Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the music director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Listen to my words, Lord,
Consider my (B)sighing.
2 Listen to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will present my [c]prayer to You and be on the (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil can dwell with You.
5 The (I)boastful will not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do injustice.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak lies;
The Lord loathes (M)the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant graciousness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of my enemies;
Make Your way [e]straight before me.
9 For there is (T)nothing [f]trustworthy in [g]their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them pay, God;
(W)Have them fall by their own schemes!
(X)Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But (Z)rejoice, all who (AA)take refuge in You,
Sing for joy forever!
And [i]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may rejoice in You.
12 For You (AD)bless the righteous person, Lord,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a shield.
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the music director; with stringed instruments, [j]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 Lord, (AF)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am (AG)frail;
(AH)Heal me, Lord, for (AI)my bones are horrified.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly horrified;
But You, Lord—(AK)how long?
4 Return, Lord, (AL)rescue my [k]soul;
Save me because of Your mercy.
5 For (AM)there is no [l]mention of You in death;
In [m]Sheol, who will praise You?
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[b]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [c]the greedy person curses and (G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
4 The wicked, [d]in his haughtiness, (H)does not seek Him.
(I)There is no God in all his schemes.
5 His ways (J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[e]Throughout the generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
He (R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [f]surreptitiously watch for the [g](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in secret like (T)a lion in his [h]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (W)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, Lord; God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[j]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (AB)harm and provocation to [k]take it into Your hand.
The [l](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[m](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [n]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain?
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They have [o](AR)set their arrow on the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His (AU)holy temple; the [p]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes see, His eyelids test the sons of mankind.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And His soul hates one who loves violence.
6 He will (AZ)rain [q]coals of fire upon the wicked,
(BA)And brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [r]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)see His face.
The Fall of Mankind
3 Now (A)the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “(B)From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 (C)The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! 5 For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and (D)you will [a]become like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 (E)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they (F)knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings.
8 Now they heard the sound of (G)the Lord God walking in the garden in the [b]cool of the day, (H)and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “(I)Where are you?” 10 He said, “(J)I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 (K)The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “(L)The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“(M)Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all the livestock,
And more than any animal of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And (N)dust you shall eat
All the days of your life;
15 And I will [c](O)make enemies
Of you and the woman,
And of your [d]offspring and her [e]Descendant;
(P)He shall [f]bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”
16 To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain [g]in childbirth,
In pain you shall (Q)deliver children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And (R)he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
(S)Cursed is the ground because of you;
(T)With [h]hard labor you shall eat from it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
Yet you shall eat the [i]plants of the field;
19 By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Until you (U)return to the ground,
Because (V)from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 Now the man named his wife [j](W)Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of (X)Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from (Y)the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So (Z)He drove the man out; and at the (AA)east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the (AB)cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to (AC)the tree of life.
Pay Attention
2 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to [a]what we have heard, so that (A)we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word (B)spoken through (C)angels proved [b]unalterable, and (D)every violation and act of disobedience received a just [c](E)punishment, 3 (F)how will we escape if we neglect so great a (G)salvation? [d]After it was at first (H)spoken through the Lord, it was (I)confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by (J)signs and wonders, and by (K)various [e]miracles and by [f](L)gifts of the Holy Spirit (M)according to His own will.
Earth Subject to Man
5 For He did not subject to angels [g](N)the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But someone has testified (O)somewhere, saying,
“(P)What is man, that You think of him?
Or a son of man, that You are concerned about him?
7 (Q)You have made him [h]for a little while lower than angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor[i];
8 (R)You have put everything in subjection under his feet.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now (S)we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
Jesus Briefly Humbled
9 But we do see Him who was (T)made [j]for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, (U)because of His suffering death (V)crowned with glory and honor, so that (W)by the grace of God He might (X)taste death (Y)for everyone.
10 For (Z)it was fitting for Him, (AA)for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to (AB)perfect the [k](AC)originator of their salvation through sufferings.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This is (A)the testimony of John, when (B)the Jews sent priests and Levites to him (C)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “(D)I am not the [a]Christ.” 21 And so they asked him, “What then? Are you (E)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you (F)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am (G)the voice of one calling [b]out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the [c]Christ, nor Elijah, nor (H)the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, saying, “(I)I baptize [d]in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is (J)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the (K)strap of His sandal.” 28 These things took place in Bethany (L)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.
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