Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5
With You the Wicked Cannot Dwell
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For the choir director. For flutes. A psalm by David.
Access in Prayer
1 Turn your ear to my words, O Lord.
Understand me when I sigh.
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.
In the morning I lay out my requests in front of you,
and I watch for your answer.
No Access
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in evil.
With you the wicked cannot dwell.
5 The arrogant cannot stand before your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You put to death those who speak lies.
The Lord is disgusted with bloodthirsty, deceitful men.
Access in Prayer
7 But as for me, by your great mercy
I will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
with reverence for you.
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness.
Because of those who slander me,
make your way straight before me.
Lying Tongues
9 Nothing reliable comes out of their mouth.
From within them comes destruction.
Their throat is an open grave.
With their tongue they flatter.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let them fall because of their own schemes.
For their many treacherous deeds banish them,
because they have rebelled against you.
Praising Tongues
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad.
Let them sing for joy forever.
You cover them with protection,
so those who love your name rejoice in you.
12 Yes, you bless the righteous, Lord.
You surround them with your favor as a shield.
Psalm 6
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
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For the choir director. With stringed instruments.
According to sheminith.[a] A psalm by David.
Anxious Prayer
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am fading away.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling,
3 and my soul is terrified.
But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul.
Save me because of your mercy.
5 For in death no one remembers you.
In the grave who praises you?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
I flood my bed all night long.
With my tears I drench my couch.
7 My eyes are blurred by sorrow.
They are worn out because of all my foes.
Confident Trust
8 Turn away from me, all you evildoers,
because the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord accepts my prayer.
10 They will be put to shame.
All my enemies will be terrified.
They will turn back.
They will be put to shame in an instant.
Psalm 10
Break the Arm of the Wicked Man
An Opening Appeal for Action
1 Why, Lord, do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
A Portrait of the Wicked
2 Because of the pride of the wicked, the oppressed burn.[a]
They are caught in the schemes that the wicked plan.
3 Yes, the wicked man boasts about his heart’s desires.
He blesses the robber. He despises the Lord.[b]
4 With his nose in the air, the wicked does not seek God.
There is no room at all for God in his thoughts.
5 His ways are prosperous all the time.
He is haughty. Your judgments do not concern him.
He snorts at all of his foes.
6 He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken.
Through age after age I will have no trouble.”
7 Cursing fills his mouth, along with lies and threats.
Trouble and evil lie under his tongue.
8 He waits in ambush by the villages.
In hidden places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are spying on the helpless.
9 He lies in ambush. He hides like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed by dragging them in his net.
10 The helpless are crushed. They sink down.
They fall under his strength.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He never sees.”
An Appeal for Divine Justice
12 Rise up, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why does the wicked man despise God?
Why does he say in his heart,
“You do not seek justice”?
14 But you do see. You notice trouble and grief.
You take it into your own hands.
The helpless one abandons himself to you.
For the fatherless you are indeed a helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked.
You pursue the wickedness of the evil man
until you find no more.[c]
Confidence in Divine Justice
16 The Lord is King forever and ever.
The nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.
You strengthen their hearts,
and your ear pays attention,
18 to obtain justice for the fatherless and the crushed,
so that the worldly man[d] may no longer terrify.
Psalm 11
Faith, Not Flight
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For the choir director. By David.
The Fear of the Fainthearted
1 In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul:
“Flee to your mountain like a bird.
2 Look! The wicked bend their bow.
They set their arrow against the string
to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being torn down,
what can the righteous do?”
David’s Answer
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord is on his throne in heaven.
His eyes observe.
He focuses on[e] the children of Adam.[f]
5 The Lord is righteous.
He examines the wicked.
He really hates[g] those who love violence.
6 On the wicked he will rain down fiery coals and sulfur.[h]
A scorching wind will be the cup given to them.
7 Indeed, the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness.
The upright will view his face.
An Address to Sons:
Your Parents Teach You Wisdom
4 Listen, you sons, to a father’s discipline.
Pay attention so that you will gain discernment,
2 because I have given you good instruction.
Do not abandon my teaching.
3 When I was a son living with my father,
a tender and only child with my mother,
4 he used to instruct me and say to me,
“Cling to my words with all your heart.
Obey my commands so that you may live.
5 Acquire wisdom. Acquire understanding.
Do not forget,
and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not abandon it, and it will watch over you.
Love it and it will guard you.”
7 The beginning of wisdom is to obtain Wisdom.
Give up everything you have, in order to gain Understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you.
She will honor you when you embrace her.
9 She will set a garland of grace on your head.
She will present you with a beautiful crown.
Fifth Address to a Son:
The Difference Between the Wicked and the Righteous
10 Listen, my son, and accept my words,
so that the years of your life will be many.
11 I have instructed you in the way of wisdom.
I have led you along straight paths.[a]
12 When you walk, your stride will not be hindered.
Even if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to discipline. Do not let go.
Guard it, because it is your life.
14 Do not travel on the path of the wicked.
Do not walk in the way of evil people.
15 Avoid it! Do not travel on it!
Turn away from it. Pass it by.
16 For they cannot sleep
unless they have been doing wrong,
and they are robbed of sleep
unless they are making someone stumble,
17 because wickedness is the food they eat,
and violence is the wine they drink.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining brighter and brighter until it is day.
19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness.
They never know where they will stumble.
Sixth Address to a Son:
Advice for a Righteous Life
20 My son, pay attention to my words.
Open your ears to what I say.
21 Do not let them escape from your sight.
Keep them deep in your heart,
22 because they are life for those who find them
and healing for the entire body.[b]
23 Above all else, guard your heart carefully,
because your life flows from it.
24 Turn your mouth away from perverted speech,
and keep devious lips far away from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead.
Let your gaze[c] be directly in front of you.
26 Make a level pathway for your feet,
and all your ways will be secure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or the left.
Turn your feet away from evil.
God Is Love
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love. 9 This is how God’s love for us was revealed: God has sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we may live through him. 10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us so much, we also should love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love has been brought to its goal in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. 16 We also have come to know and trust the love that God has for us.
God is love. Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 17 In this way his love has been brought to its goal among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are just like Jesus.[a] 18 There is no fear in love, but complete love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who continues to be afraid has not been brought to the goal in love.
19 We love[b] because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For how can anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen,[c] love God, whom he has not seen? 21 This then is the command we have from him: The one who loves God should also love his brother.
7 As these two were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the crowds about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? No, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you! And he is much more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’[a] 11 Amen I tell you: Among those born of women there has not appeared anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been advancing forcefully[b] and forceful people are seizing it. 13 In fact, all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 If you are willing to receive it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears to hear,[c] let him hear.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.