Book of Common Prayer
Qoph
145 I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Yahweh.
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you. Save me,
and I will heed your testimonies.
147 I rise early in the dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your word.[a]
148 My eyes anticipate the night watches,
that I may meditate on your word.
149 Hear my voice according to your loyal love;
O Yahweh, preserve my life according to your justice.
150 Those who pursue a wicked purpose draw near;
they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Yahweh,
and all your commands are truth.
152 Concerning your testimonies, I knew long ago
that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 See my misery and rescue me,
for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me;
preserve my life according to your word.[b]
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Your mercies are great, O Yahweh;
preserve my life according to your ordinances.
157 My persecutors and enemies are many,
yet I do not turn aside from your testimonies.
158 I see the treacherous and I feel disgust,
because they do not heed your word.
159 Consider[c] that I love your precepts;
O Yahweh, according to your loyal love preserve my life.
160 The whole[d] of your word is truth,
and your every righteous judgment endures forever.
Sin/Shin
161 Princes persecute me without cause,
but my heart trembles because of your word.[e]
162 I am rejoicing over your word,
like one who finds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood;
I love your law.
164 I praise you seven times in the day
for your righteous ordinances.
165 Great peace is for those who love your law,
and they do not have a cause for stumbling.
166 I hope for your salvation, O Yahweh,
and do your commands.
167 My soul heeds your testimonies,
and I love them exceedingly.
168 I heed your precepts and testimonies,
because all my ways are before you.
Taw
169 Let my cry come before you, O Yahweh;
give me understanding according to your word.
170 Let my plea come before you;
Deliver me according to your word.[f]
171 Let my lips pour out praise,
because you teach me your statutes.
172 Let my tongue sing of your word,[g]
because all your commands are right.
173 Let your hand be my help,[h]
because I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, O Yahweh,
and your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul[i] live that it may praise you,
and let your ordinances help me.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
because I do not forget your commands.
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears Yahweh
A song of ascents.[a]
128 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh,
who walks in his ways.
2 You will indeed eat of the labor of your hands;
you will be happy and it will be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within[b] your house.
Your children[c] will be like olive shoots
about your table.
4 Look, for thus shall a man be blessed
who fears Yahweh.[d]
5 May Yahweh bless you from Zion,
that you may see the good of Jerusalem
all the days of your life,
6 and that you may see your children’s children.
May peace be upon Israel.
Victory Over the Enemies of Zion
A song of ascents.[e]
129 “Too often[f] they have attacked me from my youth.”
Let Israel say,
2 “Too often[g] they have attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 On my back plowmen have plowed.
They have made their furrows[h] long.”
4 Yahweh is righteous.
He has cut the ropes[i] of the wicked.
5 Let all be put to shame and repulsed
who hate Zion.
6 Let them be like grass on the housetops,
that withers before it grows up,
7 with which a reaper cannot fill his hand,
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,[j]
8 so that passersby do not say,
“The blessing of Yahweh be upon you.
We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”
Hope for the Redemption of Yahweh
A song of ascents.[k]
130 Out of the depths I call to you, O Yahweh.
2 “O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications.
3 If you, O Yah,[l] should keep track of[m] iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you is forgiveness,
so that you may be feared.”
5 I await Yahweh; my soul awaits,
and I wait[n] for his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning.
Yes, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait[o] for Yahweh.
For with Yahweh there is loyal love,
and with him there is abundant redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Provision of a Wonder: Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake
8 And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Do a wonder for yourselves,’ you will say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’” 10 And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a snake.
11 And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts. 12 Each threw down his staff, and they became snakes, and Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 And Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had said.
Plague One: Blood
14 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is insensitive;[a] he refuses to release the people. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must wait to meet him on the bank of the Nile, and you must take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 And you must say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Release my people that they may serve me in the desert, and, look, you have not listened until now.” 17 Thus says Yahweh, “By this you will know that I am Yahweh. Look, I am about to strike with the staff that is in my hand the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile.”’”
19 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch your hand out over the waters of Egypt and over their rivers, over their canals, and over their pools and over all of their reservoirs of water, so that they become blood,’ and blood will be in all the land of Egypt and in vessels of wood and of stone.”
20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh had commanded, and he raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all of the water that was in the Nile was changed to blood. 21 And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, and the Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile, and the blood was in all the land of Egypt.
22 And the magicians of Egypt did likewise with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went to his house, and he did not take also this to heart.[b] 24 And all of the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they were unable to drink from the water of the Nile.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and who reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of him through us in every place. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to those on the one hand an odor from death to death, and to those on the other hand a fragrance from life to life. And who is qualified for these things? 17 For we are not like the majority who peddle the word of God, but as from pure motives—but as from God—we speak before God in Christ.
New Covenant Ministry
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we, like some, need letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by all people, 3 revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Now we possess such confidence through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also makes us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
On Divorce
10 And from there he set out and[a] came to the region of Judea and the other side of the Jordan, and again crowds came together to him. And again, as he was accustomed to do,[b] he began to teach[c] them. 2 And they asked[d] him if it was permitted for a man to divorce his[e] wife, in order to[f] test him. 3 And he answered and[g] said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 So they said, “Moses permitted a man[h] to write a certificate of divorce and to send her[i] away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. 6 But from the beginning of creation ‘he made them male and female.[j] 7 Because of this a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife,[k] 8 and the two will become one flesh,’[l] so that they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
10 And in the house again the disciples began to ask[m] him about this. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and[n] marries another, she commits adultery.”
Little Children Brought to Jesus
13 And they were bringing young children to him so that he could touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when[o] Jesus saw it,[p] he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the young children come to me. Do not forbid them, for to such belongs[q] the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.” 16 And after[r] taking them[s] into his arms, he blessed them, placing his[t] hands on them.
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