Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.
A Psalm of David.
101 I will (A)sing of mercy and [a]justice;
To You, Lord, I will sing praises.
2 I will (B)carefully attend to the [b]blameless way.
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house in the [c](C)integrity of my heart.
3 I will set no (D)worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the [d]work of those who (E)fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
4 A (F)perverse heart shall leave me;
I will know no evil.
5 Whoever secretly (G)slanders his neighbor, him I will [e]destroy;
I will not endure one who has a (H)haughty look and an arrogant heart.
6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;
One who walks in a [f](I)blameless way is one who will serve me.
7 One who (J)practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
One who speaks lies (K)shall not [g]maintain his position before me.
8 (L)Every morning I will [h](M)destroy all the wicked of the land,
So as to (N)eliminate from the (O)city of the Lord all those who do injustice.
Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
109 (A)God of my praise,
(B)Do not be silent!
2 For they have opened a [a]wicked and (C)deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken [b]against me with a (D)lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me (E)without cause.
4 In return (F)for my love they act as my accusers;
But (G)I am in prayer.
5 So they have [c](H)repaid me evil for good,
And (I)hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked person over him,
And may an [d](J)accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, may he (K)come out guilty,
And may his (L)prayer become sin.
8 May (M)his days be few;
May (N)another take his office.
9 May his (O)children be fatherless,
And his (P)wife a widow.
10 May his (Q)children wander about and beg;
And may they (R)seek sustenance [e]far from their ruined homes.
11 May (S)the creditor [f]seize everything that he has,
And may (T)strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12 May there be none to [g](U)extend kindness to him,
Nor (V)any to be gracious to his fatherless children.
13 May his (W)descendants be [h]eliminated;
May their (X)name be wiped out in a following generation.
14 May (Y)the guilt of his fathers be remembered [i]before the Lord,
And do not let the sin of his mother be (Z)wiped out.
15 May (AA)they be before the Lord continually,
So that He may (AB)eliminate their memory from the earth;
16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the (AC)afflicted and needy person,
And the (AD)despondent in heart, to (AE)put them to death.
17 He also loved cursing, so (AF)it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18 But he (AG)clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it (AH)entered [j]his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.
19 May it be to him as (AI)a garment with which he covers himself,
And as a belt which he constantly (AJ)wears around himself.
20 May this be the (AK)reward of my accusers from the Lord,
And of those who (AL)speak evil against my soul.
21 But You, [k]God, the Lord, deal kindly with me (AM)for the sake of Your name;
Because (AN)Your mercy is good, rescue me;
22 For (AO)I am afflicted and needy,
And [l]my heart is (AP)wounded within me.
23 I am passing (AQ)like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off (AR)like the locust.
24 My (AS)knees [m]are weak from (AT)fasting,
And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.
25 I also have become a (AU)disgrace to them;
When they see me, they (AV)shake their head.
26 (AW)Help me, Lord my God;
Save me according to Your mercy.
27 [n]And may they (AX)know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
28 (AY)They will curse, but You bless;
When they arise, they will be ashamed,
But Your (AZ)servant will be glad.
29 [o]May (BA)my accusers be clothed with dishonor,
And [p]may they (BB)cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30 With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord;
And (BC)I will praise Him in the midst of many.
Ayin
121 I have (A)done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Be (B)a guarantor for Your servant for good;
Do not let the arrogant (C)oppress me.
123 My (D)eyes fail with longing for Your salvation,
And for Your righteous [a]word.
124 Deal with Your servant (E)according to Your graciousness,
And (F)teach me Your statutes.
125 (G)I am Your servant; (H)give me understanding,
So that I may know Your testimonies.
126 It is time for the Lord to (I)act,
For they have broken Your Law.
127 Therefore I (J)love Your commandments
Above gold, yes, above pure gold.
128 Therefore I carefully follow all Your (K)precepts concerning everything,
I (L)hate every false way.
Pe
129 Your testimonies are (M)wonderful;
Therefore my soul (N)complies with them.
130 The (O)unfolding of Your words gives light;
It gives (P)understanding to the simple.
131 I (Q)opened my mouth wide and (R)panted,
For I (S)longed for Your commandments.
132 (T)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
As is right for those who love Your name.
133 Establish my (U)footsteps in Your [b]word,
And do not let any [c]wrongdoing (V)have power over me.
134 (W)Redeem me from oppression by man,
So that I may keep Your precepts.
135 (X)Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
And (Y)teach me Your statutes.
136 My eyes [d]shed (Z)streams of water,
Because they (AA)do not keep Your Law.
Tsadhe
137 (AB)You are righteous, Lord,
And Your judgments are right.
138 You have commanded Your testimonies in (AC)righteousness
And great (AD)faithfulness.
139 My (AE)zeal has [e]consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
140 Your (AF)word is very [f]pure,
Therefore Your servant (AG)loves it.
141 I am small and (AH)despised,
Yet I do not (AI)forget Your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And (AJ)Your Law is truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have [g]come upon me,
Yet Your commandments are my (AK)delight.
144 Your (AL)testimonies are righteous forever;
(AM)Give me understanding that I may live.
You Are Our Father
15 (A)Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious (B)lofty habitation;
Where are Your (C)zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The (D)stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
16 For You are our (E)Father, though (F)Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our Father,
Our (G)Redeemer from ancient times is Your name.
17 Why, Lord, do You (H)cause us to stray from Your ways
And (I)harden our heart from fearing You?
(J)Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while,
Our adversaries have (K)trampled it down.
19 We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name.
Prayer for Mercy and Help
64 [a]Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and (L)come down,
That the mountains would (M)quake at Your presence—
2 [b]As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the (N)nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did (O)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old (P)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who (Q)waits for Him.
5 You (R)meet him who rejoices in (S)doing righteousness,
Who (T)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, (U)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in [c]our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is (V)unclean,
And all our (W)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us (X)wither like a leaf,
And our (Y)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is (Z)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have (AA)hidden Your face from us
And have [d]surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.
Overseers and Deacons
3 (A)It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the (B)office of [a]overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 [b](C)An overseer, then, must be above reproach, (D)the husband of one wife, [c](E)temperate, self-controlled, respectable, (F)hospitable, (G)skillful in teaching, 3 (H)not overindulging in wine, not [d]a bully, but gentle, not contentious, (I)free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who (J)manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of (K)the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become (L)conceited and fall into (M)condemnation [e]incurred by the devil. 7 And he must (N)have a good reputation with (O)those outside the church, so that he will not fall into [f]disgrace and (P)the snare of the devil.
8 (Q)Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not [g]insincere, (R)not prone to drink much wine, (S)not greedy for money, 9 (T)but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 (U)These men must also first be tested; then have them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 [h]Women must likewise be dignified, (V)not malicious gossips, but [i](W)temperate, faithful in all things. 12 (X)Deacons must be (Y)husbands of one wife, and [j](Z)good managers of their children and their own households. 13 For those who have served well as deacons (AA)obtain for themselves a [k]high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but [l]in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in (AB)the household of God, which is the (AC)church of (AD)the living God, the (AE)pillar and support of the truth. 16 Beyond question, great is (AF)the mystery of godliness:
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
27 And they *came again to Jerusalem. (A)And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders *came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the [a]people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. 33 Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”
Parable of the Vine-growers
12 (B)And He began to speak to them in parables: “(C)A man (D)planted a vineyard and put a [b]fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to [c]vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the [d]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘(E)A stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the [e]chief cornerstone;
11 (F)This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 (G)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the [f]people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so (H)they left Him and went away.
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