Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance, and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 My God, in You (B)I trust,
Do not let me (C)be ashamed;
Do not let my (D)enemies rejoice over me.
3 Indeed, (E)none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
[a]Those who (F)deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
4 (G)Make me know Your ways, Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in (H)Your truth and teach me,
For You are the (I)God of my salvation;
For You I (J)wait all the day.
6 (K)Remember, Lord, Your compassion and Your faithfulness,
For they have been [b](L)from of old.
7 Do not remember the (M)sins of my youth or my wrongdoings;
(N)Remember me according to Your faithfulness,
For Your (O)goodness’ sake, Lord.
8 (P)The Lord is good and (Q)upright;
Therefore He (R)instructs sinners in the way.
9 He (S)leads the [c]humble in justice,
And He (T)teaches the [d]humble His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (U)faithfulness and truth
To (V)those who comply with His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For the (W)sake of Your name, Lord,
(X)Forgive my wrongdoing, for it is great.
12 Who is the person who (Y)fears the Lord?
He will (Z)instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will (AA)dwell in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will (AB)inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h](AC)secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will (AD)make them know His covenant.
15 My (AE)eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j](AF)rescue my feet from the net.
16 (AG)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am (AH)lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The (AI)troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me (AJ)out of my distresses.
18 (AK)Look at my misery and my trouble,
And (AL)forgive all my sins.
19 Look at my enemies, for they (AM)are many,
And they (AN)hate me with violent hatred.
20 (AO)Guard my soul and save me;
Do not let me (AP)be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let (AQ)integrity and uprightness protect me,
For (AR)I wait for You.
22 (AS)Redeem Israel, God,
From all his distress.
Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
For the music director; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all (A)my heart;
I will (B)tell of all Your [b]wonders.
2 I will rejoice and be (C)jubilant in You;
I will (D)sing praise to Your name, O (E)Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and (F)perish before You.
4 For You have (G)maintained [c]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne [d](H)judging righteously.
5 You have (I)rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked;
You have (J)wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 [e]The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (K)memory of them has perished.
7 But the (L)Lord [f]sits as King forever;
He has established His (M)throne for judgment,
8 And He will (N)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
9 [g]The Lord will also be a (O)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And [h]those who (P)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not (Q)abandoned those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (R)dwells in Zion;
(S)Declare His deeds among the peoples.
12 For (T)He who [i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (U)the cry of the needy.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord;
See my oppression from those (V)who hate me,
You who (W)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 So that I may tell of (X)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may (Y)rejoice in Your [j]salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down (Z)into the pit which they have made;
In the (AA)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has (AB)made Himself known;
He has (AC)executed judgment.
A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. [k]Higgaion Selah
17 The wicked will [l](AD)return to [m]Sheol,
All the nations who (AE)forget God.
18 For the (AF)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the (AG)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 (AH)Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail;
Let the nations be (AI)judged before You.
20 Put them (AJ)in fear, Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (AK)merely human. Selah
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may reside (A)in Your tent?
Who may settle on Your (B)holy hill?
2 One who (C)walks with integrity, practices righteousness,
And (D)speaks truth in his heart.
3 He (E)does not slander [a]with his tongue,
Nor (F)do evil to his neighbor,
Nor (G)bring shame on his friend;
4 A despicable person is despised in his eyes,
But he (H)honors those who fear the Lord;
He (I)takes an oath to his own detriment, and does not change;
5 He (J)does not [b]lend his money [c]at interest,
Nor (K)does he take a bribe against the innocent.
(L)One who does these things will never be shaken.
Job Chides His Accusers
12 Then Job responded,
2 “Truly then (A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 But (B)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And [a]who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a (C)joke to [b]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and (D)blameless man is a joke.
5 [c]He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 The (E)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God (F)are secure,
[d]Whom God brings (G)into their power.
Job Speaks of the Power of God
13 “(A)Wisdom and (B)might are with Him;
Advice and (C)understanding belong to Him.
14 Behold, He (D)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He [a](E)imprisons a person, and [b]there is no release.
15 Behold, He (F)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He (G)sends them out, and they [c]inundate the earth.
16 Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who (H)goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
17 He makes (I)advisers walk [d]barefoot
And makes fools of (J)judges.
18 He (K)undoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
19 He makes priests walk [e]barefoot,
And overthrows (L)the secure ones.
20 He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And (M)takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He (N)pours contempt on nobles,
And (O)loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He (P)reveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 He (Q)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He [f]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 He (R)deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of [g]intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
25 They (S)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them (T)stagger like a drunken person.
The Church in Antioch
19 (A)So then those who were scattered because of the [a]persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way [b]to (B)Phoenicia, (C)Cyprus, and (D)Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of (E)Cyprus and (F)Cyrene, who came to (G)Antioch and began speaking to the [c](H)Greeks as well, (I)preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. 21 And (J)the hand of the Lord was with them, and (K)a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The [d]news about them [e]reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent (L)Barnabas off [f]to (M)Antioch. 23 Then when he arrived and [g]witnessed (N)the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with [h]resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and (O)full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And [i](P)considerable numbers were added to the Lord. 25 And he left for (Q)Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to (R)Antioch. And for an entire year they [j]met with the church and taught [k]considerable numbers of people; and (S)the disciples were first called (T)Christians in (U)Antioch.
27 Now [l]at this time some (V)prophets came down from Jerusalem to (W)Antioch. 28 One of them, named (X)Agabus, stood up and [m]indicated [n]by the Spirit that there would definitely be a severe famine (Y)all over the [o]world. [p]And this took place in the reign of (Z)Claudius. 29 And to the extent that any of (AA)the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the [q]relief of (AB)the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 (AC)And they did this, sending it [r]with (AD)Barnabas and Saul to the (AE)elders.
21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and (A)you will look for Me, and (B)will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So (C)the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘(D)Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, “(E)You are from below, I am from above; (F)you are of this world, (G)I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you (H)will die in your sins; for unless you believe that [a](I)I am, (J)you will die in your sins.” 25 Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “[b]What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but (K)He who sent Me is true; and (L)the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” 27 They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you (M)lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that [c](N)I am, and (O)I do nothing [d]on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; (P)He [e]has not left Me alone, for (Q)I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As He said these things, (R)many came to believe in Him.
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “(S)If you continue in My word, then you are truly My (T)disciples; 32 and (U)you will know the truth, and (V)the truth will set you free.”
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