Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He reached down to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of [b]destruction, out of the mud;
And (D)He set my feet on a rock, (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not turned to the [c]proud, nor to those who (J)become involved in falsehood.
5 Many, Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 (N)You have not desired [d]sacrifice and meal offering;
You have [e]opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is [f]written of me in the scroll of the book.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, my God;
(P)Your Law is within my [g]heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[h]Your (V)mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [i]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me;
(AB)Hurry, Lord, to help me.
14 May those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [j]life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [k]in my hurt.
15 May those (AE)be [l]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually (AH)say,
“The Lord be exalted!”
17 But (AI)I am afflicted and needy;
(AJ)May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”
54 Save me, God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, God;
(D)Listen to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. Selah
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion, (C)wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I (F)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [b]are justified [c]when You speak
And [d]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in secret You will (L)make wisdom known to me.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
[g]Cleanse me, and I will be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Let me hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, God,
And renew a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will [j]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Save me from (AA)the guilt of bloodshed, God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, [k](AD)open my lips,
So that my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
18 “You shall keep (A)the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For (B)seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, [a]as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the (C)month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “(D)The [b]firstborn from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the [c]firstborn from [d]cattle and sheep. 20 (E)You shall redeem with a lamb the firstborn from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem (F)all the firstborn of your sons. [e](G)None are to appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work (H)six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 And you shall celebrate (I)the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 (J)Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord [f]God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will [g](K)drive out nations from you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “(L)You shall not [h]offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, (M)nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to [i]be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring (N)the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “(O)Write [j]down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made (P)a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord for (Q)forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And [k](R)He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, (S)the Ten [l]Commandments.
Moses’ Face Shines
29 And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the (T)two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that (U)the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and (V)they were afraid to approach him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken [m]to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, (W)he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, (X)he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35 (Y)the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Him.
Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit
3 Therefore, (A)when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left behind, alone at (B)Athens, 2 and we sent (C)Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the benefit of your faith, 3 so that no one would be [a]disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that (D)we have been destined for this. 4 For even when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; [b](E)and so it happened, [c]as you know. 5 For this reason, (F)when I could no longer endure it, I also (G)sent to [d]find out about your faith, for fear that (H)the tempter might have tempted you, and (I)our labor would be for nothing.
6 But now that (J)Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of (K)your faith and love, and that you always (L)think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, 7 for this reason, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; 8 for now we really live, if you (M)stand firm in the Lord. 9 For (N)what thanks can we give to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before our God, 10 as we (O)keep praying most earnestly night and day that we may (P)see your faces, and may (Q)complete what is lacking in your faith?
11 (R)Now may (S)our God and Father (T)Himself, and our Lord Jesus, (U)direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and (V)overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may (W)establish your hearts (X)blameless in holiness before (Y)our God and Father at the [e](Z)coming of our Lord Jesus (AA)with all His [f]saints.
27 “(A)You have heard that it was said, ‘(B)You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman (C)with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 Now (D)if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, [a]than for your whole body to be thrown into [b](E)hell. 30 And (F)if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you [c]to lose one of the parts of your body, [d]than for your whole body to go into [e](G)hell.
31 “Now it was said, ‘(H)Whoever sends his wife away is to give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 (I)but I say to you that everyone who [f]divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a [g]divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, (J)you have heard that [h]the ancients were told, ‘[i](K)You shall not [j]make false vows, but shall fulfill your [k]vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, (L)take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is (M)the throne of God, 35 nor by the earth, for it is the (N)footstool of His feet, nor [l]by Jerusalem, for it is (O)the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But make sure your statement is, ‘[m]Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is [n]of (P)evil origin.
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