Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95[a]
A Call to Praise and Obedience
I
1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord;
cry out to the rock of our salvation.(A)
2 Let us come before him with a song of praise,
joyfully sing out our psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
the great king over all gods,(B)
4 Whose hand holds the depths of the earth;
who owns the tops of the mountains.
5 The sea and dry land belong to God,
who made them, formed them by hand.(C)
II
6 Enter, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the Lord who made us.
7 For he is our God,
we are the people he shepherds,
the sheep in his hands.(D)
III
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:(E)
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day of Massah in the desert.[b]
9 There your ancestors tested me;
they tried me though they had seen my works.(F)
10 Forty years I loathed that generation;
I said: “This people’s heart goes astray;
they do not know my ways.”(G)
11 Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”[c]
Psalm 40[a]
Gratitude and Prayer for Help
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
A
2 Surely, I wait for the Lord;
who bends down to me and hears my cry,(A)
3 Draws me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the muddy clay,(B)
Sets my feet upon rock,
steadies my steps,
4 And puts a new song[b] in my mouth,(C)
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in fear
and they shall trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed the man who sets
his security in the Lord,
who turns not to the arrogant
or to those who stray after falsehood.(D)
6 You, yes you, O Lord, my God,
have done many wondrous deeds!
And in your plans for us
there is none to equal you.(E)
Should I wish to declare or tell them,
too many are they to recount.(F)
7 [c]Sacrifice and offering you do not want;(G)
you opened my ears.
Holocaust and sin-offering you do not request;
8 so I said, “See; I come
with an inscribed scroll written upon me.
9 I delight to do your will, my God;
your law is in my inner being!”(H)
10 When I sing of your righteousness
in a great assembly,
See, I do not restrain my lips;
as you, Lord, know.(I)
11 I do not conceal your righteousness
within my heart;
I speak of your loyalty and your salvation.
I do not hide your mercy or faithfulness from a great assembly.
12 Lord, may you not withhold
your compassion from me;
May your mercy and your faithfulness
continually protect me.(J)
B
13 But evils surround me
until they cannot be counted.
My sins overtake me,
so that I can no longer see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my courage fails me.(K)
14 Lord, graciously rescue me!(L)
Come quickly to help me, Lord!
15 May those who seek to destroy my life
be shamed and confounded.
Turn back in disgrace
those who desire my ruin.(M)
16 Let those who say to me “Aha!”(N)
Be made desolate on account of their shame.
17 While those who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you.
May those who long for your salvation
always say, “The Lord is great.”(O)
18 Though I am afflicted and poor,
my Lord keeps me in mind.
You are my help and deliverer;
my God, do not delay!
Psalm 54[a]
Confident Prayer in Great Peril
1 For the leader. On stringed instruments. A maskil of David, 2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “David is hiding among us.”(A)
I
3 O God, by your name[b] save me.
By your strength defend my cause.
4 O God, hear my prayer.
Listen to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers have risen against me;
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not keep God before them.(B)
Selah
II
6 God is present as my helper;(C)
the Lord sustains my life.
7 Turn back the evil upon my foes;
in your faithfulness, destroy them.(D)
8 Then I will offer you generous sacrifice
and give thanks to your name, Lord, for it is good.
9 Because it has rescued me from every trouble,
and my eyes look down on my foes.(E)
Psalm 51[a]
The Miserere: Prayer of Repentance
1 For the leader. A psalm of David, 2 when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.(A)
I
3 Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love;
in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions.
4 Thoroughly wash away my guilt;
and from my sin cleanse me.
5 For I know my transgressions;
my sin is always before me.(B)
6 Against you, you alone have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your eyes
So that you are just in your word,
and without reproach in your judgment.(C)
7 Behold, I was born in guilt,
in sin my mother conceived me.[b](D)
8 Behold, you desire true sincerity;
and secretly you teach me wisdom.
9 Cleanse me with hyssop,[c] that I may be pure;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.(E)
10 You will let me hear gladness and joy;
the bones you have crushed will rejoice.
II
11 Turn away your face from my sins;
blot out all my iniquities.
12 A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.(F)
13 Do not drive me from before your face,
nor take from me your holy spirit.(G)
14 Restore to me the gladness of your salvation;
uphold me with a willing spirit.
15 I will teach the wicked your ways,
that sinners may return to you.
16 Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God,
and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice.(H)
17 Lord, you will open my lips;
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18 For you do not desire sacrifice[d] or I would give it;
a burnt offering you would not accept.(I)
19 My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.
III
The Lord’s Majesty and Compassion. 12 (A)Now, therefore, Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to follow in all his ways, to love and serve the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and with your whole being,(B) 13 to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord that I am commanding you today for your own well-being?(C) 14 Look, the heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the Lord, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it.(D) 15 Yet only on your ancestors did the Lord set his heart to love them. He chose you, their descendants, from all the peoples, as it is today.(E) 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskins of your hearts,[a] and be stiff-necked no longer. 17 For the Lord, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes,(F) 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving them food and clothing.(G) 19 So you too should love the resident alien, for that is what you were in the land of Egypt.(H) 20 The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; to him hold fast and by his name shall you swear.(I) 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you those great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.(J) 22 Seventy strong your ancestors went down to Egypt,(K) and now the Lord, your God, has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
11 Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.
12 Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.(A) 13 No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.(B)
Jesus, Compassionate High Priest. 14 [a]Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.(C) 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.(D) 16 So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.(E)
Final Witness of the Baptist. 22 [a]After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing.(A) 23 John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,[b] because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, 24 [c](B)for John had not yet been imprisoned. 25 Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew[d] about ceremonial washings. 26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”(C) 27 John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.(D) 28 You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him.(E) 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man,[e] who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete.(F) 30 He must increase; I must decrease.”(G)
The One from Heaven.[f] 31 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven [is above all].(H) 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.(I) 33 Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.(J) 34 For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift[g] of the Spirit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.(K) 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.(L)
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