Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance, and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 My God, in You (B)I trust,
Do not let me (C)be ashamed;
Do not let my (D)enemies rejoice over me.
3 Indeed, (E)none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
[a]Those who (F)deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
4 (G)Make me know Your ways, Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in (H)Your truth and teach me,
For You are the (I)God of my salvation;
For You I (J)wait all the day.
6 (K)Remember, Lord, Your compassion and Your faithfulness,
For they have been [b](L)from of old.
7 Do not remember the (M)sins of my youth or my wrongdoings;
(N)Remember me according to Your faithfulness,
For Your (O)goodness’ sake, Lord.
8 (P)The Lord is good and (Q)upright;
Therefore He (R)instructs sinners in the way.
9 He (S)leads the [c]humble in justice,
And He (T)teaches the [d]humble His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (U)faithfulness and truth
To (V)those who comply with His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For the (W)sake of Your name, Lord,
(X)Forgive my wrongdoing, for it is great.
12 Who is the person who (Y)fears the Lord?
He will (Z)instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will (AA)dwell in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will (AB)inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h](AC)secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will (AD)make them know His covenant.
15 My (AE)eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j](AF)rescue my feet from the net.
16 (AG)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am (AH)lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The (AI)troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me (AJ)out of my distresses.
18 (AK)Look at my misery and my trouble,
And (AL)forgive all my sins.
19 Look at my enemies, for they (AM)are many,
And they (AN)hate me with violent hatred.
20 (AO)Guard my soul and save me;
Do not let me (AP)be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let (AQ)integrity and uprightness protect me,
For (AR)I wait for You.
22 (AS)Redeem Israel, God,
From all his distress.
Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
For the music director; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all (A)my heart;
I will (B)tell of all Your [b]wonders.
2 I will rejoice and be (C)jubilant in You;
I will (D)sing praise to Your name, O (E)Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and (F)perish before You.
4 For You have (G)maintained [c]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne [d](H)judging righteously.
5 You have (I)rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked;
You have (J)wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 [e]The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (K)memory of them has perished.
7 But the (L)Lord [f]sits as King forever;
He has established His (M)throne for judgment,
8 And He will (N)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
9 [g]The Lord will also be a (O)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And [h]those who (P)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not (Q)abandoned those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (R)dwells in Zion;
(S)Declare His deeds among the peoples.
12 For (T)He who [i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (U)the cry of the needy.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord;
See my oppression from those (V)who hate me,
You who (W)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 So that I may tell of (X)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may (Y)rejoice in Your [j]salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down (Z)into the pit which they have made;
In the (AA)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has (AB)made Himself known;
He has (AC)executed judgment.
A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. [k]Higgaion Selah
17 The wicked will [l](AD)return to [m]Sheol,
All the nations who (AE)forget God.
18 For the (AF)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the (AG)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 (AH)Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail;
Let the nations be (AI)judged before You.
20 Put them (AJ)in fear, Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (AK)merely human. Selah
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may reside (A)in Your tent?
Who may settle on Your (B)holy hill?
2 One who (C)walks with integrity, practices righteousness,
And (D)speaks truth in his heart.
3 He (E)does not slander [a]with his tongue,
Nor (F)do evil to his neighbor,
Nor (G)bring shame on his friend;
4 A despicable person is despised in his eyes,
But he (H)honors those who fear the Lord;
He (I)takes an oath to his own detriment, and does not change;
5 He (J)does not [b]lend his money [c]at interest,
Nor (K)does he take a bribe against the innocent.
(L)One who does these things will never be shaken.
6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the (A)window of the ark which he had made; 7 and he sent out a raven, and it [a]flew here and there until the water was dried up [b]from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a [c]dove, to see if the water was low on the [d]surface of the land; 9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him in the ark, for the water was on the [e]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took it, and brought it into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited another seven days longer; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove came to him in [f]the evening, and behold, in its [g]beak was a fresh olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was low on the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days longer, and sent out (B)the dove; but it did not return to him again.
13 Now it came about in the (C)six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, that the water was dried up [h]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the [i]surface of the ground had dried up. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, that they may [j](D)breed abundantly on the earth, and (E)be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every crawling thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out [k]by their families from the ark.
20 Then Noah built (F)an altar to the Lord, and took some of every kind of (G)clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered (H)burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord (I)smelled the soothing aroma, and the Lord said [l]to Himself, “I will never again (J)curse the ground on account of man, for (K)the [m]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; (L)and I will never again [n]destroy every living thing, as I have done.
14 Therefore, since we have a great (A)high priest who has (B)passed through the heavens, Jesus (C)the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our (D)confession. 15 For we do not have (E)a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been (F)tempted in all things just as we are, yet (G)without sin. 16 Therefore let’s (H)approach the throne of grace with (I)confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.
The Perfect High Priest
5 For every high priest (J)taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in (K)things pertaining to God, in order to (L)offer both gifts and sacrifices (M)for sins; 2 [a](N)he can deal gently with the (O)ignorant and (P)misguided, since he himself also is [b](Q)clothed in weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices (R)for sins for himself, (S)as well as for the people. 4 And (T)no one takes the honor for himself, but receives it when he is called by God, just (U)as Aaron also was.
5 So too Christ (V)did not glorify Himself in becoming a (W)high priest, but it was He who (X)said to Him,
“(Y)You are My Son,
Today I have fathered You”;
6 just as He also says in another passage,
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at (A)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name as they (B)observed His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because (C)He knew all people, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, (D)for He Himself knew what was in mankind.
The New Birth
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named (E)Nicodemus, a (F)ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to [a]Jesus at night and said to Him, “(G)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these [b](H)signs that You do unless (I)God is with him.” 3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone (J)is born [c]again he cannot see (K)the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of (L)water and the Spirit, he cannot enter (M)the kingdom of God. 6 (N)That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born [d]again.’ 8 (O)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “You are (P)the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, (Q)we speak of what we know and (R)testify of what we have seen, and (S)you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 (T)No one has ascended into heaven, except (U)He who descended from heaven: (V)the Son of Man. 14 And just as (W)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must (X)the Son of Man (Y)be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who [e]believes will (Z)have eternal life in Him.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.