Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 6[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;[b] a psalm of David.
6 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your raging fury.[c]
2 Have mercy on me,[d] Lord, for I am frail.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking.[e]
3 I am absolutely terrified,[f]
and you, Lord—how long will this continue?[g]
4 Relent, Lord, rescue me![h]
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.[i]
5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death.[j]
In Sheol who gives you thanks?[k]
6 I am exhausted as I groan.
All night long I drench my bed in tears;[l]
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.[m]
7 My eyes[n] grow dim[o] from suffering;
they grow weak[p] because of all my enemies.[q]
8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly,[r]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.[s]
9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;
the Lord has accepted[t] my prayer.
10 They will be humiliated[u] and absolutely terrified.[v]
All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.
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 94[a]
94 O Lord, the God who avenges!
O God who avenges, reveal your splendor.[b]
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth.
Pay back the proud.
3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked celebrate?[c]
4 They spew out threats[d] and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast.[e]
5 O Lord, they crush your people;
they oppress the nation that belongs to you.[f]
6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner,
and they murder the fatherless.[g]
7 Then they say, “The Lord does not see this;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.”[h]
8 Take notice of this,[i] you ignorant people.[j]
You fools, when will you ever understand?
9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?
Does the one who forms the human eye not see?[k]
10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?
He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!
11 The Lord knows that peoples’ thoughts
are morally bankrupt.[l]
12 How blessed is the one[m] whom you instruct, O Lord,
the one whom you teach from your law,
13 in order to protect him from times of trouble,[n]
until the wicked are destroyed.[o]
14 Certainly[p] the Lord does not forsake his people;
he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.[q]
15 For justice will prevail,[r]
and all the morally upright[s] will be vindicated.[t]
16 Who will rise up to defend me[u] against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?[v]
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.[w]
18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,[x]
your soothing touch makes me happy.[y]
20 Cruel rulers[z] are not your allies,
those who make oppressive laws.[aa]
21 They conspire against[ab] the blameless,[ac]
and condemn to death the innocent.[ad]
22 But the Lord will protect me,[ae]
and my God will shelter me.[af]
23 He will pay them back for their sin.[ag]
He will destroy them because of[ah] their evil;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
Jeremiah Complains about His Lot and The Lord Responds
10 I said,[a]
“Oh, mother, how I regret[b] that you ever gave birth to me!
I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land.[c]
I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone.
Yet all these people are treating me with contempt.”[d]
11 The Lord said,
“Jerusalem,[e] I will surely send you away for your own good.
I will surely[f] bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress.
12 Can you people who are like iron and bronze
break that iron fist from the north?[g]
13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder.
I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land.
14 I will make you serve your enemies[h] in a land that you know nothing about.
For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.”
15 I said,[i]
“Lord, you know how I suffer.[j]
Take thought of me and care for me.
Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me.
Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me.
Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.
16 As your words came to me I drank them in,[k]
and they filled my heart with joy and happiness
because I belong to you,[l] O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.[m]
17 I did not spend my time in the company of other people,
laughing and having a good time.
I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you[n]
and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.
18 Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?
Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?
Will you let me down when I need you,
like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?”[o]
19 Because of this, the Lord said,[p]
“You must repent of such words and thoughts!
If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me.[q]
If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,
I will again allow you to be my spokesman.[r]
They must become as you have been.
You must not become like them.[s]
20 I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,
a fortified wall of bronze.
They will attack you,
but they will not be able to overcome you.
For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,”[t]
says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the power of the wicked.
I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”
15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view.[a] If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways.[b] 16 Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard[c] that we have already attained.[d]
17 Be imitators of me,[e] brothers and sisters,[f] and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. 18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things.[g] 20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours[h] into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
Seekers
20 Now some Greeks[a] were among those who had gone up to worship at the feast. 21 So these approached Philip,[b] who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested,[c] “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew, and they both[d] went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied,[e] “The time[f] has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.[g] 24 I tell you the solemn truth,[h] unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone.[i] But if it dies, it produces[j] much grain.[k] 25 The one who loves his life[l] destroys[m] it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards[n] it for eternal life. 26 If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow[o] me, and where I am, my servant will be too.[p] If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
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