Book of Common Prayer
The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.
A [a]Mikhtam of David.
16 (A)Preserve me, O God, for (B)I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I (C)have no good besides You.”
3 As for the [d](D)saints who are in the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones (E)in whom is all my delight.
4 The [f](F)sorrows of those who have [g]bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of (G)blood,
Nor will I (H)take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is the (I)portion of my inheritance and my (J)cup;
You support my (K)lot.
6 The (L)lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is (M)beautiful to me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has (N)counseled me;
Indeed, my [h](O)mind instructs me in the night.
8 (P)I have (Q)set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is (R)at my right hand, (S)I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore (T)my heart is glad and (U)my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will (V)dwell securely.
10 For You (W)will not abandon my soul to [i]Sheol;
Nor will You [j](X)allow Your [k]Holy One to [l]undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me (Y)the path of life;
In (Z)Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are (AA)pleasures forever.
Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.
A Prayer of David.
17 Hear a (AB)just cause, O Lord, (AC)give heed to my cry;
(AD)Give ear to my prayer, which is not from (AE)deceitful lips.
2 Let (AF)my [m]judgment come forth from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look with (AG)equity.
3 You have (AH)tried my heart;
You have visited me by night;
You have (AI)tested me and (AJ)You find [n]nothing;
I have (AK)purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 As for the deeds of men, (AL)by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the (AM)paths of the violent.
5 My (AN)steps have held fast to Your [o]paths.
My (AO)feet have not slipped.
6 I have (AP)called upon You, for You will answer me, O God;
(AQ)Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
7 (AR)Wondrously show Your lovingkindness,
O (AS)Savior of those who take refuge [p]at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as [q]the (AT)apple of the eye;
Hide me (AU)in the shadow of Your wings
9 From the (AV)wicked who despoil me,
My (AW)deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have (AX)closed their [r]unfeeling heart,
With their mouth they (AY)speak proudly.
11 They have now (AZ)surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes (BA)to cast us down to the ground.
12 He is (BB)like a lion that is eager to tear,
And as a young lion (BC)lurking in hiding places.
13 (BD)Arise, O Lord, confront him, (BE)bring him low;
(BF)Deliver my soul from the wicked with (BG)Your sword,
14 From men with (BH)Your hand, O Lord,
From men [s]of the world, (BI)whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You (BJ)fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babes.
15 As for me, I shall (BK)behold Your face in righteousness;
(BL)I will be satisfied [t]with Your (BM)likeness when I awake.
A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
For the choir director; upon [a]Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.
22 (A)My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
[b](B)Far from my deliverance are the words of my [c](C)groaning.
2 O my God, I (D)cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but [d]I have no rest.
3 Yet (E)You are holy,
O You who [e]are enthroned upon (F)the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers (G)trusted;
They trusted and You (H)delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
(I)In You they trusted and were not [f]disappointed.
6 But I am a (J)worm and not a man,
A (K)reproach of men and (L)despised by the people.
7 All who see me [g](M)sneer at me;
They [h]separate with the lip, they (N)wag the head, saying,
8 “[i]Commit yourself to the Lord; (O)let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
9 Yet You are He who (P)brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast (Q)from [j]birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 (R)Be not far from me, for [k]trouble is near;
For there is (S)none to help.
12 Many (T)bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of (U)Bashan have encircled me.
13 They (V)open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring (W)lion.
14 I am (X)poured out like water,
And all my (Y)bones are out of joint;
My (Z)heart is like wax;
It is melted within [l]me.
15 My (AA)strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And (AB)my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You (AC)lay me [m]in the dust of death.
16 For (AD)dogs have surrounded me;
[n]A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
[o]They (AE)pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
(AF)They look, they stare at me;
18 They (AG)divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Lord, (AH)be not far off;
O You my help, (AI)hasten to my assistance.
20 Deliver my [p]soul from (AJ)the sword,
My (AK)only life from the [q]power of the dog.
21 Save me from the (AL)lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the (AM)wild oxen You (AN)answer me.
22 I will (AO)tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 (AP)You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you [r]descendants of Jacob, (AQ)glorify Him,
And (AR)stand in awe of Him, all you [s]descendants of Israel.
