Book of Common Prayer
Teach Me Your Paths
[a] Of David.
25 To you, O Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I (B)trust;
(C)let me not be put to shame;
(D)let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, (E)none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are (F)wantonly (G)treacherous.
4 (H)Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your (I)truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your (J)mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
(K)for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not (L)the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your (M)steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 (N)Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he (O)instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (P)steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your (Q)name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is (R)great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him (S)will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall (T)abide in well-being,
and his (U)offspring (V)shall inherit the land.
14 (W)The friendship[b] of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My (X)eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will (Y)pluck my feet out of the net.
16 (Z)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 (AA)Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
(AB)Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 (AC)Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds
[a] To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.[b] A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your (A)wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and (B)exult in you;
I will (C)sing praise to your name, (D)O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before[c] your presence.
4 For you have (E)maintained my just cause;
you have (F)sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have (G)rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have (H)blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he (I)judges the world with righteousness;
he (J)judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is (K)a stronghold for (L)the oppressed,
a stronghold in (M)times of trouble.
10 And those who (N)know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (O)sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his (P)deeds!
12 For he who (Q)avenges blood is mindful of them;
he (R)does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 (S)Be gracious to me, O Lord!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from (T)the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of (U)the daughter of Zion
I may (V)rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in (W)the pit that they made;
in (X)the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself (Y)known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.[d] Selah
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and (AB)the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?
A Psalm of David.
2 He who (D)walks blamelessly and (E)does what is right
and (F)speaks truth in his heart;
3 who (G)does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor (H)takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 (I)in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who (J)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who (K)does not put out his money at interest
and (L)does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be (M)moved.
Rahab Hides the Spies
2 And Joshua the son of Nun (A)sent[a] two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of (B)a prostitute whose name was (C)Rahab and lodged there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan (D)as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
8 Before the men[b] lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, (E)and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land (F)melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord (G)dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and (H)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to (I)Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.[c] 11 And (J)as soon as we heard it, (K)our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for (L)the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and (M)give me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land (N)we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
The Remnant of Israel
11 I ask, then, (A)has God rejected his people? By no means! For (B)I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,[a] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 (C)God has not rejected his people whom he (D)foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 (E)“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God's reply to him? (F)“I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is (G)a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 (H)But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? (I)Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest (J)were hardened, 8 as it is written,
(K)“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
(L)eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”
9 And David says,
(M)“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”
Gentiles Grafted In
11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (N)salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion[b] mean!
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like (A)ten virgins who took their lamps[a] and went to meet (B)the bridegroom.[b] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were (C)wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom (D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But (E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and (F)trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and (G)those who were ready went in with him to (H)the marriage feast, and (I)the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, (J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 (K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, (L)I do not know you.’ 13 (M)Watch therefore, for you (N)know neither the day nor the hour.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.