Book of Common Prayer
97 [a]I truly love your law.
It is my meditation throughout the day.
98 [b]Your precept has given me greater wisdom than my enemies,
for it is mine forever.
99 I am wiser than all my teachers
because I meditate on your commands.
100 I have greater insight than the elders,[c]
because I keep your commandments.
101 I point my feet away from evil paths
so that I might observe your word.
102 I refuse to ignore your judgments,
for it is you yourself who have taught me.
103 Your words are sweet to my palate,
even sweeter to my tongue than honey.[d]
104 Through your commandments I achieve wisdom;
therefore, I hate every way that is false.
Nun
105 [e]Your word is a lamp for my feet[f]
and a light to my path.
106 With a solemn vow I have sworn[g]
to obey the judgments of your righteousness.
107 I have been afflicted beyond measure;
O Lord, let me live in accord with your word.
108 Receive, O Lord, the homage my lips offer you,
and instruct me about your judgments.
109 Even though I continually take my life in my hands,[h]
I do not neglect your law.
110 The wicked seek to entrap me,
but I have not strayed from your commands.
111 [i]Your statutes are my everlasting heritage;
they are the very joy of my heart.
112 I have set my heart on keeping your decrees,
even to the end.
Samekh
113 [j]I detest those who are hypocritical,[k]
but I love your law.
114 You are my refuge and my shield;
I put my hope in your word.
115 Depart from my presence, you evildoers,
so that I may observe the precepts of my God.
116 Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live;
do not delude me in my hope.
117 Uphold me, and I will be saved
and will remain completely focused on your decrees.
118 You cast away all those who swerve from your decrees;
their cunning is futile.
119 You discard all the wicked of the earth like dross;[l]
therefore, I love your teachings.
120 My flesh trembles[m] before you in terror;
your judgments fill me with awe.
Ayin
Psalm 81[a]
Exhortation To Worship Worthily
1 For the director.[b] “Upon the gittith.” Of Asaph.
2 Sing out your joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob.[c]
3 Raise the chant and sound the tambourine;
play the pleasant harp and the lyre.
4 Sound the trumpet at the new moon,
and also at the full moon on the day of our Feast.[d]
5 For this is a law in Israel,
a decree of the God of Jacob.
6 He imposed this testimony on Joseph[e]
when he departed from the land of Egypt.
I now hear an unfamiliar voice:
7 “I lifted the burden from their shoulders;
their hands put aside the laborer’s basket.[f]
8 When you cried out to me in distress, I rescued you;[g]
from the thunderclouds I answered you;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah: Selah
9 “ ‘Listen to me, O my people, while I warn you.
O Israel, if only you would listen to me!
10 You must not accept a foreign god in your presence;
you must not bow down to an alien deity.
11 I am the Lord, your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
open your mouth[h] wide so that I may fill it.’
12 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel refused to obey me.[i]
13 So I abandoned them to their stubborn hearts[j]
and let them follow their own devices.
14 [k]“If only my people would listen to me,
if only Israel would walk in my ways,[l]
15 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and raise my hand[m] against their foes.
16 “Then those who hate the Lord[n] would tremble before him,
for their doom would last forever.
17 But Israel he would feed with the finest of wheat[o]
and fill them with honey from the rock.”
Psalm 82[p]
Judgment on Abuse of Authority
1 A psalm of Asaph.[q]
God takes his place in the divine council;[r]
in the midst of the gods he pronounces judgment:
2 “How long will you issue unfair judgments
and rule in favor of those who are wicked?[s] Selah
3 [t]“Grant justice to the weak and the orphan;
defend the rights of the lowly and the poor.
4 Rescue the wretched and the needy;
free them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “They neither know nor understand;
they wander around in darkness
while all the foundations of the earth[u] are crumbling.
6 [v]I declare, ‘Although you are gods,
all of you sons of the Most High,
7 you will die as all men do;
like any ruler you will fall.’ ”[w]
8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to you.[x]
Rend Your Hearts and Not Your Garments[a]
12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
13 Rend your hearts and not your garments,
and turn back to the Lord, your God.
For he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and always prepared to relent from punishing.
14 Perhaps he will turn back and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
cereal offerings and libations
to be presented to the Lord, your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion!
Proclaim a fast!
Announce a solemn assembly!
16 Gather the people together;
summon the community;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Call forth the bridegroom from his bedroom
and the bride from her wedding chamber.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,
stand weeping, between the temple porch and the altar,
as they say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not allow your heritage[b] to be mocked
and subjected to the contempt of the nations.
Why should the peoples say
‘Where is their God?’ ”
18 Thereupon, the Lord was stirred to feel concern for his land, and he took pity on his people. 19 In response to their request, the Lord said to his people:
I will send you
grain and wine and oil,
and you will have all you need.
Never again will I expose you
to the contempt of the nations.
Recapitulative Visions of the History of Salvation[a]
11 The White Horse and the King of Kings.[b] Now I saw heaven opened, and a white horse appeared. Its rider was called “Faithful and True,” for with righteousness he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes were like fiery flames, and on his head were many crowns. The name inscribed on him was known to no one but himself.
13 He was clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and he was known by the name The Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Coming out of his mouth was a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter, and he will tread the winepress[c] of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh[d] he had a name inscribed: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
17 The Great Booty.[e] Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he cried out to all the birds flying in midair, “Come here! Gather together for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of warriors, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.”
19 The Beast and the False Prophet.[f] Next I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the one upon the horse and against his army. 20 The beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had performed the signs by which he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped its image.
These two were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed by the sword that came forth from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
Salvation—Joy and Torment of God[a]
Chapter 15
This Man Receives Sinners.[b] 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus, 2 and the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
The Parable of the Lost Sheep.[c] 3 Therefore, he told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, if you have a hundred sheep and lose one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he does find it, he lays it on his shoulders joyfully. 6 Then, when he returns home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin.[d] 8 “Or again, what woman who has ten silver coins[e] and loses one will not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching thoroughly until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
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