Book of Common Prayer
Tsadhe: My Zeal for the Word
137 You are righteous, O Lord,
and your judgments are right.
138 You have commanded your testimonies.
They are righteous and very trustworthy.
139 My zeal wears me out,
because my foes forget your words.
140 Your saying has been thoroughly refined,
and your servant loves it.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
but I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is righteous forever,
and your law is truth.
143 Distress and anguish have found me,
but your commandments are my delights.
144 Your testimonies are right forever.
Give me understanding, and I will live.
Qoph: I Will Obey
145 I call with all my heart.
Answer me, O Lord.
I will guard your statutes.
146 I call to you. Save me,
and I will keep your testimonies.
147 I get up before dawn, and I cry for help.
I wait confidently for your word.
148 My eyes look forward to the night watches
when I can meditate on your sayings.
149 Hear my voice according to your mercy.
Lord, give me life based on your judgments.
150 Those who pursue evil plans are near,
but they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are truth.
152 Long ago I knew from your testimonies
that you established them to endure forever.
Resh: I Have Not Forgotten
153 See my affliction and deliver me,
because I have not forgotten your law.
154 Argue my case and redeem me.
Give me life according to your saying.
155 Salvation is far away from the wicked,
because they do not pursue your statutes.
156 Your compassions are many, O Lord.
Give me life according to your judgments.
157 Many are my persecutors and my foes,
but I have not turned from your testimonies.
158 I look at the hypocrites and I loathe them,
because they do not keep your saying.
159 See how I love your precepts.
Lord, according to your mercy, give me life.
160 The sum of your word is truth.
All your righteous judgment is eternal.
Round Three: Job’s First Speech
23 Then Job responded:
2 Even today my complaint is bitter.[a]
His[b] hand weighs heavily on me despite my groaning.[c]
3 I wish I knew where I could find him,
so that I could come to his place for judgment.
4 Then I would lay out my case before him,
and I would fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know what words he would use to respond to me,
and I would consider what he would say to me.
6 Would he use his great power to press charges against me?
No, he will certainly give me a hearing.
7 There, an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be delivered from my judge forever.
8 But if I walk to the east, he is not there.
If I go back to the west, I find no sign of him.
9 When he is at work in the north, I do not detect him.
When he turns to the south, I do not see him.
10 But I am sure he knows the way I take.
When he has tested me, I will come out like gold.
11 My feet have followed his footsteps closely.
I have kept to his way, and I have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the command from his lips.
I have treasured the sayings from his mouth in my heart.[d]
43 The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”
“Come and see!” Philip told him.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” 51 Then he added, “Amen, Amen,[a] I tell you:[b] You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Psalm 139
God’s Attributes—Too Wonderful for Me!
Heading
For the choir director. By David. A psalm.
God Is All-Knowing
1 Lord, you have investigated me,
and you know.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You understand my thoughts from far off.
3 You keep track of when I travel and when I stay,[a]
and you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before there is a word on my tongue,
you, Lord, already know it completely.
5 You put a fence behind me and in front of me,
and you have placed your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is too high—I cannot grasp it.
God Is Present Everywhere
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your Presence?[b]
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in hell—there you are!
9 I rise on the wings of dawn.
I settle on the far side of the sea.
10 Even there your hand guides me,
and your right hand holds on to me.
11 And if I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light will become night around me,”
12 then even the darkness will not be too dark for you.
The night will be as light as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
God Is Powerful and Good
13 For you created my inner organs.[c]
You wove me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and my soul knows that very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unfinished body.
In your book all of them were written.
Days were determined, before any of them existed.
17 Your thoughts to me are so precious, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
God Is Holy
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God,
so that bloody men would depart from me,
20 men who speak against you maliciously.
Your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and detest those who rise up against you?
22 I absolutely hate them. To me they are enemies.
23 Investigate me, God, and know my heart.
Test me and know my troubled thoughts.
24 See if there is any way in me that causes pain,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Death and Glory
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew. Andrew came with Philip and told Jesus.
23 Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it continues to be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 Anyone who loves his life destroys it. And the one who hates his life in this world will hold on to it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.