Book of Common Prayer
Mem.
97 O how I (A)love Your law!
It is my (B)meditation all the day.
98 Your (C)commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever [a]mine.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my (D)meditation.
100 I understand (E)more than the aged,
Because I have (F)observed Your precepts.
101 I have (G)restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
102 I have not (H)turned aside from Your ordinances,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103 How (I)sweet are Your [b]words to my [c]taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 From Your precepts I (J)get understanding;
Therefore I (K)hate every false way.
Nun.
105 Your word is a (L)lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 I have (M)sworn and I will confirm it,
That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
107 I am exceedingly (N)afflicted;
[d](O)Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 O accept the (P)freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And (Q)teach me Your ordinances.
109 My [e](R)life is continually [f]in my hand,
Yet I do not (S)forget Your law.
110 The wicked have (T)laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not (U)gone astray from Your precepts.
111 I have (V)inherited Your testimonies forever,
For they are the (W)joy of my heart.
112 I have (X)inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even (Y)to the end.
Samekh.
113 I hate those who are (Z)double-minded,
But I love Your (AA)law.
114 You are my (AB)hiding place and my (AC)shield;
I [g](AD)wait for Your word.
115 (AE)Depart from me, evildoers,
That I may (AF)observe the commandments of my God.
116 (AG)Sustain me according to Your [h]word, that I may live;
And (AH)do not let me be [i]ashamed of my hope.
117 Uphold me that I may be (AI)safe,
That I may (AJ)have regard for Your statutes continually.
118 You have [j]rejected all those (AK)who wander from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is [k]useless.
119 You have [l]removed all the wicked of the earth like (AL)dross;
Therefore I (AM)love Your testimonies.
120 My flesh [m](AN)trembles for fear of You,
And I am (AO)afraid of Your judgments.
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
For the choir director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Shout (C)joyfully to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike (E)the timbrel,
The sweet sounding (F)lyre with the (G)harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the (H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (I)feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he [b](J)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a (K)language that I did not know:
6 “I [c](L)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [d]basket.
7 “You (M)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I (N)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I proved you at the (O)waters of Meribah. [e]Selah.
8 “(P)Hear, O My people, and I will [f]admonish you;
O Israel, if you (Q)would listen to Me!
9 “Let there be no (R)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 “(S)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(T)Open your mouth wide and I will (U)fill it.
11 “But My people (V)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [g]obey Me.
12 “So I (W)gave [h]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices.
13 “Oh that My people (X)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Y)walk in My ways!
14 “I would quickly (Z)subdue their enemies
And (AA)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 “(AB)Those who hate the Lord would (AC)pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 “[i]But I would feed you with the [j](AD)finest of the wheat,
And with (AE)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Unjust Judgments Rebuked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes His (AF)stand in [k]His own congregation;
He (AG)judges in the midst of the [l](AH)rulers.
2 How long will you (AI)judge unjustly
And (AJ)show partiality to the wicked? [m]Selah.
3 (AK)Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 (AL)Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They (AM)do not know nor do they understand;
They (AN)walk about in darkness;
All the (AO)foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 [n]I (AP)said, “You are gods,
And all of you are (AQ)sons of the Most High.
7 “Nevertheless (AR)you will die like men
And fall like any (AS)one of the princes.”
8 (AT)Arise, O God, (AU)judge the earth!
For it is You who (AV)possesses all the nations.
24 So Moses went out and (A)told the people the words of the Lord. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent. 25 (B)Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the [a]other Medad. And (C)the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. 27 So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Then (D)Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “(E)Moses, my lord, restrain them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? (F)Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 Then Moses [b]returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.
The Quail and the Plague
31 (G)Now there went forth a wind from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and [c]about two [d]cubits deep on the surface of the ground. 32 The people [e]spent all day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten [f](H)homers) and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 (I)While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. 34 So the name of that place was called [g](J)Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah (K)the people set out for Hazeroth, and they [h]remained at Hazeroth.
28 And just as they did not see fit [a]to acknowledge God any longer, (A)God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are (B)gossips, 30 slanderers, [b](C)haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, (D)disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, (E)unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of (F)death, they not only do the same, but also (G)give hearty approval to those who practice them.
The Impartiality of God
2 Therefore you have (H)no excuse, [c](I)everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which (J)you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God [d]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you suppose this, (K)O man, [e]when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of (L)the riches of His (M)kindness and (N)tolerance and (O)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But [f]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart (P)you are storing up wrath for yourself (Q)in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 (R)who will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by (S)perseverance in doing good seek for (T)glory and honor and (U)immortality, (V)eternal life; 8 but to those who are (W)selfishly ambitious and (X)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be (Y)tribulation and distress [g]for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew (Z)first and also of the Greek, 10 but (AA)glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew (AB)first and also to the Greek. 11 For (AC)there is no partiality with God.
Rank in the Kingdom
18 (A)At that [a]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “(B)Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him [b]before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you [c]are converted and (C)become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but (D)whoever (E)causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it [d]would be better for him to have a [e]heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Stumbling Blocks
7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For (F)it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
8 “(G)If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than [f]to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 (H)If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than [g]to have two eyes and be cast into the [h](I)fiery hell.
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