Book of Common Prayer
145 I call with all my heart, O Lord;
answer me that I may keep your statutes.
146 I call to you to save me
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before dawn and cry out;
I put my hope in your words.
148 My eyes greet the night watches
as I meditate on your promise.(A)
149 Hear my voice in your mercy, O Lord;
by your judgment give me life.
150 Malicious persecutors draw near me;
they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Lord;
reliable are all your commandments.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 Look at my affliction and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Take up my cause and redeem me;(B)
for the sake of your promise give me life.
155 Salvation is far from sinners
because they do not cherish your statutes.
156 Your compassion is great, O Lord;
in accord with your judgments, give me life.
157 Though my persecutors and foes are many,
I do not turn from your testimonies.
158 I view the faithless with loathing(C)
because they do not heed your promise.
159 See how I love your precepts, Lord;
in your mercy give me life.
160 Your every word is enduring;
all your righteous judgments are forever.
Shin
161 Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart reveres only your word.
162 I rejoice at your promise,
as one who has found rich spoil.
163 Falsehood I hate and abhor;
your law I love.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
because your judgments are righteous.
165 Lovers of your law have much peace;(D)
for them there is no stumbling block.
166 I look for your salvation, Lord,
and I fulfill your commandments.
167 I observe your testimonies;
I love them very much.
168 I observe your precepts and testimonies;
all my ways are before you.
The Plot Against Jeremiah. 18 I knew it because the Lord informed me: at that time you showed me their doings.
19 Yet I was like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, not knowing that they were hatching plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered.”(A)
20 But, you, Lord of hosts, just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!(B)
21 Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord; otherwise you shall die by our hand.”(C) 22 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to punish them. The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and daughters shall die by famine.(D) 23 None shall be spared among them, for I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.(E)
Coming Persecutions. 16 (A)“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. 17 [a]But beware of people,(B) for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues,(C) 18 and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.(D) 20 For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 [b](E)Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end[c] will be saved.
Psalm 112[a]
The Blessings of the Just
1 Hallelujah!
Blessed the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commands.(A)
2 His descendants shall be mighty in the land,
a generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house;
his righteousness[b] shall endure forever.
4 Light shines through the darkness for the upright;(B)
gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
5 It is good for the man gracious in lending,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For he shall never be shaken;
the righteous shall be remembered forever.(C)
7 He shall not fear an ill report;
his heart is steadfast, trusting the Lord.
8 His heart is tranquil, without fear,
till at last he looks down on his foes.
9 Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his righteousness shall endure forever;(D)
his horn[c] shall be exalted in honor.
10 The wicked sees and is angry;
gnashes his teeth and wastes away;
the desire of the wicked come to nothing.
Psalm 125[a]
Israel’s Protector
1 A song of ascents.
Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
unshakable, forever enduring.(A)
2 As mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forever.(B)
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
in the land allotted to the just,[b]
Lest the just themselves
turn their hands to evil.
12 So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.(A) 13 Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.(B)
Penalties of Disobedience. 14 (C)Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 [a]See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through which many may become defiled,(D) 16 that no one be an immoral or profane person like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.(E) 17 For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit his father’s blessing, he was rejected because he found no opportunity to change his mind, even though he sought the blessing with tears.(F)
18 [b]You have not approached that which could be touched[c](G) and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm 19 and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them,(H) 20 for they could not bear to hear the command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.”(I) 21 Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”(J) 22 No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering,(K) 23 and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,[d] and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect,(L) 24 and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently[e] than that of Abel.(M)
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