Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He reached down to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of [b]destruction, out of the mud;
And (D)He set my feet on a rock, (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not turned to the [c]proud, nor to those who (J)become involved in falsehood.
5 Many, Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 (N)You have not desired [d]sacrifice and meal offering;
You have [e]opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is [f]written of me in the scroll of the book.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, my God;
(P)Your Law is within my [g]heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[h]Your (V)mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [i]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me;
(AB)Hurry, Lord, to help me.
14 May those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [j]life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [k]in my hurt.
15 May those (AE)be [l]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually (AH)say,
“The Lord be exalted!”
17 But (AI)I am afflicted and needy;
(AJ)May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”
54 Save me, God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, God;
(D)Listen to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. Selah
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion, (C)wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I (F)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [b]are justified [c]when You speak
And [d]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in secret You will (L)make wisdom known to me.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
[g]Cleanse me, and I will be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Let me hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, God,
And renew a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will [j]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Save me from (AA)the guilt of bloodshed, God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, [k](AD)open my lips,
So that my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “This is what the Lord of armies has said: ‘(A)Dispense true justice and practice (B)kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and (C)do not oppress the widow or the [a]orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do (D)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they (E)refused to pay attention, and [b](F)turned a stubborn shoulder and [c](G)plugged their ears from hearing. 12 They also made their (H)hearts as hard as (I)a diamond [d]so that they could not hear the Law and the (J)words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the (K)former prophets; therefore great (L)wrath came from the Lord of armies. 13 And just as (M)He called and they would not listen, so (N)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies; 14 “but I [e](O)scattered them with a (P)storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was (Q)desolated behind them [f]so that (R)no one went back and forth, since they (S)made the pleasant land desolate.”
The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion
8 Then the word of the Lord of armies came, saying, 2 “The Lord of armies says this: ‘I am (T)exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ 3 The Lord says this: ‘I will return to Zion and (U)dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of (V)Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of armies will be called the Holy Mountain.’ 4 The Lord of armies says this: ‘(W)Old men and old women will again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each person with his staff in his hand because of [g]age. 5 And the public squares of the city will be filled with (X)boys and girls playing in its squares.’ 6 The Lord of armies says this: ‘If it is (Y)too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be (Z)too difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of armies. 7 The Lord of armies says this: ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the [h](AA)east and from the land of the [i]west; 8 and I will (AB)bring them back and they will (AC)live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be (AD)My people, and I will be their God in [j]truth and righteousness.’
6 And I saw [a]between the throne (with the four living creatures) and (A)the elders a (B)Lamb standing, as if (C)slaughtered, having seven (D)horns and (E)seven eyes, which are [b](F)the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And He came and took (G)the scroll out of the right hand of Him who (H)sat on the throne. 8 When He had taken the scroll, the (I)four living creatures and the (J)twenty-four elders (K)fell down before the (L)Lamb, each one holding a (M)harp and (N)golden bowls full of incense, which are the (O)prayers of the [c]saints. 9 And they *sang a (P)new song, saying,
“(Q)Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were (R)slaughtered, and You (S)purchased people for God with Your blood from (T)every tribe, language, people, and nation.
10 You have made them into a (U)kingdom and (V)priests to our God, and they will (W)reign upon the earth.”
Angels Exalt the Lamb
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels (X)around the throne and the (Y)living creatures and the (Z)elders; and the number of them was [d](AA)myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“(AB)Worthy is the (AC)Lamb that was (AD)slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.”
13 And I heard (AE)every created thing which is in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, or on the sea, and all the things in them, saying,
“To Him who (AF)sits on the throne and to the (AG)Lamb (AH)be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever.”
14 And the (AI)four living creatures were saying, “(AJ)Amen.” And the (AK)elders (AL)fell down and worshiped.
Parable of the Talents
14 “(A)For it is just like a man (B)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five [a](C)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he (D)went on his journey. 16 The one who had received the five (E)talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. 17 In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his [b]master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *(F)settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five (G)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and (H)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will (I)put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your [c]master.’
22 “Also the one who had received the two (J)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and (K)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’
24 “Now the one who had received the one (L)talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. 25 And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’
26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You [d]worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? 27 Then you ought to have [e]put my money in the bank, and [f]on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
29 “(M)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 And throw the worthless slave into (N)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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