Book of Common Prayer
David wrote this song to ask God not to forget him.
Lord, please remember me[a]
38 Lord, when you are angry,
please do not punish me.
2 You have shot your arrows deep into me.
Your hand has pushed me down to the ground.[b]
3 Your punishment has made my whole body ill.
My health has gone, because of my sin.
4 My sin is too much for me!
It is like a heavy weight,
that I cannot carry.
5 My wounds make a bad smell,
and they get worse.
This is because I have done stupid things.
6 My body is bent down to the ground.
Every day I weep because I am so sad.
7 My body is hot with fever.[c]
I am very ill.
8 The pain has made me tired and weak.
I am so upset that I cry aloud.
9 My Lord, you already know what I want most.
You hear me when I cry with pain.
10 My heart beats very fast,
and my strength is leaving me.
Even my eyes can no longer see properly.
11 My family and my friends stay away from me,
because of my illness.
They do not come near to me.
12 My enemies prepare traps,
because they want to kill me.
They talk about ways to destroy me.
They want to hurt me,
so they talk about that all through the day.
13 But I am like a deaf man who hears nothing.
I am like a dumb man who says nothing.
14 So I live like a man who cannot hear what people say.
I refuse to argue against them.
15 Yes, Lord, I wait for you to help me!
I believe that you will answer me, my Lord and my God.
16 I have prayed that my enemies will not laugh at me.
If I slip and fall down,
they will be very happy!
17 I will soon fall down to the ground.
I have nothing but pain all the time.
18 But I agree that I have done wrong things.
I am sorry about my sins.
19 I have many enemies and they are strong.
They have no reason to hate me.
20 When I do good things,
they do evil things to me in return!
I try to do what is right,
but they turn against me.
21 Lord, please do not leave me alone.
Do not stay far away from me, my God!
22 My Lord, you are the one who can save me,
so come quickly to help me!
DALETH
25 I have fallen to the ground. I am almost dead.
Give me life again, as you have promised to do.
26 I told you what my life is like,
and you answered me.
Please teach me your laws.
27 Help me to understand what your teaching means.
Then I will think carefully about the great things that you do.
28 I am so sad that I feel very weak.
Use your word to make me strong again.
29 Stop me from living in a wrong way.
Please be kind to me,
so that I know your Law.
30 I have chosen to live in the right way.
I will continue to obey your rules.
31 Yes, Lord, I will always respect your teaching.
Please do not let me become ashamed.
32 I want to obey your commands all the time.
Help me to understand them more and more.
HE
33 Lord, help me to understand your teaching,
then I will always obey it.
34 Explain your Law to me, then I will obey it.
I will always love to do what it says.
35 Help me to live in a way that respects your commands.
That is what makes me very happy.
36 Help me to love your rules.
That is better for me than riches.
37 Turn my eyes away from useless things.
Use your word to help me to live.
38 I am your servant.
Please do what you have promised to do.
You have promised to bless anyone who respects you.
39 I am afraid when people insult me.
Your rules are good,
so do not let me be ashamed.
40 I really want to obey your rules.
Because you are righteous,
please let me continue to live.
WAW
41 Lord, I want your faithful love to be with me.
Please keep me safe, as you have promised.
42 Then I will be able to answer the people who insult me.
I will show them that I trust in your word.
43 Do not stop me from speaking your true word!
I know that you will do what is right.
44 I will always obey your Law,
now and for ever.
45 I will not be in danger as I live,
because I try to obey your teaching.
46 I will speak to kings about your rules.
I will not be ashamed to do that.
47 I love your commands
and they make me very happy.
48 I respect your commands,
and I love them.
I am always thinking about your laws.
16 On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was there over the mountain. The people heard the noise of a loud trumpet. They were so afraid that their bodies were shaking.
17 Then Moses led the people away from their tents to meet with God. They went and they stood at the edge of the mountain. 18 Smoke covered Sinai mountain because the Lord had come down on the mountain, like a fire. The smoke rose up from the mountain, like smoke from a great fire. The whole mountain shook very much. 19 The noise of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke to God and God answered him with a loud voice.
20 The Lord came down onto the top of Sinai mountain. Then the Lord told Moses that he must come up to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up the mountain. 21 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down to the people. Warn them that they must stay away from the mountain. They must not cross the line to try to see me, the Lord. If they do that, many of them will die. 22 Even the priests must make themselves clean before they come near to me. If they do not obey this command, I will punish them. I am the Lord.’
23 Moses said to the Lord, ‘The people cannot come up Sinai mountain. You warned us that we must make a line round the edge of the mountain. You said that we must make the mountain a special place.’
24 The Lord replied, ‘Now go back down. Then bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must stay where they are. They must not try to come up here where I am. If they come across the line, I will punish them.’
25 So Moses went down to the people. He told them what the Lord had said.
Who God's Son, Jesus Christ, is
15 We cannot see God. But Jesus Christ shows us completely who God is. Even before God made anything, Jesus was already there as God's Son who rules everything. 16 When God created everything, it was his Son who did it. His Son made everything that is on earth and in heaven. He created everything that we can see, as well as the things that we cannot see. He made rulers and leaders. He made everything that has power and authority. God gave his Son the authority to create everything, so that his Son would receive praise. 17 God's Son was there before anything else was there. And now he causes everything to continue in its proper place. 18 The church is like Christ's body and he is its head.[a] He is where it all begins. As God's special Son, he was the first person who became alive again after death.[b] As a result, Christ is first and most important in all things.
19 God chose to put his nature in Christ completely. 20 He decided that Christ would die on the cross as a sacrifice. In that way, God would bring all things back to himself. Then everything could live in peace with God. That includes everything on the earth and everything in heaven.
21 As for you, you were far away from God at one time. You thought bad things and you did bad things. As a result, you were God's enemies. 22 But now you have become God's friends. This happened because Christ's human body died on the cross. As a result, God has brought you to himself. As you stand in front of him, you are completely good and clean inside. He sees nothing in you that is bad.
23 But you must continue to believe God's true message. Do not turn away from it. Continue to trust God, as you did when you first heard the good news. People have told this good news to everyone all over the world. And God has chosen me, Paul, as his servant to tell this good news.
John baptizes Jesus
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River. He wanted John to baptize him. 14 But John tried to stop him. He said to Jesus, ‘I should ask you to baptize me. You should not ask me to baptize you.’
15 Jesus replied, ‘This time, do what I ask you to do. We must do everything correctly, as God wants it.’ So John did what Jesus asked him to do.
16 When John baptized him, Jesus came up out of the water. At that moment, the skies opened. Jesus saw God's Spirit coming down. He came down like a dove and he stayed on Jesus. 17 Then a voice spoke from heaven, which said, ‘This man is my Son and I love him. He makes me very happy.’
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