Book of Common Prayer
You Have Turned My Mourning into Dancing
A Psalm. A Song at the Dedication of the House. Of David.
30 I will (A)exalt You, O Yahweh, for You have (B)lifted me up,
And have not let my (C)enemies be glad over me.
2 O Yahweh my God,
I (D)cried to You for help, and You (E)healed me.
3 O Yahweh, You have (F)brought up my soul from Sheol;
You have kept me alive, [a]that I would not (G)go down to the pit.
4 (H)Sing praise to Yahweh, you (I)His holy ones,
And (J)give thanks for the (K)remembrance of His holy name.
5 For (L)His anger is but for a moment,
His (M)favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may (N)last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
6 Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will (O)never be shaken.”
7 O Yahweh, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You (P)hid Your face, I was dismayed.
8 To You, O Yahweh, I called,
And to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my blood, if I (Q)go down to the pit?
Will the (R)dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?
10 “(S)Hear, O Yahweh, and be gracious to me;
O Yahweh, be my (T)helper.”
11 You have turned for me (U)my mourning into dancing;
You have (V)loosed my sackcloth and girded me with (W)gladness,
12 That my [b](X)glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Yahweh my God, I will (Y)give thanks to You forever.
You Forgave the Iniquity of My Sin
Of David. A [a]Maskil.
32 (A)How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man whose iniquity Yahweh (B)will not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is (C)no deceit!
3 When (D)I kept silent about my sin, (E)my [b]bones wasted away
Through my [c](F)groaning all day long.
4 For day and night (G)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [d](H)vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer. [e]Selah.
5 I (I)acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I (J)did not cover up;
I said, “(K)I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh;”
And You (L)forgave the [f]iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let every holy one pray to You [g](M)at a time when You may be found;
Surely (N)in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are (O)my hiding place; You (P)guard me from trouble;
You surround me with [h](Q)songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will (R)give you insight and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you (S)with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be (T)as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose harness are bit and bridle to control them,
Otherwise they will not come near you.
10 Many are the (U)sorrows of the wicked,
But (V)he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be (W)glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (X)upright in heart.
BOOK 2
My Soul Thirsts for God
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c](A)pants for You, O God.
2 My soul (B)thirsts for God, for the (C)living God;
When shall I come and [d](D)appear before God?
3 My (E)tears have been my food day and night,
While they (F)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember and I (G)pour out my soul within me.
For I (H)used to go along with the throng and [e]lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the sound of a (I)shout of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
5 (J)Why are you [f](K)in despair, O my soul?
And why are you (L)disturbed within me?
(M)Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,
[g]For the [h](N)salvation of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is [i]in despair within me;
Therefore I (O)remember You from (P)the land of the Jordan
And the [j]peaks of (Q)Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your (R)breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 By day, Yahweh will (S)command His lovingkindness;
And (T)by night, His song will be with me,
A prayer to (U)the God of my life.
9 I say to God (V)my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go (W)mourning [k]because of the (X)oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries reproach me,
While they (Y)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 (Z)Why are you [l]in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,
The salvation of my presence and my God.
Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
43 (AA)Give justice to me, O God, and (AB)plead my case against an unholy nation;
[m]Oh protect me from (AC)the deceitful and unrighteous man!
2 For You are the (AD)God of my strength; why have You (AE)rejected me?
Why do I go (AF)mourning [n]because of the oppression of the enemy?
11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him:
“To King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now—
12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding (A)the rebellious and evil city and (B)are completing the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are completed, (C)they will not give tribute, custom, or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.
14 Now because we [a]are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king’s [b]dishonor, therefore we have sent and made known to the king,
15 that a search be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will find in the record books and come to know that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore that city was laid waste.
16 We make known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls completed, as a result you will have no portion in the province beyond the River.”
A Decree Makes the Men Stop Rebuilding
17 Then the king sent an edict to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: “Peace. And now— 18 the document which you sent to us has been (D)plainly read before me.
19 So a decree has been [c]issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been found that that city has lifted itself up against the kings in past days, that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it,
20 (E)that strong kings have been over Jerusalem, even rulers in all the provinces (F)beyond the River, and that (G)tribute, custom, and toll were given to them.
21 Now issue a decree to make those men stop, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me.
22 And beware of being negligent in doing this matter; why should harm increase to damage the kings?”
23 Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force and military.
24 Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Philemon’s Love and Faith
1 (A)Paul, (B)a prisoner of (C)Christ Jesus, and (D)Timothy [a]our brother,
To Philemon our beloved brother and (E)fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia [b](F)our sister, and to (G)Archippus our (H)fellow soldier, and to (I)the church in your house: 3 (J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 (K)I thank my God, always making mention of you in my prayers, 5 because I (L)hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the [c]saints; 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective [d]through the (M)full knowledge of every good thing which is in you [e]for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have come to have much (N)joy and comfort in your love, because the [f]hearts of the [g]saints have been (O)refreshed through you, brother.
8 Therefore, (P)though I have much boldness in Christ to command you to do what is (Q)proper, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather (R)plead with you—since I am such a person as Paul, [h]the (S)aged, and now also (T)a prisoner of (U)Christ Jesus—
Plea for Onesimus
10 I (V)plead with you for my (W)child [i](X)Onesimus, of whom I became a [j]father in my chains, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, my very heart, 13 whom I intended to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my (Y)chains for the gospel, 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would (Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion but voluntary. 15 For perhaps (AA)he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 (AB)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, (AC)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both (AD)in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If then you regard me a (AE)partner, accept him as you would accept me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 (AF)I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it ((AG)not to [k]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). 20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord. (AH)Refresh my heart in Christ!
21 (AI)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.
22 And at the same time also prepare me a (AJ)lodging, for (AK)I hope that through (AL)your prayers (AM)I will be graciously given to you.
23 (AN)Epaphras, my (AO)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do (AP)Mark, (AQ)Aristarchus, (AR)Demas, (AS)Luke, my (AT)fellow workers.
25 (AU)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be (AV)with your spirit.[l]
The Heart Is Revealed by Words
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for (A)the tree is known by its fruit. 34 (B)You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak [a]what is good? (C)For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 (D)The good man brings out of his good treasure [b]what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure [c]what is evil. 36 But I tell you that every [d]careless word that people [e]speak, they shall give an accounting for it in (E)the day of judgment. 37 For [f]by your words you will be justified, and [g]by your words you will be condemned.”
The Sign of Jonah
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered and said to Him, “Teacher, (F)we want to see [h]a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “(G)An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as (H)Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will (I)the Son of Man be (J)three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 (K)The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because (L)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, (M)something greater than Jonah is here. 42 (N)The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, (O)something greater than Solomon is here.
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