Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 119[a]
א (Alef)
119 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless,[b]
who obey[c] the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,
and seek him with all their heart,
3 who, moreover, do no wrong,
but follow in his footsteps.[d]
4 You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept.[e]
5 If only I were predisposed[f]
to keep your statutes.
6 Then I would not be ashamed,
if[g] I were focused on[h] all your commands.
7 I will give you sincere thanks,[i]
when I learn your just regulations.
8 I will keep your statutes.
Do not completely abandon me.[j]
ב (Bet)
9 How can a young person[k] maintain a pure life?[l]
By guarding it according to your instructions.[m]
10 With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands.
11 In my heart I store up[n] your words,[o]
so I might not sin against you.
12 You deserve praise,[p] O Lord.
Teach me your statutes.
13 With my lips I proclaim
all the regulations you have revealed.[q]
14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules[r]
as if[s] they were riches of all kinds.[t]
15 I will meditate on[u] your precepts
and focus on[v] your behavior.[w]
16 I find delight[x] in your statutes;
I do not forget your instructions.[y]
ג (Gimel)
17 Be kind to your servant.
Then I will live[z] and keep[aa] your instructions.[ab]
18 Open[ac] my eyes so I can truly see[ad]
the marvelous things in your law.
19 I am a resident foreigner in this land.[ae]
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 I desperately long to know[af]
your regulations at all times.
21 You reprimand arrogant people.
Those who stray from your commands are doomed.[ag]
22 Spare me[ah] shame and humiliation,
for I observe your rules.
23 Though rulers plot and slander me,[ai]
your servant meditates on your statutes.
24 Yes, I find delight in your rules;
they give me guidance.[aj]
Psalm 12[a]
For the music director, according to the sheminith style;[b] a psalm of David.
12 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly[c] have disappeared;[d]
people of integrity[e] have vanished.[f]
2 People lie to one another;[g]
they flatter and deceive.[h]
3 May the Lord cut off[i] all flattering lips,
and the tongue that boasts![j]
4 They say,[k] “We speak persuasively;[l]
we know how to flatter and boast.[m]
Who is our master?”[n]
5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed,[o]
because of the painful cries[p] of the needy,
I will spring into action,”[q] says the Lord.
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.”[r]
6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable.[s]
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined.[t]
7 You, Lord, will protect them;[u]
you will continually shelter each one from these evil people,[v]
8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere,[w]
when people promote evil.[x]
Psalm 13[y]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
13 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me?[z]
How long will you pay no attention to me?[aa]
2 How long must I worry,[ab]
and suffer in broad daylight?[ac]
How long will my enemy gloat over me?[ad]
3 Look at me![ae] Answer me, O Lord my God!
Revive me,[af] or else I will die.[ag]
4 Then[ah] my enemy will say, “I have defeated him.”
Then[ai] my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I[aj] trust in your faithfulness.
May I rejoice because of your deliverance.[ak]
6 I will sing praises[al] to the Lord
when he vindicates me.[am]
Psalm 14[an]
For the music director, by David.
14 Fools say to themselves,[ao] “There is no God.”[ap]
They sin and commit evil deeds;[aq]
none of them does what is right.[ar]
2 The Lord looks down from heaven[as] at the human race,[at]
to see if there is anyone who is wise[au] and seeks God.[av]
3 Everyone rejects God;[aw]
they are all morally corrupt.[ax]
None of them does what is right,[ay]
not even one.
4 All those who behave wickedly[az] do not understand—[ba]
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to the Lord.
5 They are absolutely terrified,[bb]
for God defends the godly.[bc]
6 You want to humiliate the oppressed,[bd]
even though[be] the Lord is their[bf] shelter.
7 I wish the deliverance[bg] of Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the well-being of his people,[bh]
may Jacob rejoice,[bi]
may Israel be happy![bj]
The Lord Responds to Zedekiah’s Hope for Help
3 King Zedekiah sent[a] Jehucal[b] son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah[c] son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah to say, “Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf.” 4 (Now Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison.[d] So he was still free to come and go among the people as he pleased.[e] 5 At that time the Babylonian forces[f] had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem. They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt.[g]) 6 The Lord’s message came to the prophet Jeremiah, 7 “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘This is what you must say to the king of Judah who sent you to seek my help.[h] “Beware,[i] Pharaoh’s army that was on its way to help you is about to go back home to Egypt.[j] 8 Then the Babylonian forces[k] will return. They will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down. 9 Moreover, I, the Lord, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonian forces[l] will go away and leave you alone. For they will not go away.[m] 10 For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces[n] fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down.”’”[o]
Jeremiah is Charged with Deserting, Arrested, and Imprisoned
11 The following events also occurred[p] while the Babylonian forces[q] had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh was coming. 12 Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there.[r] 13 But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate.[s] There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah,[t] who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said,[u] “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”[v] 14 Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Babylonians.”[w] But Irijah would not listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials. 15 The officials were very angry[x] with Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners.[y]
16 So[z] Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan’s house.[aa] He[ab] was kept there for a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him,[ac] “Is there any message from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is.” Then he announced,[ad] “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”[ae] 18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you, or the officials who serve you, or the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison?[af] 19 Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that[ag] the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land? 20 But now please listen, your royal Majesty,[ah] and grant my plea for mercy.[ai] Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary. If you do, I will die there.”[aj] 21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread[ak] be given to him every day from the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept[al] in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
13 So then, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 If[a] I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive. 15 What should I do?[b] I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praises with my spirit, but I will also sing praises with my mind. 16 Otherwise, if you are praising God with your spirit, how can someone without the gift[c] say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you are certainly giving thanks well, but the other person is not strengthened. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, 19 but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 Brothers and sisters,[d] do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,”[e] says the Lord. 22 So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or uninformed person enters, he will be convicted by all, he will be called to account by all. 25 The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”
24 “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave[a] greater than his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much worse will they call[b] the members of his household!
Fear God, Not Man
26 “Do[c] not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden[d] that will not be revealed,[e] and nothing is secret that will not be made known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear,[f] proclaim from the housetops.[g] 28 Do[h] not be afraid of those who kill the body[i] but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.[j] 29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?[k] Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.[l] 30 Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. 31 So do not be afraid;[m] you are more valuable than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever, then, acknowledges[n] me before people, I will acknowledge[o] before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.
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