Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 119[a]
א (Alef)
119 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless,[b]
who obey[c] the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,
and seek him with all their heart,
3 who, moreover, do no wrong,
but follow in his footsteps.[d]
4 You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept.[e]
5 If only I were predisposed[f]
to keep your statutes.
6 Then I would not be ashamed,
if[g] I were focused on[h] all your commands.
7 I will give you sincere thanks,[i]
when I learn your just regulations.
8 I will keep your statutes.
Do not completely abandon me.[j]
ב (Bet)
9 How can a young person[k] maintain a pure life?[l]
By guarding it according to your instructions.[m]
10 With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands.
11 In my heart I store up[n] your words,[o]
so I might not sin against you.
12 You deserve praise,[p] O Lord.
Teach me your statutes.
13 With my lips I proclaim
all the regulations you have revealed.[q]
14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules[r]
as if[s] they were riches of all kinds.[t]
15 I will meditate on[u] your precepts
and focus on[v] your behavior.[w]
16 I find delight[x] in your statutes;
I do not forget your instructions.[y]
ג (Gimel)
17 Be kind to your servant.
Then I will live[z] and keep[aa] your instructions.[ab]
18 Open[ac] my eyes so I can truly see[ad]
the marvelous things in your law.
19 I am a resident foreigner in this land.[ae]
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 I desperately long to know[af]
your regulations at all times.
21 You reprimand arrogant people.
Those who stray from your commands are doomed.[ag]
22 Spare me[ah] shame and humiliation,
for I observe your rules.
23 Though rulers plot and slander me,[ai]
your servant meditates on your statutes.
24 Yes, I find delight in your rules;
they give me guidance.[aj]
Psalm 12[a]
For the music director, according to the sheminith style;[b] a psalm of David.
12 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly[c] have disappeared;[d]
people of integrity[e] have vanished.[f]
2 People lie to one another;[g]
they flatter and deceive.[h]
3 May the Lord cut off[i] all flattering lips,
and the tongue that boasts![j]
4 They say,[k] “We speak persuasively;[l]
we know how to flatter and boast.[m]
Who is our master?”[n]
5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed,[o]
because of the painful cries[p] of the needy,
I will spring into action,”[q] says the Lord.
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.”[r]
6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable.[s]
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined.[t]
7 You, Lord, will protect them;[u]
you will continually shelter each one from these evil people,[v]
8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere,[w]
when people promote evil.[x]
Psalm 13[y]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
13 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me?[z]
How long will you pay no attention to me?[aa]
2 How long must I worry,[ab]
and suffer in broad daylight?[ac]
How long will my enemy gloat over me?[ad]
3 Look at me![ae] Answer me, O Lord my God!
Revive me,[af] or else I will die.[ag]
4 Then[ah] my enemy will say, “I have defeated him.”
Then[ai] my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I[aj] trust in your faithfulness.
May I rejoice because of your deliverance.[ak]
6 I will sing praises[al] to the Lord
when he vindicates me.[am]
Psalm 14[an]
For the music director, by David.
14 Fools say to themselves,[ao] “There is no God.”[ap]
They sin and commit evil deeds;[aq]
none of them does what is right.[ar]
2 The Lord looks down from heaven[as] at the human race,[at]
to see if there is anyone who is wise[au] and seeks God.[av]
3 Everyone rejects God;[aw]
they are all morally corrupt.[ax]
None of them does what is right,[ay]
not even one.
4 All those who behave wickedly[az] do not understand—[ba]
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to the Lord.
5 They are absolutely terrified,[bb]
for God defends the godly.[bc]
6 You want to humiliate the oppressed,[bd]
even though[be] the Lord is their[bf] shelter.
7 I wish the deliverance[bg] of Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the well-being of his people,[bh]
may Jacob rejoice,[bi]
may Israel be happy![bj]
Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts[a]
6 My child,[b] if you have made a pledge[c] for your neighbor,[d]
if[e] you have become a guarantor[f] for a stranger,[g]
2 if[h] you have been ensnared[i] by the words you have uttered,[j]
and have been caught by the words you have spoken,
3 then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,[k]
because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:[l]
Go, humble yourself,[m]
and appeal firmly to[n] your neighbor.
4 Permit no sleep to your eyes[o]
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare,[p]
and like a bird from the trap[q] of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;[r]
observe her[s] ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
overseer, or[t] ruler,
8 yet it would prepare[u] its food in the summer;
it gathered at the harvest what it will eat.[v]
9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep?[w]
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax,[x]
11 and your poverty will come like a robber,[y]
and your need like an armed man.[z]
12 A worthless and wicked person[aa]
walks around saying perverse things;[ab] [ac]
13 he winks with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his fingers;[ad]
14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts[ae] in his heart,
he spreads contention[af] at all times.
15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;
in an instant[ag] he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
even[ah] seven[ai] things that are an abomination to him:[aj]
17 haughty eyes,[ak] a lying tongue,[al]
and hands that shed innocent blood,[am]
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,[an]
feet that are swift to run[ao] to evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies,[ap]
and a person who spreads discord[aq] among family members.[ar]
5 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has been fathered[b] by God, and everyone who loves the father[c] loves the child fathered by him.[d] 2 By this[e] we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For[f] this is the love of God:[g] that we keep his commandments.[h] And his commandments do not weigh us down, 4 because[i] everyone[j] who has been fathered by God[k] conquers[l] the world.[m]
Testimony About the Son
This[n] is the conquering power[o] that has conquered[p] the world: our faith. 5 Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that[q] Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ is the one who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because[r] the Spirit is the truth. 7 For[s] there are three that testify,[t] 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because[u] this[v] is the testimony of God that[w] he has testified concerning his Son. 10 (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.)[x] 11 And this is the testimony: God[y] has given us eternal life,[z] and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son[aa] has this[ab] eternal[ac] life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this[ad] eternal[ae] life.
16 “To[a] what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces[b] who call out to one another,[c]
17 ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance;[d]
we wailed in mourning,[e] yet you did not weep.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’[f] 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him,[g] a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors[h] and sinners!’[i] But wisdom is vindicated[j] by her deeds.”[k]
Woes on Unrepentant Cities
20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities[l] in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin![m] Woe to you, Bethsaida! If[n] the miracles[o] done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,[p] they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.[q] 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon[r] on the day of judgment than for you! 23 And you, Capernaum,[s] will you be exalted to heaven?[t] No, you will be thrown down to Hades![u] For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom,[v] it would have continued to this day.[w] 24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom[x] on the day of judgment than for you!”
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