Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Vindication
Of David.[a]
26 Judge me, O Yahweh, because I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted Yahweh and not wavered.
2 Prove me, O Yahweh, and test me.
Try my innermost being[b] and my mind.[c]
3 Because your loyal love is before my eyes,
and I walk about in your faithfulness.
4 I do not sit with deceitful people,
nor will I go about with hypocrites.
5 I hate the crowd of evildoers,
and with the wicked I will not sit.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence,
and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,
7 to declare with a voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Yahweh, I love the dwelling of your house,[d]
and the place where your glory abides.[e]
9 Do not destroy me[f] with the sinners,
nor my life with men of bloodshed,
10 in whose hands is an evil plan,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.[g]
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground.
In assemblies I will bless Yahweh.
A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer
A psalm of David.[a]
28 To you, O Yahweh, I call.
O my rock, do not be deaf to me.
Or else, if you are silent to me,
then I will become like those descending to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your holy inner sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked
or with the workers of evil,
who speak of peace with their neighbors,
while evil is in their heart.
4 Give to them according to their work,
even according to the evil of their deeds.
Give to them according to the work of their hands;
repay them their rightful due.
5 Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh,
nor the work of his hands,
he will destroy them
and not rebuild them.
6 Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him and I am helped.
So my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will give thanks to him.
8 Yahweh is their strength,
and he is the refuge for the salvation of his anointed one.
9 Save your people
and bless your heritage.
Shepherd them also and carry them always.
Human Wickedness and God’s Love
For the music director. Of David, the servant of Yahweh.[a]
36 An oracle: the wicked has rebellion
in the midst of his[b] heart.
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his eyes,
hating to detect his iniquity.[c]
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit.
He has ceased to have insight and to do good.
4 He plans sin on his bed.
He puts himself on a way that is not good.
He does not reject evil.
5 O Yahweh, your loyal love extends into the heavens,
your faithfulness unto the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,[d]
your judgments like the great deep.
You save man and beast, O Yahweh.
7 How precious is your loyal love, O God,
and the children of humankind
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed with the fullness[e] of your house,[f]
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
10 Prolong your loyal love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
11 Do not let a foot of pride come against me,
nor let a wicked hand make me to wander homeless.
12 There doers of evil have fallen;
they are thrust down and not able to rise.
The Brevity of Human Life
For the music director. For Jeduthun.[a] A psalm of David.[b]
39 I said, “I will guard my ways
that I may not sin[c] with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle over my mouth
as long as the wicked are before me.”
2 I was mute with silence. I was silent even from saying good things,
and my pain was stirred up.
3 My heart grew hot inside me;
in my sighing a fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue,
4 “Let me know, O Yahweh, my end,
and what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how transient I am.”
5 Look, you have made my days mere handbreadths,
and my lifespan as nothing next to you.
Surely every person standing firm is complete vanity. Selah
6 Surely a man walks about as a mere shadow;[d]
surely in vain they bustle about.
He heaps up possessions but does not know who will gather them in.
7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is for you.
8 From all my transgressions deliver me;
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
9 I am mute. I do not open my mouth,
for you, yourself, have done it.
10 Remove from me your affliction.
By the opposition of your hand I perish.
11 When with rebukes you chastise a man for sin,
you[e] consume[f] like a moth his delightful things.
Surely everyone is a mere vapor.[g] Selah
12 Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my tears.
For I am an alien[h] with you,
a sojourner like all my ancestors.[i]
13 Look away from me that I may be cheerful,
before I depart and I am no more.
16 You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his legal provisions and his rules that he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Yahweh, so that it shall go well[a] for you and so that you may go and you may take possession of the good land that Yahweh swore for your ancestors,[b] 19 by driving out all of your enemies before you,[c] just as Yahweh has promised.[d]
20 “When your child[e] asks you in the future, saying,[f] ‘What is the meaning of the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Yahweh our God commanded for you?’ 21 Then you shall say to your child,[g] ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand. 22 And Yahweh gave great and awesome signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and against his entire household in our presence.[h] 23 But he brought us out from there in order to bring us here to give us the land that he swore to our ancestors.[i] 24 And so Yahweh commanded us to observe all of these rules and to revere Yahweh our God for our benefit[j] all the days that we live,[k] as it is today.[l] 25 And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before[m] Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’
Warning Not to Neglect Salvation
2 Because of this, it is all the more necessary that we pay attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels was binding and every transgression and act of disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we[a] neglect so great a salvation which had its beginning when it[b] was spoken through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 while[c] God was testifying at the same time by signs and wonders and various miracles and distributions of the Holy Spirit according to his will.
The Son’s Humiliation and Suffering
5 For he did not subject to angels the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But someone testified somewhere, saying,
“What is man, that you remember him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a short time lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor;[d]
8 you subjected all things under his feet.[e]
For in subjecting all things,[f] he left nothing that was not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him, 9 but we see Jesus, for a short time made lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that apart from God[g] he might taste death on behalf of everyone. 10 For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the originator of their salvation through sufferings.
John the Baptist Testifies to Jesus
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent[a] priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they could ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed—and he did not deny, and confessed—“I am not the Christ!” 21 And they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not!” “Are you the Prophet?”[b] And he answered, “No!” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said,
“I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord,”’[c]
just as Isaiah the prophet said.” 24 (And they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 And they asked him and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water. In your midst stands one whom you do not know— 27 the one who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie[d] the strap of his sandal!” 28 These things took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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