Book of Common Prayer
Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God.
Aleph
119 Blessed are those whose way is [a](A)blameless,
Who (B)walk in the Law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are those who (C)comply with His [b]testimonies,
And (D)seek Him (E)with all their heart.
3 They also (F)do no injustice;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have [c](G)ordained Your precepts,
[d]That we are to keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my (H)ways may be established
To (I)keep Your statutes!
6 Then I (J)will not be ashamed
When I look at all Your commandments.
7 I will (K)give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep Your statutes;
Do not utterly (L)abandon me!
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)wander from Your commandments.
11 I have (P)treasured Your word in my heart,
So that I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, Lord;
(Q)Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have (R)told of
All the (S)ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have (T)rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[e]As much as in all riches.
15 I will (U)meditate on Your precepts
And [f]regard (V)Your ways.
16 I shall [g](W)delight in Your statutes;
I will (X)not forget Your word.
Gimel
17 (Y)Deal generously with Your servant,
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)stranger on the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed [h](AA)with longing
For Your ordinances at all times.
21 You (AB)rebuke the arrogant, [i]the (AC)cursed,
Who (AD)wander from Your commandments.
22 (AE)Take disgrace and contempt away from me,
For I (AF)comply with Your testimonies.
23 Even though (AG)rulers sit and speak against me,
Your servant (AH)meditates on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my (AI)delight;
They are [j]my advisers.
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the music director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (A)the godly person has come to an end,
For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
2 They (B)speak [b]lies to one another;
They speak with [c](C)flattering lips and a double heart.
3 May the Lord cut off all [d]flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [e]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (H)put him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The (I)words of the Lord are pure words;
Like silver (J)refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times.
7 You, Lord, will keep them;
You will (K)protect him from this generation forever.
8 The (L)wicked strut about on every side
When [f](M)vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind.
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, Lord? Will You (N)forget me forever?
How long (O)will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long am I to (P)feel anxious in my soul,
With (Q)grief in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 (R)Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
(S)Enlighten my eyes, or I will (T)sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will (U)say, “I have overcome him,”
And (V)my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have (W)trusted in Your faithfulness;
My heart shall (X)rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will (Y)sing to the Lord,
Because He has (Z)looked after me.
Foolishness and Wickedness of People.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
14 The fool has (AA)said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed detestable acts;
There is (AB)no one who does good.
2 The Lord has (AC)looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there are any who [g](AD)understand,
Who (AE)seek God.
3 They have all (AF)turned aside, together they are corrupt;
There is (AG)no one who does good, not even one.
17 [a]And the Lord designated a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the (A)stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.
Jonah’s Prayer
2 [b]Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God (B)from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said,
“I (C)called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me.
I called for help from the [c]depth of (D)Sheol;
You heard my voice.
3 For You (E)threw me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current flowed around me.
All Your (F)breakers and waves passed over me.
4 So I said, ‘I have been (G)cast out [d]of Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again (H)toward Your holy temple.’
5 (I)Water encompassed me to the [e]point of death.
The (J)deep flowed around me,
Seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 I (K)descended to the base of the mountains.
The earth with its (L)bars was around me forever,
But You have (M)brought up my life from [f]the pit, Lord my God.
7 While [g]I was (N)fainting away,
I (O)remembered the Lord,
And my (P)prayer came to You,
Into (Q)Your holy temple.
8 Those who (R)are followers of worthless [h]idols
Abandon their faithfulness,
9 But I will (S)sacrifice to You
With a voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will (T)pay.
(U)Salvation is from the Lord.”
10 Then the Lord commanded the (V)fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
9 When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even (A)the [a]fast was already over, Paul started admonishing them, 10 saying to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with (B)damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion was more persuaded by the (C)pilot and the [b]captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. 12 The harbor was not suitable for wintering, so the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of (D)Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
13 [c]When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began (E)sailing along (F)Crete, closer to shore.
Shipwreck
14 But before very long a violent wind, called [d]Euraquilo, (G)rushed down from [e]the land; 15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind. 16 Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s [f]boat under control only with difficulty. 17 After they had hoisted it up, they used [g]supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might (H)run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the [h]sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way. 18 The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, [i]they began to (I)jettison the cargo; 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.
21 [j]When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “[k](J)Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from (K)Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this (L)damage and loss. 22 And yet now I urge you to (M)keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night (N)an angel of the God to whom I belong, (O)whom I also serve, (P)came to me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; (Q)you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you (R)all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore, (S)keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that [l]it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must (T)run aground on a certain (U)island.”
Ministry of the Twelve
9 (A)Now He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and the power to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to (B)proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. 3 And He said to them, “(C)Take nothing for your journey, (D)neither a staff, nor a [a]bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two [b]tunics. 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there [c]until you leave that city. 5 And as for all who do not receive you, when you leave that city, (E)shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 And as they were leaving, they began going [d]throughout the villages, (F)preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
7 (G)Now (H)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that (I)John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that (J)Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. 9 Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this Man about whom I hear such things?” And (K)he kept trying to see Him.
10 (L)When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. (M)And taking them with Him, He withdrew privately to a city called (N)Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.
Five Thousand Men Fed
12 Now the day [e]was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get [f]something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.” 13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 (For there were about five thousand men.) But He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat (O)in groups of about fifty each.” 15 They did so, and had them all recline. 16 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied; and [g]the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve (P)baskets full.
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