Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and let my cry come unto You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me
in the day when I am in trouble;
incline Your ear to me;
in the day when I call answer me quickly.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke,
and my bones are burned as a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down and withered like grass,
so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning
my bones cling to my skin.
6 I am like an owl of the wilderness,
like a screech owl of the desert.
7 I stay awake and am
as a sparrow alone upon the housetop.
8 My enemies reproach me all the day,
and those who taunt me curse my name.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread
and mixed my drink with weeping,
10 because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
for You have lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days are like an evening shadow that vanishes,
and I wither away like grass.
12 But You, O Lord, shall endure forever enthroned
and Your reputation to all generations.
13 You shall arise, and have mercy upon Zion,
for the time to favor her,
indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and have pity on her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be written for the generation to come,
that a people who shall be created shall praise the Lord.
19 For He has looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
from heaven the Lord looked down on the earth,
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoners
and to set free those who are appointed to death,
21 that they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion
and His praise in Jerusalem;
22 when the peoples are gathered together,
and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23 He has weakened my strength in my midlife;
He has shortened my days.
24 I said,
“O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days—
Your years endure throughout all generations.”
25 From before You have laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 They shall perish, but You shall endure;
indeed, all of them shall wear out like a garment;
like a robe You shall change them,
and they shall pass away,
27 but You are the same,
and Your years shall have no end.
28 The children of Your servants shall be secure,
and their offspring shall be established before You.
BOOK FIVE
Psalms 107–150
Psalm 107
1 Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord speak out,
whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
3 and gathered them from the lands,
from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness on a deserted path;
they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 He led them on a level road,
that they might go to a city to live in.
8 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul
and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 Some sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
being prisoners in affliction and irons,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God
and rejected the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore He brought down their hearts with hard labor;
they fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them out of their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
and broke apart their bonds.
15 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze
and cut the bars of iron in two.
17 Some were fools because of their transgressions,
and because of their iniquities they are afflicted.
18 They loathed all manner of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and He saved them out of their distress.
20 He sent His word and healed them
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
22 And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare His works with rejoicing.
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
to do business in the vast waters;
24 they saw the works of the Lord
and His wonders in the deep water.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
which lifts up the sea waves.
26 The sailors went up to the sky, they came down to the depths;
their strength melted because of the great danger.
27 They reeled to and fro and staggered like drunken men,
and were completely confused.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He saved them out of their distress.
29 He made the storm calm,
and the sea waves were still.
30 They were glad because the waters were quiet,
so He brought them to their desired harbor.
31 Let them praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the people!
32 Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
27 Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28 It shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord. 29 In those days they will say no more:
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30 But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth will be set on edge.
A New Covenant
31 Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
because they broke My covenant,
although I was a husband to them,
says the Lord.
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My law within them
and write it in their hearts;
and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
34 They shall teach no more every man his neighbor
and every man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”
for they all shall know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the Lord,
for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.
5 Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. 2 Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.
3 And do not let sexual immorality, or any impurity, or greed be named among you, as these are not proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse joking, which are not fitting. Instead, give thanks. 5 For this you know, that no sexually immoral or impure person, or one who is greedy, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Walk as Children of Light
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8 For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth— 10 proving what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 And do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; instead, expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things are exposed when they are revealed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”
15 See then that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise men, 16 making the most of the time because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not be drunk with wine, for that is reckless living. But be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. 20 Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Calling of Matthew(A)
9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s station. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he rose and followed Him.
10 While Jesus sat at supper in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
The Question About Fasting(B)
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “Can the guests of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
16 “No one sews a piece of new cloth into an old garment, for that which is sewn in to fill it up pulls on the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Neither do men put new wine into old wineskins. Or else the wineskins burst, the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.