Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Guidance
To the Chief Musician. With [a]flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 Give (A)ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my [b]meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
(B)In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil [c]dwell with You.
5 The (C)boastful shall not (D)stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the (E)bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward [d]Your holy temple.
8 (F)Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no [e]faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
(G)Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You [f]defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
A Prayer of Faith in Time of Distress
To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. (H)On [g]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (I)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
O Lord, (J)heal me, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly (K)troubled;
But You, O Lord—how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver me!
Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
5 (L)For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?
A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil
10 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride [a]persecutes the poor;
(A)Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (B)boasts of his heart’s desire;
[b]He (C)blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
[c]God is in none of his (D)thoughts.
5 His ways [d]are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
6 (E)He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
(F)I shall never be in adversity.”
7 (G)His mouth is full of cursing and (H)deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
9 He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 So [e]he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his [f]strength.
11 He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”
12 Arise, O Lord!
O God, (I)lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the (J)humble.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”
14 But You have (K)seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless (L)commits[g] himself to You;
(M)You are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 (N)The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To [h]do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may [i]oppress no more.
Faith in the Lord’s Righteousness
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
11 In (O)the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For look! (P)The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot [j]secretly at the upright in heart.
3 (Q)If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s (R)throne is in heaven;
(S)His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord (T)tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
(U)Shall be [k]the portion of their cup.
The Temptation and Fall of Man(A)
3 Now (B)the serpent was (C)more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the (D)fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you (E)touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 (F)Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman (G)saw that the tree was good for food, that it was [a]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit (H)and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, (I)and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves [b]coverings.
8 And they heard (J)the [c]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [d]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife (K)hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, (L)and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, (M)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, (N)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And (O)you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between (P)your seed and (Q)her Seed;
(R)He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
(S)In pain you shall bring forth children;
(T)Your desire shall be [e]for your husband,
And he shall (U)rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, (V)“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree (W)of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
(X)“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
(Y)In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall [f]bring forth for you,
And (Z)you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 (AA)In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
(AB)For dust you are,
And (AC)to dust you shall return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name (AD)Eve,[g] because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden (AE)to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So (AF)He drove out the man; and He placed (AG)cherubim (AH)at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of (AI)life.
Do Not Neglect Salvation
2 Therefore we must give [a]the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word (A)spoken through angels proved steadfast, and (B)every transgression and disobedience received a just [b]reward, 3 (C)how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, (D)which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was (E)confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 (F)God also bearing witness (G)both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and (H)gifts[c] of the Holy Spirit, (I)according to His own will?
The Son Made Lower than Angels(J)
5 For He has not put (K)the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. 6 But one testified in a certain place, saying:
(L)“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him [d]a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
[e]And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 (M)You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now (N)we do not yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, (O)who was made [f]a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death (P)crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death (Q)for everyone.
Bringing Many Sons to Glory
10 For it was fitting for Him, (R)for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation (S)perfect through sufferings.
A Voice in the Wilderness(A)
19 Now this is (B)the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 (C)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you (D)the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: (E)“I am
(F)‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, (G)“I baptize with water, (H)but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 (I)It is He who, coming after me, [a]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done (J)in [b]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.