Book of Common Prayer
Alef [a]
Living in the Law of God
119 How blessed are those whose life[b] is blameless,
who walk in the Law of the Lord!
2 How blessed are those who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all of their heart,
3 who practice no evil
while they walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded concerning your precepts,
that they be guarded with diligence.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast,
so I may keep your statutes.
6 Then I will not be ashamed,
since my eyes will be fixed on all of your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
as I learn your righteous decrees.
8 I will keep your statutes;
do not ever abandon me.
Bet
The Benefits of the Word
9 How can a young man keep his behavior pure?
By guarding it in accordance with your word.
10 I have sought you with all of my heart;
do not let me drift away from your commands.
11 I have stored what you have said[c] in my heart,
so I won’t sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, Lord!
Teach me your statutes.
13 I have spoken with my lips
about all your decrees that you have announced.[d]
14 I find joy in the path of your decrees,
as if I owned all kinds of riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts,
and I will respect your ways.
16 I am delighted with your statutes;
I will not forget your word.[e]
Gimmel
Living and Keeping God’s Word
17 Deal kindly with your servant
so I may live and keep your word.[f]
18 Open my eyes
so that I will observe amazing things from your instruction.[g]
19 Since I am a stranger on the earth,
do not hide your commands from me.
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your decrees at all times.
21 You rebuke the accursed ones,
who wander from your commands.
22 Remove scorn and disrespect from me,
for I observe your decrees.
23 Though nobles take their seat and gossip about me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 I take joy in your decrees,
for they are my counselors.
To the Director: On an eight stringed harp.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
Human and Divine Words Contrasted
12 Help, Lord, for godly people no longer exist;
trustworthy people have disappeared from humanity.[b]
2 Everyone speaks lies to his neighbor;
they speak with flattering lips and hidden motives.[c]
3 The Lord will cut off all slippery lips,
and the tongue that boasts great things,
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our lips belong to us.
Who is master[d] over us?”
5 “Because the poor are being oppressed,
because the needy are sighing,
I will now arise,” says the Lord,
“I will establish in safety those who yearn for it.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times over.
7 You, Lord, will keep them[e] safe,
you will guard them[f] from this generation forever.
8 The wicked, however,[g] keep walking around,
exalting the vileness of human beings.[h]
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Deliverance
13 How long? Lord, will you forget me forever?[i]
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I struggle in my soul at night
and have sorrow in my heart during the day?
How long will my enemy rise up against me?
3 Look at me!
Answer me, Lord, my God!
Give light to my eyes!
Otherwise, I will sleep in death;
4 Otherwise, my enemy will say,
“I have overcome him;”
Otherwise, my persecutor will rejoice
when I am shaken.
5 As for me, I have trusted in your gracious love,
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
for he has dealt bountifully with me.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
The Fool and God’s Response
14 Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and commit evil deeds;
not one of them practices what is good.
2 The Lord looks down from the heavens upon humanity[j]
to see if anyone shows discernment as he searches for God.
3 All have turned away,
together they have become corrupt;
no one practices what is good, not even one.
4 Will those who do evil ever learn?
They devour my people like they devour bread,
and never call on the Lord.
5 There they are seized with terror,
because God is with those who are[k] righteous.
17 [a]Now the Lord had prepared a large sea creature[b] to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the sea creature for three days and three nights.
Jonah’s Prayer for Deliverance
2 [c]Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the sea creature. 2 He said:
“I called out to the Lord from the midst of affliction directed at me,[d]
and he answered me.
From the depths[e] of death[f] I cried out for help;
and you heard my cry.[g]
3 You cast me into the deep—
into the heart of the sea.
Flood waters engulfed me.
All your breakers and your waves swirled over me.
4 So I told myself,[h] ‘I have been driven away from you.[i]
How[j] will I again gaze on your holy Temple?’
5 Flood waters encompassed me,
the deep surrounded me
while seaweed wrapped around my head.
6 I sank to the roots of the mountains;
the earth’s prison[k] bars closed[l] around me forever.
Yet you resurrect the dead[m] from the Pit,[n] Lord my God!
7 “As my life was fading away,
I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you in your holy Temple.
8 Those who cling to vain idols
leave behind the gracious love that could have been theirs.[o]
9 But as for me, with a voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance[p] is the Lord’s!”
10 Then the Lord spoke to the sea creature, and it spewed Jonah onto the dry land.
9 Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship,[a] 10 “Men, I see that during this voyage there will be hardship and a heavy loss not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives.”
11 But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship and not by what Paul said. 12 Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest. 13 When a gentle breeze began to blow from the south, they thought they could make it to Phoenix,[b] so they hoisted anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete.
14 But it was not long before a violent wind (called a northeaster) swept down from the island.[c] 15 The ship was caught so that it couldn’t face the wind, and we gave up and were swept along. 16 As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda,[d] we barely managed to secure the ship’s lifeboat. 17 The ship’s crew[e] pulled it up on deck and used ropes to brace the ship. Fearing that they would hit the large sandbank near Libya,[f] they lowered the sail and drifted along. 18 The next day, because we were being tossed so violently by the storm, they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day they threw the ship’s equipment overboard with their own hands. 20 For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were to be seen, and the storm continued to rage until at last all hope of our being saved vanished.
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among his shipmates[g] and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. You would have avoided this hardship and damage. 22 But now I urge you to have courage, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss[h] of the ship. 23 For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by me 24 and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of[i] everyone who is sailing with you.’ 25 So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me. 26 However, we will have to run aground on some island.”
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve(A)
9 Jesus[a] called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them, “Don’t take anything along on your trip—no walking stick, traveling bag, bread, money, or even an extra shirt.[b] 4 When you visit a home and stay there, and go out from there, 5 if people don’t welcome you, when you leave that city, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they left and went from village to village, spreading the good news and healing diseases everywhere.
Herod Tries to See Jesus(B)
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening. He was puzzled because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by others that Elijah had appeared, and by still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. 9 Herod said, “I beheaded John. But who is this man I’m hearing so much about?” So Herod[c] kept trying to see Jesus.[d]
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(C)
10 The apostles came back and told Jesus[e] everything they had done. Then he took them away with him privately to a city called Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out about this and followed him. He welcomed them and began to speak to them about the kingdom of God and to heal those who needed healing.
12 As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away to the neighboring villages and farms so they can rest and get some food, because we are here in a deserted place.”
13 But he told them, “You give them something to eat.”
They replied, “We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
14 Now there were about 5,000 men. So he told his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50.” 15 They did this and got all of them seated. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to pass on to the crowd. 17 All of them ate and were filled. When they collected the leftover pieces, there were twelve baskets.
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