Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 25[a]
By David.
25 O Lord, I come before you in prayer.[b]
2 My God, I trust in you.
Please do not let me be humiliated;
do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me.
3 Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.
Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted[c] and humiliated.
4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord.
Teach me your paths.[d]
5 Guide me into your truth[e] and teach me.
For you are the God who delivers me;
on you I rely all day long.
6 Remember[f] your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,
for you have always acted in this manner.[g]
7 Do not hold against me[h] the sins of my youth[i] or my rebellious acts.
Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord.[j]
8 The Lord is both kind and fair;[k]
that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live.[l]
9 May he show[m] the humble what is right.[n]
May he teach[o] the humble his way.
10 The Lord always proves faithful and reliable[p]
to those who follow the demands of his covenant.[q]
11 For the sake of your reputation,[r] O Lord,
forgive my sin, because it is great.[s]
12 The Lord shows his faithful followers
the way they should live.[t]
13 They experience his favor;[u]
their descendants[v] inherit the land.[w]
14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance,[x]
and he reveals his covenantal demands to them.[y]
15 I continually look to the Lord for help,[z]
for he will free my feet from the enemy’s net.[aa]
16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone[ab] and oppressed.
17 Deliver me from my distress;[ac]
rescue me from my suffering.[ad]
18 See my pain and suffering.
Forgive all my sins.[ae]
19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;
they hate me and want to harm me.[af]
20 Protect me[ag] and deliver me!
Please do not let me be humiliated,
for I have taken shelter in you.
21 May integrity and godliness protect me,
for I rely on you.
22 O God, rescue[ah] Israel
from all their distress![ai]
Psalm 9[a]
For the music director, according to the alumoth-labben style;[b] a psalm of David.
9 I will thank the Lord with all my heart!
I will tell about all your amazing deeds.[c]
2 I will be happy and rejoice in you.
I will sing praises to you, O Most High.[d]
3 When my enemies turn back,
they trip and are defeated[e] before you.
4 For you defended my just cause;[f]
from your throne you pronounced a just decision.[g]
5 You terrified the nations with your battle cry.[h]
You destroyed the wicked;[i]
you permanently wiped out all memory of them.[j]
6 The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins.[k]
You destroyed their cities;[l]
all memory of the enemies has perished.[m]
7 But the Lord[n] rules[o] forever;
he reigns in a just manner.[p]
8 He judges the world fairly;
he makes just legal decisions for the nations.[q]
9 Consequently[r] the Lord provides safety for the oppressed;[s]
he provides safety in times of trouble.[t]
10 Your loyal followers trust in you,[u]
for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help.[v]
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who rules[w] in Zion.
Tell the nations what he has done.[x]
12 For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed;[y]
he did not overlook[z] their cry for help[aa]
13 when they prayed:[ab]
“Have mercy on me,[ac] Lord!
See how I am oppressed by those who hate me,[ad]
O one who can snatch me away[ae] from the gates of death!
14 Then I will[af] tell about all your praiseworthy acts;[ag]
in the gates of Daughter Zion[ah] I will rejoice because of your deliverance.”[ai]
15 The nations fell[aj] into the pit they had made;
their feet were caught in the net they had hidden.[ak]
16 The Lord revealed himself;
he accomplished justice.
The wicked were ensnared by their own actions.[al] (Higgaion.[am] Selah)
17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol;[an]
this is the destiny of[ao] all the nations that ignore[ap] God,
18 for the needy are not permanently ignored,[aq]
the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed.[ar]
19 Rise up, Lord![as]
Don’t let men be defiant.[at]
May the nations be judged in your presence.
20 Terrify them, Lord.[au]
Let the nations know they are mere mortals.[av] (Selah)
Psalm 15[a]
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may be a guest in your home?[b]
Who may live on your holy hill?[c]
2 Whoever lives a blameless life,[d]
does what is right,
and speaks honestly.[e]
3 He[f] does not slander,[g]
or do harm to others,[h]
or insult his neighbor.[i]
4 He despises a reprobate,[j]
but honors the Lord’s loyal followers.[k]
He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise.[l]
5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money.[m]
He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent.[n]
The one who lives like this[o] will never be shaken.
6 At the end of forty days,[a] Noah opened the window he had made in the ark[b] 7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth[c] until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8 Then Noah[d] sent out a dove[e] to see if the waters had receded[f] from the surface of the ground. 9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered[g] the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah[h] in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove,[i] and brought it back into the ark.[j] 10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 11 When[k] the dove returned to him in the evening, there was[l] a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again,[m] but it did not return to him this time.[n]
13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year,[o] in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that[p] the surface of the ground was dry. 14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth[q] was dry.
15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out[r] every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase[s] and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”[t]
18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.[u] 21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma[v] and said[w] to himself,[x] “I will never again curse[y] the ground because of humankind, even though[z] the inclination of their minds[aa] is evil from childhood on.[ab] I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest
14 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. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.[a]
5 For every high priest is taken from among the people[b] and appointed[c] to represent them before God,[d] to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, 3 and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. 4 And no one assumes this honor[e] on his own initiative,[f] but only when called to it by God,[g] as in fact Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God,[h] who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,”[i] 6 as also in another place God[j] says, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”[k]
Jesus at the Passover Feast
23 Now while Jesus[a] was in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing.[b] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.[c] 25 He did not need anyone to testify about man,[d] for he knew what was in man.[e]
Conversation with Nicodemus
3 Now a certain man, a Pharisee[f] named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council,[g] 2 came to Jesus[h] at night[i] and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs[j] that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus replied,[k] “I tell you the solemn truth,[l] unless a person is born from above,[m] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”[n] 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”[o]
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth,[p] unless a person is born of water and spirit,[q] he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh,[r] and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all[s] be born from above.’[t] 8 The wind[u] blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”[v]
9 Nicodemus replied,[w] “How can these things be?”[x] 10 Jesus answered,[y] “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?[z] 11 I tell you the solemn truth,[aa] we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but[ab] you people[ac] do not accept our testimony.[ad] 12 If I have told you people[ae] about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?[af] 13 No one[ag] has ascended[ah] into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.[ai] 14 Just as[aj] Moses lifted up the serpent[ak] in the wilderness,[al] so must the Son of Man be lifted up,[am] 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”[an]
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