Book of Common Prayer
I Love Your Law, O Yahweh
Aleph
119 How blessed are those whose way is [a](A)blameless,
Who (B)walk in the law of Yahweh.
2 How blessed are those who (C)observe His testimonies,
They (D)seek Him (E)with all their heart.
3 They also do not (F)work unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have (G)commanded us,
To keep Your precepts [b]diligently.
5 Oh may my (H)ways be established
To (I)keep Your statutes!
6 Then I (J)shall not be ashamed
When I look [c]upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall (K)give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not (L)forsake me utterly!
Beth
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By (M)keeping it according to Your word.
10 With (N)all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me (O)stray from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have (P)treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Yahweh;
(Q)Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have (R)recounted
All the (S)judgments of Your mouth.
14 I have (T)rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[d]As much as in all riches.
15 I will (U)muse upon Your precepts
And look upon (V)Your ways.
16 I shall [e](W)delight in Your statutes;
I shall (X)not forget Your word.
Gimel
17 (Y)Deal bountifully with Your slave,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19 I am a (Z)sojourner in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed [f](AA)with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
21 You (AB)rebuke the arrogant, [g]the (AC)cursed,
Who (AD)stray from Your commandments.
22 (AE)Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I (AF)observe Your testimonies.
23 Even though (AG)princes sit and talk against me,
Your slave (AH)muses on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my (AI)delight;
They are [h]my counselors.
Yahweh Will Set the Needy in Safety
For the choir director. According to the [a]Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
12 Save, O Yahweh, for (A)the holy man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They (B)speak worthlessness to one another;
With a (C)flattering lip and with a double heart they speak.
3 May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [b]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says Yahweh; “I will (H)set him in the [c]safety for which he [d]longs.”
6 The (I)words of Yahweh are pure words;
As silver (J)tried in a furnace on the ground, refined seven times.
7 You, O Yahweh, will keep them;
You will (K)guard him from this generation forever.
8 The (L)wicked strut about on every side
When [e](M)vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
How Long, O Yahweh?
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Yahweh? Will You (N)forget me forever?
How long (O)will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I (P)take counsel in my soul,
Having (Q)sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 (R)Look and answer me, O Yahweh my God;
(S)Give light to my eyes, lest I (T)sleep the sleep of death,
4 Lest my enemy (U)says, “I have overcome him,”
And (V)my adversaries rejoice that I am shaken.
5 But I have (W)trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall (X)rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will (Y)sing to Yahweh,
Because He has (Z)dealt bountifully with me.
There Is No One Who Does Good
For the choir director. Of David.
14 The [f]wicked fool (AA)says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They act corruptly, they commit abominable [g]deeds;
There is (AB)no one who does good.
2 Yahweh (AC)looks down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who [h](AD)has insight,
Anyone who (AE)seeks after God.
3 They have all (AF)turned aside, altogether they have become [i]worthless;
There is (AG)no one who does good, not even one.
Practical Warnings
6 My son, if you have become a (A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Have struck your [a]hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the [b]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and badger your neighbor.
4 Give no (B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand
And like a (C)bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the (D)ant, O (E)sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having (F)no chief,
Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food (G)in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “(H)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [c]rest”—
11 (I)Your poverty will come in like [d]a vagabond
And your want like [e]an armed man.
12 A (J)vile person, a wicked man,
Is the one who walks with a (K)perverse mouth,
13 Who (L)winks with his eyes, who [f]signals with his feet,
Who [g]points with his fingers;
14 Who with (M)perversity in his heart continually (N)devises evil,
Who [h](O)spreads contentions.
15 Therefore (P)his disaster will come suddenly;
(Q)Instantly he will be broken and there will be (R)no healing.
16 There are six things which Yahweh hates,
Even seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:
17 (S)Haughty eyes, a (T)lying tongue,
And hands that (U)shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises (V)wicked thoughts,
(W)Feet that hasten to run to evil,
19 A (X)false witness who breathes out lies,
And one who [j](Y)spreads strife among brothers.
Overcoming the World
5 (A)Everyone who believes that Jesus is the [a]Christ has been [b](B)born of God, and everyone who loves the [c]One who gives new birth (C)loves also the one who has been [d]born of Him. 2 (D)By this we know that (E)we love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments. 3 For (F)this is the love of God, that we (G)keep His commandments; and (H)His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everything that has been [e](I)born of God (J)overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith.
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who (K)believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the One who came (L)by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not [f]with the water only, but [g]with the water and [h]with the blood. It is (M)the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are (N)three that bear witness: 8 [i]the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are [j]in agreement. 9 (O)If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that (P)He has borne witness about His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God (Q)has this witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has (R)made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness which God has borne witness about His Son. 11 And the witness is this, that God gave us (S)eternal life, and (T)this life is in His Son. 12 (U)He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have that life.
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call out to the other children, 17 and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not [a]mourn.’ 18 For John came neither (A)eating nor (B)drinking, and they say, ‘(C)He has a demon!’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a [b]drunkard, (D)a friend of tax collectors and [c]sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated [d]by her deeds.”
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
20 Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His [e](E)miracles were done, because they did not repent. 21 “(F)Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, (G)Bethsaida! For if the [f]miracles had occurred in (H)Tyre and (I)Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in [g](J)sackcloth and ashes. 22 Nevertheless I say to you, (K)it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in (L)the day of judgment than for you. 23 And (M)Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will (N)descend to (O)Hades; for if the [h]miracles had occurred in (P)Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. 24 Nevertheless I say to you that (Q)it will be more tolerable for the land of (R)Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
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