Book of Common Prayer
I Love Your Law, O Yahweh
Aleph
119 How blessed are those whose way is [a](A)blameless,
Who (B)walk in the law of Yahweh.
2 How blessed are those who (C)observe His testimonies,
They (D)seek Him (E)with all their heart.
3 They also do not (F)work unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have (G)commanded us,
To keep Your precepts [b]diligently.
5 Oh may my (H)ways be established
To (I)keep Your statutes!
6 Then I (J)shall not be ashamed
When I look [c]upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall (K)give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not (L)forsake me utterly!
Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By (M)keeping it according to Your word.
10 With (N)all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me (O)stray from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have (P)treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Yahweh;
(Q)Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have (R)recounted
All the (S)judgments of Your mouth.
14 I have (T)rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[d]As much as in all riches.
15 I will (U)muse upon Your precepts
And look upon (V)Your ways.
16 I shall [e](W)delight in Your statutes;
I shall (X)not forget Your word.
Gimel
17 (Y)Deal bountifully with Your slave,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19 I am a (Z)sojourner in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed [f](AA)with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
21 You (AB)rebuke the arrogant, [g]the (AC)cursed,
Who (AD)stray from Your commandments.
22 (AE)Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I (AF)observe Your testimonies.
23 Even though (AG)princes sit and talk against me,
Your slave (AH)muses on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my (AI)delight;
They are [h]my counselors.
Yahweh Will Set the Needy in Safety
For the choir director. According to the [a]Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
12 Save, O Yahweh, for (A)the holy man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They (B)speak worthlessness to one another;
With a (C)flattering lip and with a double heart they speak.
3 May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [b]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says Yahweh; “I will (H)set him in the [c]safety for which he [d]longs.”
6 The (I)words of Yahweh are pure words;
As silver (J)tried in a furnace on the ground, refined seven times.
7 You, O Yahweh, will keep them;
You will (K)guard him from this generation forever.
8 The (L)wicked strut about on every side
When [e](M)vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
How Long, O Yahweh?
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Yahweh? Will You (N)forget me forever?
How long (O)will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I (P)take counsel in my soul,
Having (Q)sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 (R)Look and answer me, O Yahweh my God;
(S)Give light to my eyes, lest I (T)sleep the sleep of death,
4 Lest my enemy (U)says, “I have overcome him,”
And (V)my adversaries rejoice that I am shaken.
5 But I have (W)trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall (X)rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will (Y)sing to Yahweh,
Because He has (Z)dealt bountifully with me.
There Is No One Who Does Good
For the choir director. Of David.
14 The [f]wicked fool (AA)says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They act corruptly, they commit abominable [g]deeds;
There is (AB)no one who does good.
2 Yahweh (AC)looks down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who [h](AD)has insight,
Anyone who (AE)seeks after God.
3 They have all (AF)turned aside, altogether they have become [i]worthless;
There is (AG)no one who does good, not even one.
3 Yet (A)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and (B)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “(C)Please pray to Yahweh our God on our behalf.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people; they had not yet (D)put him in the prison. 5 Meanwhile, (E)Pharaoh’s military force had come out from Egypt; and the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them. So they (F)withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(G)Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, (H)the military force of Pharaoh which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. 8 The Chaldeans will also (I)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Do not (J)deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. 10 For (K)even if you had struck down the entire military force of the Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men remaining among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and (L)burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now it happened when the military force of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of the military force of Pharaoh, 12 that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to (M)obtain his portion of some property there among the people. 13 Now it happened that while he was at the (N)Gate of Benjamin, the master of the guard whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he (O)seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are [a]going over to the Chaldeans!” 14 But Jeremiah said, “(P)A lie! I am not [b]going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Then the officials were (Q)angry at Jeremiah and struck him, and they (R)put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made that house into the prison. 16 For Jeremiah had come into the [c](S)pit, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king (T)secretly asked him and said, “Is there a (U)word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be (V)given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” 18 Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “(W)In what way have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 (X)Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The (Y)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? 20 But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my (Z)supplication [d]come before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” 21 Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the (AA)court of the guard and gave him a loaf of (AB)bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city had (AC)come to an end. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
13 Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may [a]translate. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 (A)What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will (B)sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. 16 Otherwise if you bless [b]in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the [c]uninformed say (C)the “Amen” at your (D)giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not (E)edified. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all; 19 however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 (F)Brothers, (G)do not be children in your thinking; rather in evil (H)be infants, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In (I)the Law it is written, “(J)By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the [d]Lord. 22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but (K)prophecy is for a sign not to unbelievers but to those who believe. 23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and [e]uninformed men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that (L)you are out of your mind? 24 But if all (M)prophesy, and an unbeliever or an [f]uninformed man enters, he is (N)convicted by all, he is called to account by all; 25 (O)the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will (P)fall on his face and worship God, declaring that (Q)surely God is among you.
The Meaning of Discipleship
24 “(A)A [a]disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. (B)If they have called the head of the house [b](C)Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “Therefore do not (D)fear them, (E)for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 (F)What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim (G)upon the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather (H)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in [c](I)hell. 29 (J)Are not two sparrows sold for an [d]assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But (K)the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So do not fear; (L)you are more valuable than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore (M)everyone who [e]confesses Me before men, I will also confess [f]him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But (N)whoever [g]denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
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