24 For He has (AS)not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He (AT)hidden His face from him;
But (AU)when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
25 From You comes (AV)my praise in the great assembly;
I shall (AW)pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The [t]afflicted will eat and (AX)be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will (AY)praise the Lord.
Let your (AZ)heart live forever!
27 All the (BA)ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the (BB)families of the nations will worship before [u]You.
28 For the (BC)kingdom is the Lord’s
And He (BD)rules over the nations.
29 All the [v](BE)prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who (BF)go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who [w](BG)cannot keep his soul alive.
30 [x](BH)Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to (BI)the coming generation.
31 They will come and (BJ)will declare His righteousness
To a people (BK)who will be born, that He has performed it.
“Seek Me that You May Live”
5 Hear this word which I take up for you as a (A)dirge, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, she will (B)not rise again—
The (C)virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is (D)none to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord [a]God,
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a (E)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have (F)ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,
“(G)Seek Me (H)that you may live.
5 “But do not [b]resort to (I)Bethel
And do not come to (J)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to (K)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will [c]come to trouble.
6 “(L)Seek the Lord that you may live,
Or He will break forth like a (M)fire, [d]O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 For those who turn (N)justice into wormwood
And [e]cast righteousness down to the earth.”
8 He who made the (O)Pleiades and Orion
And (P)changes deep darkness into morning,
[f]Who also (Q)darkens day into night,
Who (R)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The (S)Lord is His name.
9 It is He who (T)flashes forth with destruction upon the strong,
So that (U)destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who (V)reproves in the [g]gate,
And they (W)abhor him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you [h]impose heavy rent on the poor
And exact a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (X)houses of well-hewn stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will (Y)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great,
You who (Z)distress the righteous and accept bribes
And [i]turn aside the poor in the [j]gate.
13 Therefore at [k]such a time the prudent person (AA)keeps silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you,
(AB)Just as you have said!
15 (AC)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the [l]gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of hosts
(AD)May be gracious to the (AE)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,
The Warnings of History to the Ungodly
1 [a](A)Jude, a (B)bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of [b]James,
To (C)those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and (D)kept for Jesus Christ: 2 (E)May mercy and peace and love (F)be multiplied to you.
3 (G)Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our (H)common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you (I)contend earnestly for (J)the faith which was once for all (K)handed down to (L)the [c]saints. 4 For certain persons have (M)crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand [d](N)marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn (O)the grace of our God into (P)licentiousness and (Q)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I desire to (R)remind you, though (S)you know all things once for all, that [e]the Lord, (T)after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, [f]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (U)angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has (V)kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as (W)Sodom and Gomorrah and the (X)cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and (Y)went after [g]strange flesh, are exhibited as an [h](Z)example in undergoing the (AA)punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, (AB)defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile [i]angelic majesties. 9 But (AC)Michael (AD)the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about (AE)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “(AF)The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But (AG)these men revile the things which they do not understand; and (AH)the things which they know by instinct, (AI)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are [j]destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone (AJ)the way of Cain, and for pay [k]they have rushed headlong into (AK)the error of Balaam, and (AL)perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the men who are [l]hidden reefs (AM)in your love feasts when they feast with you (AN)without fear, caring for themselves; (AO)clouds without water, (AP)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, [m]doubly dead, (AQ)uprooted; 13 (AR)wild waves of the sea, casting up (AS)their own [n]shame like foam; wandering stars, (AT)for whom the [o]black darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these men that (AU)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “(AV)Behold, the Lord came with [p]many thousands of His holy ones, 15 (AW)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which (AX)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are (AY)grumblers, finding fault, (AZ)following after their own lusts; [q]they speak (BA)arrogantly, flattering people (BB)for the sake of gaining an advantage.
Parable of the Marriage Feast
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “(A)The kingdom of heaven [a]may be compared to [b]a king who [c]gave a (B)wedding feast for his son. 3 And he (C)sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he (D)sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own [d]farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7 But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to (E)the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with [e]dinner guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw (F)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘(G)Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into (H)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are [f](I)called, but few are (J)chosen.”
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