Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 38
A psalm of David. For the memorial offering.
38 Please, Lord, don’t punish me when you are mad;
don’t discipline me when you are furious.
2 Your arrows have pierced me;
your fist has come down hard on me.
3 There’s nothing in my body that isn’t broken
because of your rage;
there’s no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 My wrongdoings are stacked higher than my head;
they are a weight that’s way too heavy for me.
5 My wounds reek; they are all infected
because of my stupidity.
6 I am hunched over, completely down;
I wander around all day long, sad.
7 My insides are burning up;
there’s nothing in my body that isn’t broken.
8 I’m worn out, completely crushed;
I groan because of my miserable heart.
9 Everything I long for is laid out before you, my Lord;
my sighs aren’t hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds; my strength abandons me.
Even the light of my eyes is gone.
11 My loved ones and friends keep their distance
from me in my sickness;
those who were near me now stay far away.
12 Those who want me dead lay traps;
those who want me harmed utter threats,
muttering lies all day long.
13 But I’m like someone who is deaf,
who can’t hear;
like someone who can’t speak,
whose mouth won’t open.
14 I’ve become like a person
who doesn’t hear what is being said,
whose mouth has no good comeback.
15 But I wait for you, Lord!
You will answer, my Lord, my God!
16 Because I prayed:
“Don’t let them celebrate over me
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips,”
17 because I’m very close to falling,
and my pain is always with me.
18 Yes, I confess my wrongdoing;
I’m worried about my sin.
19 But my mortal enemies are so strong;
those who hate me for no reason seem countless.
20 Those who give, repay good with evil;
they oppose me for pursuing good.
21 Don’t leave me all alone, Lord!
Please, my God, don’t be far from me!
22 Come quickly and help me,
my Lord, my salvation!
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25 My life is stuck in the dirt.
Now make me live again according to your promise!
26 I confessed my ways and you answered me.
Now teach me your statutes!
27 Help me understand what your precepts are about
so I can contemplate your wondrous works!
28 My spirit sags because of grief.
Now raise me up according to your promise!
29 Remove all false ways from me;
show mercy to me by means of your Instruction.
30 I’ve chosen the way of faithfulness;
I’m set on your rules.
31 I’m holding tight to your laws, Lord.
Please don’t let me be put to shame.
32 I run the same path as your commandments
because you give my heart insight.
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33 Lord, teach me what your statutes are about,
and I will guard every part of them.
34 Help me understand so I can guard your Instruction
and keep it with all my heart.
35 Lead me on the trail of your commandments
because that is what I want.
36 Turn my heart to your laws,
not to greedy gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Make me live by your way.
38 Confirm your promise to your servant—
the promise that is for all those who honor you.
39 Remove the insults that I dread
because your rules are good.
40 Look how I desire your precepts!
Make me live by your righteousness.
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41 Lord, let your faithful love come to me—
let your salvation come to me according to your promise—
42 so I can have a response for those who mock me
because I have trusted in your word!
43 Please don’t take your true word out of my mouth,
because I have waited for your rules.
44 I will always keep your Instruction,
always and forever!
45 I will walk around in wide-open spaces,
because I have pursued your precepts.
46 I will talk about your laws
before rulers with no shame whatsoever.
47 I will rejoice in your commandments
because I love them.
48 I will lift up my hands to your commandments
because I love them,
and I will contemplate all your statutes.
4 Don’t seek political power from the Lord
or a seat of honor from the king.
5 Don’t justify yourself
in the Lord’s presence,
and don’t make a show of your wisdom
with a king.
6 Don’t aspire to become a judge;
you might not be strong enough
to get rid of injustice.
Perhaps you will be too cautious
in the presence of a powerful person
and bring a scandal on your good name.
7 Don’t sin against a city’s inhabitants,
and don’t bring yourself down
in their estimation.[a]
8 Don’t repeat a sin,
for you won’t be innocent
even of committing it the first time.
9 Don’t say,
“He will look at the heap of my gifts,
and when I make an offering
to the Most High, he will accept it.”
10 Don’t be timid in your prayer,
and don’t neglect caring for those in need.
11 Don’t mock a person
who is bitter in spirit;
for there’s one who humbles
and who exalts.
12 Don’t cultivate a lie against your relative
or do the same thing to a friend.
13 Don’t desire to tell a lie;
continuing in a lie results in no good.
14 Don’t babble when the elders
are assembled,
and don’t repeat yourself when praying.
8 1 Then, when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
The first four trumpet plagues
2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, and he held a gold bowl for burning incense. He was given a large amount of incense, in order to offer it on behalf of the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense offered for the prayers of the saints rose up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the incense container and filled it with fire from the altar. He threw it down to the earth, and there were thunder, voices, lightning, and an earthquake.
6 Then the seven angels who held the seven trumpets got ready to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood appeared, and was thrown down to the earth. A third of the earth was burned up. A third of the trees were burned up. All the green grass was burned up. 8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain burning with fire was thrown down into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, burning like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The star’s name is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it became so bitter. 12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars so that a third of them became dark. The day lost a third of its light, and the night lost a third of its light too.
13 Then I looked and I heard an eagle flying high overhead. It said with a loud voice, “Horror, horror, oh! The horror for those who live on earth because of the blasts of the remaining trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
The seventy-two return
17 The seventy-two returned joyously, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit themselves to us in your name.”
18 Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Look, I have given you authority to crush snakes and scorpions underfoot. I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. 20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the spirits submit to you. Rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.”
21 At that very moment, Jesus overflowed with joy from the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and shown them to babies. Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness. 22 My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.” 23 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Happy are the eyes that see what you see. 24 I assure you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible