Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 38
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
Heading
A psalm by David. To bring to remembrance.
Opening Plea
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in anger.
Do not discipline me in wrath.
The Greatness of David’s Burden
2 Indeed, your arrows have stuck in me.
Your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no health in my flesh because of your rage.
There is no wellness in my bones because of my sin,
4 because my guilt has gone over my head.
Like a heavy burden, it is too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and ooze because of my folly.
6 I am drooping. I am completely bent over.
All day long I go around mourning.
7 Even my back burns with pain.[a]
My whole body[b] is unhealthy.
8 I have become numb. I am totally crushed.
I groan loudly because of my anxious thoughts.
9 Lord, all my needs lie before you.
My sighs are not hidden from you.
10 My heart beats quickly. My strength leaves me.
Even the light of my eyes is gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends stand far away
because of the blow I have suffered.
My neighbors stand at a distance.
12 Those who pursue my life set traps.
Those who seek to harm me talk about my ruin.
All day long they plot deception.
13 I am deaf. I cannot hear.
Like a mute person, I cannot open my mouth.
14 I am like a man who cannot hear.
No response comes from his mouth.
David’s Confidence of Delivery
15 Yet I wait for you, Lord.
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 So I said, “Do not let them celebrate because of me.
Do not let them gloat when my foot slips.”
17 Look! I am about to fall,
and I am always in pain,
18 so I declare my guilt,
and I am troubled by my sin.
19 My aggressive enemies are numerous.
Those who hate me for no reason are many.
20 Those who repay evil for good
slander me because I pursue what is good.
Closing Plea
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord.
My God, do not be far from me.
22 Hurry to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
Dalet: A Changed Heart
25 My soul[a] is stuck in the dust.
Revive my life according to your words.
26 I told you about my ways and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
27 Make me understand the meaning of your precepts.
Then I will meditate on your wonders.
28 My soul melts with sorrow.
By your words make me stand firm.
29 Turn me away from false ways,
and be gracious to me through your law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth.
I accept[b] your judgments.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord.
Do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run the way of your commandments,
for you have strengthened my heart.[c]
He: That You May Be Feared
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.
Then I will guard it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will guard your law.
I will keep it with all my heart.
35 Make me walk on the path of your commandments,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Direct my heart toward your testimonies
and not toward material gain.
37 Keep my eyes from looking at worthless things.
Give me life according to your ways.[d]
38 Confirm your sayings to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away my disgrace which I dread,
for your judgments are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Give me life in your righteousness.
Vav: Speak Before Kings
41 So let your mercies come to me, O Lord,
and let your salvation come according to your sayings.
42 Then I will give an answer to those who insult me,
because I trust in your words.
43 But do not tear away the word of truth from my mouth,
because I wait confidently for your judgments.
44 Then I will continually keep your law forever and ever.
45 Then I will walk around freely,
because I have sought your precepts.
46 Then I will speak of your testimonies before kings,
and I will not be put to shame.
47 For I delight in your commandments, which I love.
48 I lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love,
and I meditate on your statutes.
The Fourth Vision: The Basket of Summer Fruit
8 This is what the Lord God showed me: I saw a basket of ripe summer fruit. 2 Then he asked, “What do you see, Amos?”
I said, “A basket of ripe summer fruit.”
Then the Lord said to me, “The end is coming upon my people Israel.[a] I will no longer overlook their sin. 3 The singing women of the palace[b] will wail on that day, declares the Lord God. Many corpses—all over! Silence!”
Fraud and Hypocrisy on Holy Days
4 Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
to wipe out the oppressed from the land,
5 who say, “When will the New Moon be over so that we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath end so that we can open the grain bins?
Then we will make the bushel[c] smaller and make the shekel weight heavier.[d]
We will cheat with dishonest scales.
6 We will buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
We will sell the chaff with the grain.”
A Famine of the Lord’s Word
7 The Lord swears by the Pride of Jacob,
“I will never forget any of their deeds!”
8 Because of this, the land will shake,
and everyone living in it will mourn.
The whole land will rise up like the Nile.
It will surge and sink down again like the Nile of Egypt.
9 Here is what will happen on that day, declares the Lord God:
I will make the sun set at noon,
and I will bring darkness on the earth when it should be light.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning
and all of your songs into a lamentation.
I will put sackcloth on all your waists
and baldness on every head.
I will make that day like the mourning for an only son,
and it will end like a bitter day.
11 Look, the days are coming, declares the Lord God,
when I will send a famine into the land—
not a famine of bread
nor a thirst for water,
but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stumble from sea to sea
and from north to east.
They will roam back and forth seeking the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 On that day the beautiful virgins will faint,
and the young men will grow weak from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the shameful guilt[e] of Samaria,
those who say, “As your god lives, Dan,”
or, “The way of Beersheba lives”—
they will fall, and they will never rise again.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last— 18 the Living One. I was dead and, see, I am alive forever and ever! I also hold the keys of death and hell.[a]
19 “So write what you have seen, both those things that are and those that will take place after this.
20 “The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
Letter to the Church in Ephesus
2 To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write:
The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven gold lampstands, says this:
2 I know your works, your[b] labor, and your patient endurance, and that you are not able to tolerate evil people. You have tested those who say they are apostles, but are not, and have found them to be liars. 3 Indeed, you do have patient endurance. You have endured hardships on account of my name and have not become weary.
4 But I have this against you: You have forsaken your first love.[c] 5 Remember, therefore, the state from which you have fallen! Repent and do the works you did at first. Otherwise I will come to you[d] and remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.
6 But you do have this: You hate the actions of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give the privilege to eat from the tree of life, which is in[e] the paradise of God.
Do Not Do As They Do
23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. 2 He said, “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So practice and observe whatever they tell you. But do not do as they do, because they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads, burdens that are hard to carry, and place them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to help them. 5 They do all their works to be seen by people. They make their phylacteries[a] wide and lengthen the fringes of their garments. 6 They love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 the greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ‘Rabbi’ by people. 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 Also do not call anyone on earth your ‘Father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 And you are not to be called ‘leaders,’ for you have one Leader, the Christ. 11 But the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.