Book of Common Prayer

Prayer of a Suffering Man

38 O Lord, do not speak sharp words to me when You are angry. Do not punish me in Your burning anger. ² For Your arrows have cut deep into me. And Your hand has come down upon me. ³ My body is in pain because of Your anger. There is no strength in my bones because of my sin. ⁴ For my sins are gone over my head. Like a heavy load, they weigh too much for me. ⁵ My sores smell and grow bigger because I do foolish things. ⁶ I cannot stand straight but keep my head down. I have sorrow all day long ⁷ for my body is filled with burning pain. There is no strength in my body. ⁸ I am weak and broken. I cry because of the pain in my heart. ⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You. And my breathing deep within is not hidden from You. ¹⁰ My heart beats fast. My strength leaves me. Even the light of my eyes has gone from me. ¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stay away from me because of my sickness. My family stands far away. ¹² Those who want to take my life set their traps. And those who want to destroy me talk about ways to do it. They make their sinful plans all day long.

¹³ But like a deaf man, I do not hear. I am like one who cannot speak and does not open his mouth. ¹⁴ Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, and whose mouth does not argue. ¹⁵ For I hope in You, O Lord. You will answer, O Lord my God. ¹⁶ For I said, “Do not let them be happy and raise themselves up against me when my foot trips.” ¹⁷ For I am ready to fall. And my sorrow is always with me. ¹⁸ For I tell my wrong-doings. I am full of sorrow because of my sin. ¹⁹ But those who fight against me are full of action and strength. There are many who hate me without reason. ²⁰ They pay what is bad for what is good. They are against me because I follow what is good. ²¹ Do not leave me alone, O Lord! O my God, do not be far from me! ²² Hurry to help me, O Lord, Who saves me!

²⁵ My soul is laid in the dust. Give me new life because of Your Word. ²⁶ I have told about my ways, and You have answered me. Teach me Your Law. ²⁷ Make me understand the way of Your Law so I will talk about Your great works. ²⁸ My soul cries because of sorrow. Give me strength because of Your Word. ²⁹ Take the false way from me. Show Your loving-favor by giving me Your Law. ³⁰ I have chosen the faithful way. I have set Your Law in front of me. ³¹ I hold on to Your Law, O Lord. Do not put me to shame. ³² I will run the way of Your Law, for You will give me a willing heart.

³³ O Lord, teach me the way of Your Law and I will obey it to the end. ³⁴ Give me understanding. Then I will listen to Your Word and obey it with all my heart. ³⁵ Make me walk in the path of Your Word, for I find joy in it. ³⁶ Turn my heart toward Your Law, so I will not earn money in a wrong way. ³⁷ Turn my eyes away from things that have no worth, and give me new life because of Your ways. ³⁸ Keep Your promise to Your servant, the promise You made to those who fear and worship You. ³⁹ Turn away the shame that I do not want to come to me, for Your Law is good. ⁴⁰ O, how I desire Your Law! Give me new life because of Your right and good way.

⁴¹ May Your loving-kindness also come to me, O Lord. May You save me as Your Word says. ⁴² Then I will have an answer for the one who puts me to shame, for I trust in Your Word. ⁴³ Do not take the word of truth out of my mouth, for I hope in Your Law. ⁴⁴ I will always obey Your Law, forever and ever. ⁴⁵ I will walk as a free man, for I look for Your Law. ⁴⁶ I will speak of Your Law in front of kings and will not be ashamed. ⁴⁷ I will be glad in Your Law, which I love. ⁴⁸ I will lift up my hands to Your Word, which I love, and I will think about Your Law.

Isaiah Called to Be a Man Who Speaks for God

6 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and honored. His long clothing spread out and filled the house of God. ² Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ One called out to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of All. The whole earth is full of His shining-greatness.” ⁴ And the base of the doorways shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filled with smoke. ⁵ Then I said, “It is bad for me, for I am destroyed! Because I am a man whose lips are unclean. And I live among a people whose lips are unclean. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of All.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal which he had taken from the altar using a special tool. ⁷ He touched my mouth with it, and said, “See, this has touched your lips, and your guilt is taken away. Your sin is forgiven.” ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom should I send? Who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” ⁹ He said, “Go, and tell these people, ‘You hear and hear but do not understand. You look and look but do not see.’ ¹⁰ Make the hearts of these people hard. May their ears hear little and their eyes see little. Or they will see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and turn again and be healed.” ¹¹ Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are destroyed and empty, and until houses are without people and the land is laid waste. ¹² Until the Lord has taken men far away, and there are many places with no people in the land. ¹³ Yet one tenth part of the people will stay in it. But it will be burned again, like an oak tree whose roots are still there when it is cut down. The holy seed is all that will be left (of Israel).”

1 This letter is from Paul and Silas and Timothy. It is to the church in the city of Thessalonica that belongs to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ² May you have loving-favor and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We must give thanks to God for you always, Christian brothers. It is the right thing to do because your faith is growing so much. Your love for each other is stronger all the time. ⁴ We are proud of you and tell the other churches about you. We tell them how your faith stays so strong even when people make it hard for you and make you suffer. ⁵ God wants you to prove yourselves to be worth being in His holy nation by suffering for Him. ⁶ He does what is right and will allow trouble to come to those who are making it hard for you. ⁷ He will help you and us who are suffering. This will happen when the Lord Jesus comes down from heaven with His powerful angels in a bright fire. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and those who do not obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ They will be punished forever and taken away from the Lord and from the shining-greatness of His power. ¹⁰ On the day He comes, His shining-greatness will be seen in those who belong to Him. On that day, He will receive honor from all those who put their trust in Him. You believed what we had to say to you. ¹¹ For this reason, we always pray for you. We pray that our God will make you worth being chosen. We pray that His power will help you do the good things you want to do. We pray that your work of faith will be complete. ¹² In this way, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be honored by you and you will be honored by Him. It is through the loving-favor of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵³ *Then everyone went home.

Jesus Speaks to the Teachers of the Law and the Proud Religious Law-Keepers

8 (*Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning He went back to the house of God and all the people came to Him. He sat down and taught them.

³ The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers came to Him. They brought a woman who had been caught doing a sex sin. They made her stand in front of them all. ⁴ Then they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of doing a sex sin. ⁵ Moses told us in the Law to throw stones and kill a woman like this. What do You say about it?”

⁶ They were trying to set a trap to find something against Him. Jesus got down and began to write in the dust with His finger. ⁷ They kept on asking Him. Then He stood up and said, “Anyone of you who is without sin can throw the first stone at her.” ⁸ Again He got down and wrote in the dust. ⁹ When they heard what He said, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones until they were all gone. Then Jesus was left alone with the woman.

¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are those who spoke against you? Has no man said you are guilty?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Sir.” Jesus said to her, “Neither do I say you are guilty. Go on your way and do not sin again.”)