Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102[a]
The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.
102 O Lord, hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my cry for help.[b]
2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble.[c]
Listen to me.[d]
When I call out to you, quickly answer me.
3 For my days go up in smoke,[e]
and my bones are charred as in a fireplace.[f]
4 My heart is parched[g] and withered like grass,
for I am unable[h] to eat food.[i]
5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin.[j]
6 I am like an owl[k] in the wilderness;
I am like a screech owl[l] among the ruins.[m]
7 I stay awake;[n]
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who mock me use my name in their curses.[o]
9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread,[p]
and mix my drink with my tears,[q]
10 because of your anger and raging fury.
Indeed,[r] you pick me up and throw me away.
11 My days are coming to an end,[s]
and I am withered like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, rule forever,[t]
and your reputation endures.[u]
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion.[v]
For it is time to have mercy on her,
for the appointed time has come.
14 Indeed,[w] your servants take delight in her stones,
and feel compassion for[x] the dust of her ruins.[y]
15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord,[z]
and all the kings of the earth will respect[aa] his splendor,
16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,
and reveals his splendor,
17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute,[ab]
and does not reject[ac] their request.[ad]
18 The account of his intervention[ae] will be recorded for future generations;
people yet to be born[af] will praise the Lord.
19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above;[ag]
from heaven the Lord will look toward earth,[ah]
20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,
and to set free those condemned to die,[ai]
21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,
and praise him[aj] in Jerusalem,
22 when the nations gather together,
and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord.[ak]
23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life;[al]
he has cut short my days.
24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life.[am]
You endure through all generations.[an]
25 In earlier times you established the earth;
the skies are your handiwork.
26 They will perish,
but you will endure.[ao]
They will wear out like a garment;
like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear.[ap]
27 But you remain;[aq]
your years do not come to an end.
28 The children of your servants will settle down here,
and their descendants[ar] will live securely in your presence.”[as]
Book 5 (Psalms 107-150)
Psalm 107[a]
107 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,[c]
those whom he delivered[d] from the power[e] of the enemy,
3 and gathered from foreign lands,[f]
from east and west,
from north and south.
4 They wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland;[g]
they found no road to a city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty;
they fainted from exhaustion.[h]
6 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a level road,[i]
that they might find a city in which to live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[j]
9 For he has satisfied those who thirst,[k]
and those who hunger he has filled with food.[l]
10 They sat in utter darkness,[m]
bound in painful iron chains,[n]
11 because they had rebelled against God’s commands,[o]
and rejected the instructions of the Most High.[p]
12 So he used suffering to humble them;[q]
they stumbled and no one helped them up.
13 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the utter darkness,[r]
and tore off their shackles.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[s]
16 For he shattered the bronze gates,
and hacked through the iron bars.[t]
17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways,[u]
and suffered because of their sins.
18 They lost their appetite for all food,[v]
and they drew near the gates of death.
19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
20 He sent them an assuring word[w] and healed them;
he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.[x]
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[y]
22 Let them present thank offerings,
and loudly proclaim what he has done.[z]
23 [aa] Some traveled on[ab] the sea in ships,
and carried cargo over the vast waters.[ac]
24 They witnessed the acts of the Lord,
his amazing feats on the deep water.
25 He gave the order for a windstorm,[ad]
and it stirred up the waves of the sea.[ae]
26 They[af] reached up to the sky,
then dropped into the depths.
The sailors’ strength[ag] left them[ah] because the danger was so great.[ai]
27 They swayed[aj] and staggered like drunks,
and all their skill proved ineffective.[ak]
28 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
29 He calmed the storm,[al]
and the waves[am] grew silent.
30 The sailors[an] rejoiced because the waves[ao] grew quiet,
and he led them to the harbor[ap] they desired.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
and for the amazing things he has done for people.[aq]
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people.
Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside.[ar]
22 During the night Jacob quickly took[a] his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons[b] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.[c] 23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions.[d] 24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man[e] wrestled[f] with him until daybreak.[g] 25 When the man[h] saw that he could not defeat Jacob,[i] he struck[j] the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
26 Then the man[k] said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”[l] “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied,[m] “unless you bless me.”[n] 27 The man asked him,[o] “What is your name?”[p] He answered, “Jacob.” 28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him,[q] “but Israel,[r] because you have fought[s] with God and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.”[t] “Why[u] do you ask my name?” the man replied.[v] Then he blessed[w] Jacob[x] there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel,[y] explaining,[z] “Certainly[aa] I have seen God face to face[ab] and have survived.”[ac]
31 The sun rose[ad] over him as he crossed over Penuel,[ae] but[af] he was limping because of his hip. 32 That is why to this day[ag] the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck[ah] the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.
Jacob Meets Esau
33 Jacob looked up[ai] and saw that Esau was coming[aj] along with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them.[ak] 3 But Jacob[al] himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached[am] his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 5 When Esau[an] looked up[ao] and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob[ap] replied, “The children whom God has graciously given[aq] your servant.” 6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down.[ar] 7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.
8 Esau[as] then asked, “What did you intend[at] by sending all these herds to meet me?”[au] Jacob[av] replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said.[aw] “If I have found favor in your sight, accept[ax] my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me,[ay] it is as if I have seen the face of God.[az] 11 Please take my present[ba] that was brought to you, for God has been generous[bb] to me and I have all I need.”[bc] When Jacob urged him, he took it.[bd]
12 Then Esau[be] said, “Let’s be on our way![bf] I will go in front of you.” 13 But Jacob[bg] said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young,[bh] and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young.[bi] If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. 14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children,[bj] until I come to my lord at Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.”[bk] “Why do that?” Jacob replied.[bl] “My lord has already been kind enough to me.”[bm]
16 So that same day Esau made his way back[bn] to Seir. 17 But[bo] Jacob traveled to Sukkoth[bp] where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called[bq] Sukkoth.[br]
3 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that[a] we should be called God’s children—and indeed[b] we are![c] For this reason[d] the world does not know us: because it did not know him.[e] 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be[f] has not yet been revealed. We[g] know that[h] whenever[i] it[j] is revealed[k] we will be like him, because[l] we will see him just as he is.[m] 3 And everyone who has this hope focused[n] on him purifies[o] himself, just as Jesus[p] is pure).[q]
4 Everyone who practices sin[r] also practices lawlessness;[s] indeed,[t] sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that Jesus[u] was revealed to take away[v] sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 Everyone who resides[w] in him does not sin;[x] everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness[y] is righteous, just as Jesus[z] is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil,[aa] because the devil has been sinning[ab] from the beginning. For this purpose[ac] the Son of God was revealed: to destroy[ad] the works of the devil. 9 Everyone who has been fathered[ae] by God does not practice sin,[af] because[ag] God’s[ah] seed[ai] resides in him, and thus[aj] he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. 10 By this[ak] the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness—the one who does not love his fellow Christian[al]—is not of God.
31 The Jewish leaders[a] picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 32 Jesus said to them,[b] “I have shown you many good deeds[c] from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jewish leaders[d] replied,[e] “We are not going to stone you for a good deed[f] but for blasphemy,[g] because[h] you, a man, are claiming to be God.”[i]
34 Jesus answered,[j] “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?[k] 35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken),[l] 36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart[m] and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform[n] the deeds[o] of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds,[p] so that you may come to know[q] and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 39 Then[r] they attempted[s] again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.[t]
40 Jesus[u] went back across the Jordan River[v] again to the place where John[w] had been baptizing at an earlier time,[x] and he stayed there. 41 Many[y] came to him and began to say, “John[z] performed[aa] no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man[ab] was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus[ac] there.
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