Book of Common Prayer
Davidic
A Man of Integrity Pleads for Justice
26 Vindicate me, Lord,
because I have walked in integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord, and inspect me!
Test my heart and mind.[a]
3 For your gracious love precedes me,
and I continuously walk according to your truth.
4 I do not sit with those committed to what is false,
nor do I travel with hypocrites.
5 I hate the company of those who practice evil,
nor do I sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands innocently.
I go around your altar, Lord,
7 so I may praise you loudly with thanksgiving
and declare all your wondrous acts.
8 Lord, I love the dwelling place that is your house,
the place where your glory resides.
9 Do not group me[b] with sinners,
nor include me[c] with men who shed blood.
10 Their hands are filled with wicked schemes,
and their right hands with bribes.
11 But as for me,
I walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me!
12 My feet stand on level ground;
among the worshiping congregations
I will bless the Lord.
Davidic
A Prayer for Help
28 To you, Lord, I cry out!
My Rock, do not refuse to answer me.[a]
If you remain silent,
I will become like those who descend into the Pit.[b]
2 Hear the sound of my supplications when I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who practice iniquity,
who speak peace to their neighbors
while harboring evil in their hearts.
4 Reward them according to their deeds;
according to the evil of their actions.
Reward them based on what they do;[c]
give them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not understand the deeds of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
He will tear them down and never build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the sound of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him,
and I received help.
My heart rejoices,
and I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;[d]
he is a refuge of deliverance for his anointed.
9 Deliver your people
and bless your inheritance!
Shepherd them
and lift them up forever!
To the Director: By the servant of the Lord, David.
An Oracle from the Lord
36 An oracle that came to me[a] about the transgressions of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself[b] too much[c] to discover his transgression and hate it.
3 The words from his mouth are vain and deceptive.
He has abandoned behaving wisely and doing good.
4 He devises iniquity on his bed
and is determined to follow a path that is not good.
He does not resist evil.
Praise to the Lord
5 Your gracious love, Lord, reaches to the heavens;
your truth[d] extends to the skies.[e]
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your justice is like the great depths of the sea.[f]
You deliver both[g] people and animals, Lord.
7 How precious is your gracious love, God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed from the abundance of your house;
You cause them to drink from the river of your pleasures.
9 For with you is a fountain of life,
and in your light we will see light.
10 Send forth your gracious love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to those who are upright in heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the proud crush me;
and do not let the hand of the wicked dissuade me.
12 There, those who do evil have fallen;
They have been thrown down,
and they cannot get up.
To the Director: To Jeduthun. A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer about Life’s Priorities
39 I told myself, “I will keep watch over my tongue to keep from sinning.
I will muzzle my mouth when the wicked are around.”
2 I was as silent as a mute person;
I said nothing, not even something good,
and my distress deepened.
3 My heart within me became incensed;[a]
as I thought about it, the fire burned.
Then I[b] spoke out:
4 “Lord, let me know how my life ends,[c]
and the standard by which you will measure[d] my days, whatever it is!
Then I will know how transient my life is.
5 Look, you have made my life span fit in your hand;
It is nothing compared to yours.
Surely every person at their best is a puff of wind.
6 In fact, people walk around as shadows.
Surely, they busy themselves for nothing,
heaping up possessions but not knowing who will get them.
7 How long, Lord, will I wait expectantly?
I have placed my hope in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions,
and do not let fools scorn me.”
9 I remain silent;
I do not open my mouth,
for you are the one who acted.
10 Stop scourging me,
since I have been crushed by your heavy hand.
11 You rebuke by chastening a man with the consequence of iniquities;
you destroy what is attractive to him, as one would treat a moth.
Indeed, every person is a puff of wind.
12 Hear my prayer, Lord,
pay attention to my cry,
and do not ignore my tears.
I am an alien in your presence,
a stranger just like my ancestors were.
13 Stop looking at me with chastisement,[e] so I can smile again,
before I depart and am no more.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
because they lack understanding;
my[a] honored men go hungry,
and the crowd is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol’s[b] appetite has grown;
it has opened its mouth beyond limit.
Jerusalem’s nobility and her multitudes will go there,
along with her brawlers and whoever is reveling within her.
15 Humanity is brought low,
and each one is humbled,
while the eyes of the self-exalting are brought low.
16 But the Lord of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice,
and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy.
17 Then the lambs will graze in their pasture;
fatlings and foreigners will eat
among the waste places of the rich.”
The Effects of Divine Judgment
24 Therefore, as flames of fire devour straw,
as dry grass[a] collapses in flames,
so their root will be rotten,
and their blossom will blow away like dust,
because they have rejected the instruction[b] of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore[c] the anger of the Lord[d] burned against his people,
so he stretched out his hands[e] against them
and afflicted them.
The mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like refuse
in the middle of the streets.
Paul Gives Final Instructions to the Church
12 Brothers, we ask you to show your appreciation for those who work among you, set an example for you in the Lord, and instruct[a] you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard, loving them because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 We urge you, brothers, to admonish[b] those who are idle,[c] cheer up those who are discouraged, and help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that no one pays back evil for evil. Instead, always pursue what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16 Always be joyful. 17 Continually be prayerful. 18 In everything be thankful, because this is God’s will for you in the Messiah[d] Jesus. 19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.[e] 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Instead, test everything. Hold on to what is good. 22 Keep away from every kind of evil.
Final Greeting
23 May the God of peace himself make you holy in every way. And may your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—remain blameless when our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[f] appears. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will continue to be faithful.[g] 25 Brothers, pray[h] for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I order you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[i] be with you! Amen.[j]
The Lesson from the Fig Tree(A)
29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 As soon as they produce leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already approaching. 31 In the same way, when you see these things taking place, you will know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 I tell all of you[a] with certainty, this generation won’t disappear until all these things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words won’t ever disappear.”
Be Alert
34 “Constantly be on your guard so that your hearts will not be loaded down with self-indulgence, drunkenness, and the worries of this life, or that day will take you by surprise 35 like a trap, because it will come on everyone who lives on the face of the earth. 36 So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”
37 Now during the day Jesus[b] would teach in the Temple, but when evening came he would go out and spend the night on what is called the Mount of Olives. 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the Temple.
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