Book of Common Prayer
מ (Mem)
97 O how I love your law!
All day long I meditate on it.
98 Your commandments[a] make me wiser than my enemies,
for I am always aware of them.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your rules.
100 I am more discerning than those older than I,
for I observe your precepts.
101 I stay away[b] from every evil path,
so that I might keep your instructions.[c]
102 I do not turn aside from your regulations,
for you teach me.
103 Your words are sweeter
in my mouth than honey![d]
104 Your precepts give me discernment.
Therefore I hate all deceitful actions.[e]
נ (Nun)
105 Your word[f] is a lamp to walk by,
and a light to illumine my path.[g]
106 I have vowed and solemnly sworn
to keep your just regulations.
107 I am suffering terribly.
O Lord, revive me with your word.[h]
108 O Lord, please accept the freewill offerings of my praise.[i]
Teach me your regulations.
109 My life is in continual danger,[j]
but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked lay a trap for me,
but I do not wander from your precepts.
111 I claim your rules as my permanent possession,
for they give me joy.[k]
112 I am determined to obey[l] your statutes
at all times, to the very end.
ס (Samek)
113 I hate people with divided loyalties,[m]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I find hope in your word.
115 Turn away from me, you evil men,
so that I can observe[n] the commands of my God.[o]
116 Sustain me as you promised,[p] so that I will live.[q]
Do not disappoint me.[r]
117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.
Then I will focus[s] on your statutes continually.
118 You despise[t] all who stray from your statutes,
for such people are deceptive and unreliable.[u]
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag.[v]
Therefore I love your rules.[w]
120 My body[x] trembles[y] because I fear you;[z]
I am afraid of your judgments.
Psalm 81[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.
81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
2 Sing[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.[e]
4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.[h]
6 It said:[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.[j]
7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[l] (Selah)
8 I said,[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me![o]
9 There must be[p] no other[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
11 But my people did not obey me;[r]
Israel did not submit to me.[s]
12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires;[t]
they did what seemed right to them.[u]
13 If only my people would obey me![v]
If only Israel would keep my commands![w]
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack[x] their adversaries.”
15 (May those who hate the Lord[y] cower in fear[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)[aa]
16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat,[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”[ad]
Psalm 82[ae]
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God stands in[af] the assembly of El;[ag]
in the midst of the gods[ah] he renders judgment.[ai]
2 He says,[aj] “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked?[ak] (Selah)
3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless.[al]
Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.
4 Rescue the poor and needy.
Deliver them from the power[am] of the wicked.
5 They[an] neither know nor understand.
They stumble around[ao] in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble.[ap]
6 I thought,[aq] ‘You are gods;
all of you are sons of the Most High.’[ar]
7 Yet you will die like mortals;[as]
you will fall like all the other rulers.”[at]
8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!
For you own[au] all the nations.
Jacob Cheats Esau out of the Blessing
27 When[a] Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind,[b] he called his older[c] son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau[d] replied. 2 Isaac[e] said, “Since[f] I am so old, I could die at any time.[g] 3 Therefore, take your weapons—your quiver and your bow—and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game[h] for me. 4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then[i] I will eat it so that I may bless you[j] before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau.[k] When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back,[l] 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat[m] it and bless you[n] in the presence of the Lord[o] before I die.’ 8 Now then, my son, do exactly[p] what I tell you![q] 9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare[r] them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 10 Then you will take[s] it to your father. Thus he will eat it[t] and[u] bless you before he dies.”
11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin![v] 12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him[w] and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me,[x] my son! Just obey me![y] Go and get them for me!”
14 So he went and got the goats[z] and brought them to his mother. She[aa] prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She put the skins of the young goats[ab] on his hands[ac] and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed[ad] the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac[ae] replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?”[af] 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up[ag] and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.”[ah] 20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world[ai] did you find it so quickly,[aj] my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,”[ak] he replied.[al] 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you,[am] my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.”[an] 22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.[ao] 24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob[ap] replied. 25 Isaac[aq] said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son.[ar] Then I will bless you.”[as] So Jacob[at] brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac[au] drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27 So Jacob[av] went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent[aw] of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,
“Yes,[ax] my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you
the dew of the sky[ay]
and the richness[az] of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be[ba] lord[bb] over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you.[bc]
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”
Consecration of the Believer’s Life
12 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God[b]—which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be conformed[c] to this present world,[d] but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve[e] what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
Conduct in Humility
3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you[f] a measure of faith.[g] 4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. 6 And we have different gifts[h] according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.[i] 7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.
Jesus as the Light of the World
12 Then Jesus spoke out again,[a] “I am the light of the world![b] The one who follows me will never[c] walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees[d] objected,[e] “You testify about yourself; your testimony is not true!”[f] 14 Jesus answered,[g] “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you people[h] do not know where I came from or where I am going.[i] 15 You people[j] judge by outward appearances;[k] I do not judge anyone.[l] 16 But if I judge, my evaluation is accurate,[m] because I am not alone when I judge,[n] but I and the Father who sent me do so together.[o] 17 It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.[p] 18 I testify about myself[q] and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
19 Then they began asking[r] him, “Who is your father?” Jesus answered, “You do not know either me or my Father. If you knew me you would know my Father too.”[s] 20 (Jesus[t] spoke these words near the offering box[u] while he was teaching in the temple courts.[v] No one seized him because his time[w] had not yet come.)[x]
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