Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He reached down to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of [b]destruction, out of the mud;
And (D)He set my feet on a rock, (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not turned to the [c]proud, nor to those who (J)become involved in falsehood.
5 Many, Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 (N)You have not desired [d]sacrifice and meal offering;
You have [e]opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is [f]written of me in the scroll of the book.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, my God;
(P)Your Law is within my [g]heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[h]Your (V)mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [i]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me;
(AB)Hurry, Lord, to help me.
14 May those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [j]life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [k]in my hurt.
15 May those (AE)be [l]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually (AH)say,
“The Lord be exalted!”
17 But (AI)I am afflicted and needy;
(AJ)May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”
54 Save me, God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, God;
(D)Listen to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. Selah
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion, (C)wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I (F)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [b]are justified [c]when You speak
And [d]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in secret You will (L)make wisdom known to me.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
[g]Cleanse me, and I will be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Let me hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, God,
And renew a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will [j]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Save me from (AA)the guilt of bloodshed, God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, [k](AD)open my lips,
So that my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
Job’s Past Was Glorious
29 Job again took up his (A)discourse and said,
24 “If I have put my confidence in (A)gold,
And called fine gold my trust,
25 If I have (B)gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had obtained so much;
26 If I have (C)looked at the [a]sun when it shone,
Or the moon going in splendor,
27 And my heart was secretly enticed,
And my hand [b]threw a kiss from my mouth,
28 That too would have been (D)a guilty deed calling for [c]judgment,
For I would have (E)denied God above.
29 “Have I (F)rejoiced at the misfortune of my enemy,
Or become excited when evil found him?
30 [d]No, (G)I have not [e]allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life in (H)a curse.
31 Have the people of my tent not said,
‘Who can [f]find one who has not been (I)satisfied with his meat’?
32 The stranger has not spent the night outside,
For I have opened my doors to the [g]traveler.
33 Have I (J)covered my wrongdoings like a man,
By hiding my guilt in my shirt pocket,
34 Because I (K)feared the great multitude
And the contempt of families terrified me,
And I kept silent and did not go out of doors?
35 Oh that I had one to hear me!
Here is my [h]signature;
(L)Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my (M)adversary has written,
36 I would certainly carry it on my shoulder,
I would tie it to myself like a garland.
37 I would declare to Him (N)the number of my steps;
Like (O)a prince, I would approach Him.
38 “If my (P)land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39 If I have (Q)eaten its [i]fruit without money,
Or have (R)caused [j]its owners to lose their lives,
40 May the (S)thorn-bush [k]grow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were (A)relating all the (B)signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
James’ Judgment
13 After they stopped speaking, [a](C)James responded, saying, “[b]Brothers, listen to me. 14 (D)Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles. 15 The words of (E)the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:
16 ‘(F)After these things (G)I will return,
And I will rebuild the fallen [c]tabernacle of David,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 (H)So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles [d](I)who are called by My name,’
18 (J)Says the Lord, who [e](K)makes these things known from long ago.
19 Therefore, it is (L)my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from [f](M)things contaminated by idols, from (N)acts of sexual immorality, from (O)what has been [g]strangled, and from blood. 21 For (P)from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since [h]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but (A)was still at the place where Martha met Him. 31 (B)Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were (C)consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “(D)Lord, (E)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and (F)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He (G)was deeply moved in spirit and [a](H)was troubled, 34 and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus (I)wept. 36 So (J)the Jews were saying, “See how He (K)loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could this Man, who (L)opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also [b]kept this man from dying?”
38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a (M)cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time [c]there will be a stench, for he has been dead (N)four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, “(O)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the (P)stone. And Jesus (Q)raised His eyes, and said, “(R)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, (S)because of the [d]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that (T)You sent Me.” 43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 Out came the man who had died, (U)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and (V)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
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