Book of Common Prayer
Alef [a]
Living in the Law of God
119 How blessed are those whose life[b] is blameless,
who walk in the Law of the Lord!
2 How blessed are those who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all of their heart,
3 who practice no evil
while they walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded concerning your precepts,
that they be guarded with diligence.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast,
so I may keep your statutes.
6 Then I will not be ashamed,
since my eyes will be fixed on all of your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
as I learn your righteous decrees.
8 I will keep your statutes;
do not ever abandon me.
Bet
The Benefits of the Word
9 How can a young man keep his behavior pure?
By guarding it in accordance with your word.
10 I have sought you with all of my heart;
do not let me drift away from your commands.
11 I have stored what you have said[c] in my heart,
so I won’t sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, Lord!
Teach me your statutes.
13 I have spoken with my lips
about all your decrees that you have announced.[d]
14 I find joy in the path of your decrees,
as if I owned all kinds of riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts,
and I will respect your ways.
16 I am delighted with your statutes;
I will not forget your word.[e]
Gimmel
Living and Keeping God’s Word
17 Deal kindly with your servant
so I may live and keep your word.[f]
18 Open my eyes
so that I will observe amazing things from your instruction.[g]
19 Since I am a stranger on the earth,
do not hide your commands from me.
20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your decrees at all times.
21 You rebuke the accursed ones,
who wander from your commands.
22 Remove scorn and disrespect from me,
for I observe your decrees.
23 Though nobles take their seat and gossip about me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 I take joy in your decrees,
for they are my counselors.
To the Director: On an eight stringed harp.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
Human and Divine Words Contrasted
12 Help, Lord, for godly people no longer exist;
trustworthy people have disappeared from humanity.[b]
2 Everyone speaks lies to his neighbor;
they speak with flattering lips and hidden motives.[c]
3 The Lord will cut off all slippery lips,
and the tongue that boasts great things,
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our lips belong to us.
Who is master[d] over us?”
5 “Because the poor are being oppressed,
because the needy are sighing,
I will now arise,” says the Lord,
“I will establish in safety those who yearn for it.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times over.
7 You, Lord, will keep them[e] safe,
you will guard them[f] from this generation forever.
8 The wicked, however,[g] keep walking around,
exalting the vileness of human beings.[h]
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Deliverance
13 How long? Lord, will you forget me forever?[i]
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I struggle in my soul at night
and have sorrow in my heart during the day?
How long will my enemy rise up against me?
3 Look at me!
Answer me, Lord, my God!
Give light to my eyes!
Otherwise, I will sleep in death;
4 Otherwise, my enemy will say,
“I have overcome him;”
Otherwise, my persecutor will rejoice
when I am shaken.
5 As for me, I have trusted in your gracious love,
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
for he has dealt bountifully with me.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
The Fool and God’s Response
14 Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and commit evil deeds;
not one of them practices what is good.
2 The Lord looks down from the heavens upon humanity[j]
to see if anyone shows discernment as he searches for God.
3 All have turned away,
together they have become corrupt;
no one practices what is good, not even one.
4 Will those who do evil ever learn?
They devour my people like they devour bread,
and never call on the Lord.
5 There they are seized with terror,
because God is with those who are[k] righteous.
Cain and Abel
4 Later, Adam[a] had sexual relations with[b] his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have given birth to[c] a male child—the Lord.”[d] 2 And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer.[e]
3 Later, after a while, Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit that he had harvested,[f] 4 while Abel brought the best parts[g] of some of the firstborn from his flock. The Lord looked favorably upon Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not look favorably upon Cain and his offering.
When Cain became very upset and[h] depressed, 6 the Lord asked Cain, “Why are you so upset? Why are you[i] depressed? 7 If you do what is appropriate,[j] you’ll be accepted, won’t you? But if you don’t do what is appropriate,[k] sin is crouching near your doorway, turning toward you. Now as for you, will you take dominion over it?”[l]
8 Instead, Cain told his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the wilderness.”[m] When they were outside in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Later, the Lord asked Cain, “Where’s your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10 “What did you do?” God[n] asked. “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you’re more cursed than the ground, which has opened[o] to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 Whenever you work the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you, and you’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive.”
13 “My punishment is too great to bear,” Cain told the Lord. 14 “You’re driving me from the soil[p] today. I’ll be hidden from you, and I’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive. In the future,[q] whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 The Lord told him, “This won’t happen, because whoever kills you[r] will suffer seven times the vengeance.” Then the Lord placed a sign on Cain so that no one finding him would kill him. 16 After this, Cain left the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
11 because both the one who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have the same Father.[a] That is why Jesus[b] is not ashamed to call them brothers 12 when he says, “I will announce your name to my brothers. I will praise you within the congregation.”[c] 13 And again, “I will trust him.”[d] And again, “I am here with the children God has given me.”[e]
14 Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the Devil) 15 and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death. 16 For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham’s descendants, 17 thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people’s sins. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
29 The next day, John[a] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks above me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with[b] water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 John also testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with[c] water told me, ‘The person on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who baptizes with[d] the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen this and have testified that this is the Son[e] of God.”
The First Disciples
35 The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. 36 As he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
38 But when Jesus turned around and saw them following, he asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They asked him, “Rabbi,” (which is translated “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 He told them, “Come and see!” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.[f]
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.[g] 41 The first thing Andrew[h] did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Anointed One!”[i] (which is translated “Messiah”).[j]
42 He led Simon[k] to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, “You are Simon, John’s son.[l] You will be called Cephas!”[m] (which is translated “Peter”).[n]
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