Book of Common Prayer
145 I have called out with all my heart. Answer me, O Lord.
I want to obey your laws.
146 I have called out.
Save me, so that I can obey your written instructions.
147 I got up before dawn, and I cried out for help.
My hope is based on your word.
148 My eyes are wide-open throughout the nighttime hours
to reflect on your word.
149 In keeping with your mercy, hear my voice.
O Lord, give me a new life guided by your regulations.
150 Those who carry out plots against me are near,
⌞yet⌟ they are far away from your teachings.
151 You are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are reliable.
152 Long ago I learned from your written instructions
that you made them to last forever.
153 Look at my misery, and rescue me,
because I have never forgotten your teachings.
154 Plead my case ⌞for me⌟, and save me.
Give me a new life as you promised.
155 Wicked people are far from being saved,
because they have not searched for your laws.
156 Your acts of compassion are many in number, O Lord.
Give me a new life guided by your regulations.
157 I have many persecutors and opponents,
⌞yet⌟ I have not turned away from your written instructions.
158 I have seen traitors,
and I am filled with disgust.
They have not accepted your promise.
159 See how I have loved your guiding principles!
O Lord, in keeping with your mercy, give me a new life.
160 There is nothing but truth in your word,
and all of your righteous regulations endure forever.
161 Influential people have persecuted me for no reason,
but it is only your words that fill my heart with terror.
162 I find joy in your promise
like someone who finds a priceless treasure.
163 I hate lying; I am disgusted with it.
I love your teachings.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous regulations.
165 There is lasting peace for those who love your teachings.
Nothing can make those people stumble.
166 I have waited with hope for you to save me, O Lord.
I have carried out your commandments.
167 I have obeyed your written instructions.
I have loved them very much.
168 I have followed your guiding principles and your written instructions,
because my whole life is in front of you.
169 Let my cry for help come into your presence, O Lord.
Help me understand as you promised.
170 Let my plea for mercy come into your presence.
Rescue me as you promised.
171 Let my lips pour out praise
because you teach me your laws.
172 Let my tongue sing about your promise
because all your commandments are fair.
173 Let your hand help me
because I have chosen ⌞to follow⌟ your guiding principles.
174 I have longed for you to save me, O Lord,
and your teachings make me happy.
175 Let my soul have new life so that it can praise you.
Let your regulations help me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost lamb.
Search for me,
because I have never forgotten your commandments.
A song for going up to worship.
128 Blessed are all who fear the Lord
and live his way.
2 You will certainly eat what your own hands have provided.
Blessings to you!
May things go well for you!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine inside your home.
Your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
4 This is how the Lord will bless the person who fears him.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion
so that you may see Jerusalem prospering
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children.
Let there be peace in Israel!
A song for going up to worship.
129 “From the time I was young, people have attacked me …”
(Israel should repeat this.)
2 “From the time I was young, people have attacked me,
but they have never overpowered me.
3 They have plowed my back ⌞like farmers plow fields⌟.
They made long slashes ⌞like furrows⌟.”
4 The Lord is righteous.
He has cut me loose
from the ropes that wicked people tied around me.
5 Put to shame all those who hate Zion.
Force them to retreat.
6 Make them be like grass on a roof,
like grass that dries up before it produces a stalk.
7 It will never fill the barns of those who harvest
or the arms of those who gather bundles.
8 Those who pass by will never say ⌞to them⌟,
“May you be blessed by the Lord”
or “We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
A song for going up to worship.
130 O Lord, out of the depths I call to you.
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy.
3 O Lord, who would be able to stand
if you kept a record of sins?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you can be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and with hope I wait for his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
because with the Lord there is mercy
and with him there is unlimited forgiveness.
8 He will rescue Israel from all its sins.
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Give me a sign to prove that God has sent you,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your shepherd’s staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh,’ and it will become a large snake.”
10 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a large snake. 11 Then Pharaoh sent for his wise men and sorcerers. These Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic spells. 12 Each of them threw his staff down, and they all became large snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed theirs. 13 Yet, Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to them, as the Lord had predicted.
The First Plague—the Nile River Turns into Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh is being stubborn. He refuses to let my people go. 15 In the morning meet Pharaoh when he’s on his way to the Nile. Wait for him on the bank of the river. Take along the staff that turned into a snake. 16 Say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to tell you, “Let my people go to worship me in the desert.” So far you have not listened. 17 Here is what the Lord says: This is the way you will recognize that I am the Lord: With this staff in my hand, I’m going to strike the Nile, and the water will turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’ ”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, canals, ponds, and all its reservoirs—so that they turn into blood. There will be blood everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden and stone containers.’ ”
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded. In front of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised his staff and struck the Nile. All the water in the river turned into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and it smelled so bad that the Egyptians couldn’t drink any water from the river. There was blood everywhere in Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same thing using their magic spells. So Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as the Lord had predicted. 23 Pharaoh turned and went back to his palace. He dismissed the entire matter from his mind.
24 All the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink because they couldn’t drink any of the water from the river.
14 But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It’s like a fragrance that fills the air. 15 To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are saved and among those who are dying. 16 To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a life-giving fragrance.
Who is qualified to tell about Christ? 17 At least we don’t go around selling an impure word of God like many others. The opposite is true. As Christ’s spokesmen and in God’s presence, we speak the pure message that comes from God.
The Ministry That Comes from Christ Is Greater Than Moses’ Ministry
3 Do we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others? 2 You’re our letter of recommendation written in our hearts that everyone knows and reads. 3 It’s clear that you are Christ’s letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Christ gives us confidence about you in God’s presence. 5 By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. 6 He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise,[a] a spiritual promise, not a written one. Clearly, what was written brings death, but the Spirit brings life.
A Discussion about Divorce(A)
10 Jesus left there and went into the territory of Judea along the other side of the Jordan River. Crowds gathered around him again, and he taught them as he usually did.
2 Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked, “Can a husband divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered them, “What command did Moses give you?”
4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to give his wife a written notice to divorce her.”
5 Jesus said to them, “He wrote this command for you because you’re heartless. 6 But God made them male and female in the beginning, at creation. 7 That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and will remain united with his wife, 8 and the two will be one. So they are no longer two but one. 9 Therefore, don’t let anyone separate what God has joined together.”
10 When they were in a house, the disciples asked him about this. 11 He answered them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery. 12 If a wife divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
Jesus Blesses Children(B)
13 Some people brought little children to Jesus to have him hold them. But the disciples told the people not to do that.
14 When Jesus saw this, he became irritated. He told them, “Don’t stop the children from coming to me. Children like these are part of God’s kingdom. 15 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever doesn’t receive God’s kingdom as a little child receives it will never enter it.”
16 Jesus put his arms around the children and blessed them by placing his hands on them.
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