Book of Common Prayer
מ MEM
97 Oh, how I love Your law!
(A)It is my meditation all the day.
98 You, through Your commandments, make me (B)wiser than my enemies;
For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
(C)For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 (D)I understand more than the [a]ancients,
Because I keep Your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
102 I have not departed from Your judgments,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103 (E)How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
נ NUN
105 (F)Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 (G)I have sworn and confirmed
That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 Accept, I pray, (H)the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your judgments.
109 (I)My life is continually [b]in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 (J)The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
111 (K)Your testimonies I have taken as a [c]heritage forever,
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, to the very end.
ס SAMEK
113 I hate the [d]double-minded,
But I love Your law.
114 (L)You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word.
115 (M)Depart from me, you evildoers,
For I will keep the commandments of my God!
116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me (N)be ashamed of my hope.
117 [e]Hold me up, and I shall be safe,
And I shall observe Your statutes continually.
118 You reject all those who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceit is falsehood.
119 You [f]put away all the wicked of the earth (O)like [g]dross;
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 (P)My flesh trembles for fear of You,
And I am afraid of Your judgments.
An Appeal for Israel’s Repentance
To the Chief Musician. (A)On[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4 For (B)this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
(C)Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 (D)You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
(E)I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I (F)tested you at the waters of [b]Meribah. Selah
8 “Hear,(G) O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9 There shall be no (H)foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 (I)I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
(J)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have (K)none of Me.
12 (L)So I gave them over to [c]their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh,(M) that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (N)The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him,
But their [d]fate would endure forever.
16 He would (O)have fed them also with [e]the finest of wheat;
And with honey (P)from the rock I would have satisfied you.”
A Plea for Justice
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God (Q)stands in the congregation of [f]the mighty;
He judges among (R)the [g]gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly,
And (S)show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 [h]Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and (T)needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the (U)foundations of the earth are [i]unstable.
6 I said, (V)“You are [j]gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
(W)For You shall inherit all nations.
Isaac Blesses Jacob
27 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was (A)old and (B)his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
And he answered him, “Here I am.”
2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I (C)do not know the day of my death. 3 (D)Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me [a]savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul (E)may bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. 6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring me game and make [b]savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, (F)obey my voice according to what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make (G)savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he (H)may bless you before his death.”
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, (I)Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12 Perhaps my father will (J)feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring (K)a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
13 But his mother said to him, (L)“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” 14 And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother (M)made [c]savory food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took (N)the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 So he went to his father and said, “My father.”
And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, (O)that your soul may bless me.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”
And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I (P)may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because (Q)his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.
24 Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
He said, “I am.”
25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so (R)that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” 27 And he came near and (S)kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said:
“Surely, (T)the smell of my son
Is like the smell of a field
Which the Lord has blessed.
28 Therefore may (U)God give you
Of (V)the dew of heaven,
Of (W)the fatness of the earth,
And (X)plenty of grain and wine.
29 (Y)Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And (Z)let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
(AA)Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!”
Living Sacrifices to God
12 I (A)beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies (B)a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service. 2 And (C)do not be conformed to this world, but (D)be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may (E)prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
3 For I say, (F)through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, (G)not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt (H)to each one a measure of faith. 4 For (I)as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so (J)we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is (K)given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us (L)prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; (M)he who teaches, in teaching; 8 (N)he who exhorts, in exhortation; (O)he who gives, with liberality; (P)he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, (Q)with cheerfulness.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, (A)“I am the light of the world. He who (B)follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Jesus Defends His Self-Witness
13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, (C)“You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not [a]true.”
14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but (D)you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15 (E)You judge according to the flesh; (F)I judge no one. 16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for (G)I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 (H)It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and (I)the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”
19 Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, (J)“You know neither Me nor My Father. (K)If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”
20 These words Jesus spoke in (L)the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and (M)no one laid hands on Him, for (N)His hour had not yet come.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.