Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 51
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Your lovingkindness;
according to the abundance of Your compassion,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in Your sight,
so that You are justified when You speak,
and You are blameless when You judge.
5 I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden part You make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones that You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
and uphold me with Your willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
and sinners will return to You.
14 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God,
God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in Your good pleasure;
build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
with burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
then they will offer young bulls on Your altar.
Psalm 69
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my throat.
2 I sink in deep mire;
there is no standing place;
I have come into the watery depths,
and a stream overflows me.
3 I am weary of my crying;
my throat is parched;
my eyes fail
while I wait for my God.
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more than the hairs of my head;
they are mighty
who would destroy me, being my wrongful enemies,
so that I must pay back
what I did not steal.
5 O God, You know my folly,
and my sins are not hidden from You.
6 May those who wait on You,
O Lord God of Hosts,
not be ashamed because of me;
may those who seek You
not be humiliated because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have endured insult;
humiliation has covered my face.
8 I have become estranged to my relatives,
and a foreigner to my mother’s children;
9 for the zeal of Your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insulted You fell on me.
10 When I wept with fasting for my soul,
it became an insult to me.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment,
and I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord;
in an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of Your mercy,
answer me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire
that I may not sink;
may I be delivered from those who hate me,
and out of the watery depths.
15 May the stream not overflow me;
neither may the deep swallow me up,
nor the pit close its mouth on me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
turn Your face to me according to the abundance of Your tender mercies.
17 Do not hide Your face from Your servant,
for I am in trouble; answer me quickly.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You have known how I am insulted, and my shame and my dishonor;
my adversaries are all before You.
20 Insults have broken my heart,
and I am sick;
and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me poison for my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 May their table become a snare before them,
and may security become a trap.
23 May their eyes be darkened so they do not see,
and make their sides shake continually.
The Sorrows of Jerusalem
1 How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How she has become like a widow,
who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave!
2 She weeps sorely in the night,
her tears are on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her beauty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and misery
Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things
that she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
there was no one to help her.
The adversaries saw her
and mocked at her desolation.
8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously;
therefore she has become vile.
All who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself sighs
and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is astounding;
she has no comforter.
“O Lord, look upon my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
10 The adversary has spread his hand
over all her precious things;
for she has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom You commanded
not to enter Your congregation.
11 All her people groan,
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to restore their strength.
Look, O Lord, and consider,
for I am despised.
12 Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord has inflicted
on the day of His fierce anger.
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s Thanksgiving After Affliction
3 Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective in enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that as you partake in the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
The Cursing of the Fig Tree(A)
12 On the next day when they had returned from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 Seeing from afar a fig tree with leaves, He went to see if perhaps He might find anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing except leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 Jesus said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard it.
The Cleansing of the Temple(B)
15 And they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry any vessel through the temple. 17 And He taught them, and said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’[a]? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’[b] ”
18 The scribes and chief priests heard it and looked for a way to kill Him. For they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.
19 When evening came, He went out of the city.
The Lesson From the Fig Tree(C)
20 In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter, calling to remembrance, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
22 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them. 25 And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.