Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, O Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You (B)I trust,
Do not let me (C)be ashamed;
Do not let my (D)enemies exult 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, O 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, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been [b](L)from of old.
7 Do not remember the (M)sins of my youth or my transgressions;
(N)According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your (O)goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 (P)Good and (Q)upright is the Lord;
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)lovingkindness and truth
To (V)those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For (W)Your name’s sake, O Lord,
(X)Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who (Y)fears the Lord?
He will (Z)instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will (AA)abide 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)pluck my feet out of 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 upon my affliction and my [l]trouble,
And (AL)forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they (AM)are many,
And they (AN)hate me with violent hatred.
20 (AO)Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me (AP)be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let (AQ)integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For (AR)I wait for You.
22 (AS)Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
For the choir 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 be glad and (C)exult 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 destroyed the wicked;
You have (J)blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 [e]The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (K)memory of them has perished.
7 But the (L)Lord [f]abides 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 with equity.
9 [g]The Lord also will 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, O Lord, have not (Q)forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (R)dwells in Zion;
(S)Declare among the peoples His deeds.
12 For (T)He who [i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (U)the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord;
See my affliction from those (V)who hate me,
You who (W)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 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)in 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.
In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. [k]Higgaion [l]Selah.
17 The wicked will [m](AD)return to [n]Sheol,
Even 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, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be (AI)judged before You.
20 Put them (AJ)in fear, O Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (AK)but men. Selah.
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who may [a]abide (A)in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your (B)holy hill?
2 He who (C)walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And (D)speaks truth in his heart.
3 He (E)does not slander [b]with his tongue,
Nor (F)does evil to his neighbor,
Nor (G)takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 In [c]whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But [d]who (H)honors those who fear the Lord;
He (I)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He (J)does not put out his money [e]at interest,
Nor (K)does he take a bribe against the innocent.
(L)He 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 dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; 9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the [c]surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. 10 So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 The dove came to him toward [d]evening, and behold, in her [e]beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. 12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out (B)the dove; but she 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, the water was dried up [f]from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the [g]surface of the ground was dried up. 14 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 creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may [h](D)breed abundantly on the earth, and 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 beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out [i]by their families from the ark.
20 Then Noah built (E)an altar to the Lord, and took of every (F)clean animal and of every clean bird and offered (G)burnt offerings on the altar. 21 The Lord (H)smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said [j]to Himself, “I will never again (I)curse the ground on account of man, for (J)the [k]intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; (K)and I will never again [l]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 us hold fast 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 as we are, yet (G)without sin. 16 Therefore let us (H)draw near with (I)confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The Perfect High Priest
5 For every high priest (J)taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men 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)beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices (R)for sins, (S)as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And (T)no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even (U)as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ (V)did not glorify Himself so as to become a (W)high priest, but He who (X)said to Him,
“(Y)You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”;
6 just as He says also in another passage,
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at (A)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, (B)observing His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for (C)He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, (D)for He Himself knew what was in man.
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 Jesus by night and said to Him, “(G)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these [a](H)signs that You do unless (I)God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one (J)is born [b]again he cannot see (K)the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of (L)water and the Spirit he cannot enter into (M)the kingdom of God. 6 (N)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born [c]again.’ 8 (O)The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you (P)the teacher of Israel and 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 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, but (U)He who descended from heaven: (V)the Son of Man. 14 As (W)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must (X)the Son of Man (Y)be lifted up; 15 so that whoever [d]believes will (Z)in Him have eternal life.
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