Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 101[a]
A psalm of David.
101 I will sing about loyalty and justice.
To you, O Lord, I will sing praises.
2 I will walk[b] in the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace.[c]
3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest.[d]
I hate doing evil;[e]
I will have no part of it.[f]
4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person;[g]
I will not permit[h] evil.
5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I will not tolerate anyone who has a haughty demeanor and an arrogant attitude.[i]
6 I will favor the honest people of the land,[j]
and allow them to live with me.[k]
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me.[l]
7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace.[m]
Liars will not be welcome in my presence.[n]
8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,
and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
Psalm 109[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
109 O God whom I praise, do not ignore me.[b]
2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;
they lie to me.[c]
3 They surround me and say hateful things;[d]
they attack me for no reason.
4 They repay my love with accusations,[e]
but I continue to pray.[f]
5 They repay me evil for good,[g]
and hate for love.
6 [h] Appoint an evil man to testify against him.[i]
May an accuser stand[j] at his right side.
7 When he is judged, he will be found[k] guilty.[l]
Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.
8 May his days be few.[m]
May another take his job.[n]
9 May his children[o] be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
10 May his children[p] roam around begging,
asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home.[q]
11 May the creditor seize[r] all he owns.
May strangers loot his property.[s]
12 May no one show him kindness.[t]
May no one have compassion[u] on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants[v] be cut off.[w]
May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives.[x]
14 May his ancestors’[y] sins be remembered by the Lord.
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten.[z]
15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them,[aa]
and cut off the memory of his children[ab] from the earth.
16 For he never bothered to show kindness;[ac]
he harassed the oppressed and needy,
and killed the disheartened.[ad]
17 He loved to curse[ae] others, so those curses have come upon him.[af]
He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings.[ag]
18 He made cursing a way of life,[ah]
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil.[ai]
19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on,[aj]
or a belt[ak] one wears continually.
20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way,[al]
those who say evil things about[am] me.[an]
21 O Sovereign Lord,
intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation.[ao]
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me.
22 For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart beats violently within me.[ap]
23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day;[aq]
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 I am so starved my knees shake;[ar]
I have turned into skin and bones.[as]
25 I am disdained by them.[at]
When they see me, they shake their heads.[au]
26 Help me, O Lord my God.
Because you are faithful to me, deliver me.[av]
27 Then they will realize[aw] this is your work,[ax]
and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
28 They curse, but you will bless.[ay]
When they attack, they will be humiliated,[az]
but your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be covered[ba] with shame,
and draped in humiliation as if it were a robe.
30 I will thank the Lord profusely.[bb]
In the middle of a crowd[bc] I will praise him,
ע (Ayin)
121 I do what is fair and right.[a]
Do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee the welfare of your servant.[b]
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your deliverance,[c]
for your reliable promise to be fulfilled.[d]
124 Show your servant your loyal love.[e]
Teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant. Give me insight,
so that I can understand[f] your rules.
126 It is time for the Lord to act—
they break your law.
127 For this reason[g] I love your commands
more than gold, even purest gold.
128 For this reason I carefully follow all your precepts.[h]
I hate all deceitful actions.[i]
פ (Pe)
129 Your rules are marvelous.
Therefore I observe them.
130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines.[j]
They give[k] insight to the untrained.[l]
131 I open my mouth and pant,
because I long[m] for your commands.
132 Turn toward me and extend mercy to me,
as you typically do to your loyal followers.[n]
133 Direct my steps by your word.[o]
Do not let any sin dominate me.
134 Deliver me[p] from oppressive men,
so that I can keep[q] your precepts.
135 Smile[r] on your servant.
Teach me your statutes!
136 Tears stream down from my eyes,[s]
because people[t] do not keep your law.
צ (Tsade)
137 You are just, O Lord,
and your judgments are fair.
138 The rules you impose are just,[u]
and absolutely reliable.
139 My zeal[v] consumes[w] me,
for my enemies forget your instructions.[x]
140 Your word is absolutely pure,
and your servant loves it.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your justice endures,[y]
and your law is reliable.[z]
143 Distress and hardship confront[aa] me,
yet I find delight in your commands.
144 Your rules remain just.[ab]
Give me insight so that I can live.[ac]
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up[a] against Samaria and besieged it. 10 After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel[b] to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not obey[c] the Lord their God and broke his covenant with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.[d]
Sennacherib Invades Judah
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty.[e] If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.”[f] So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay 300 talents[g] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver in[h] the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 16 At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the Lord’s temple and from the posts that he had plated[i] and gave them to the king of Assyria.
17 The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser[j] from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went[k] and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.[l] 18 They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna, the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.
19 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?[m] 20 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.[n] In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me? 21 Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him. 22 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’ 23 Now make a deal[o] with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you 2,000 horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 24 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.[p] 25 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this place to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up[q] against this land and destroy it.’”’”[r]
Food Sacrificed to Idols
8 With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.”[a] Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know. 3 But if someone loves God, he[b] is known by God.[c]
4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.”[d] 5 If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.[e]
7 But this knowledge is not shared by all. And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak, is defiled. 8 Now food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do. 9 But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak. 10 For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened”[f] to eat food offered to idols? 11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister,[g] for whom Christ died, is destroyed.[h] 12 If you sin against your brothers or sisters[i] in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them[j] to sin.
The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter[a] through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 How[b] narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life,[c] and there are few who find it!
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Watch out for false prophets,[d] who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.[e] 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered[f] from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?[g] 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad[h] tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.
Judgment of Pretenders
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’[i] will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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