Timothy—he wasn’t yes and no. In him it is always yes. 20 All of God’s promises have their yes in him. That is why we say Amen through him to the glory of God.
21 God is the one who establishes us with you in Christ and who anointed us. 22 God also sealed us and gave the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts.
Occasions for celebration
15 All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. 2 The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives.
8 “Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it? 9 When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible