Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 101
A Vow of Integrity
A Davidic psalm.
1 I will sing of faithful love and justice;
I will sing praise to You, Lord.(A)
2 I will pay attention to the way of integrity.
When will You come to me?
I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.(B)
3 I will not set anything worthless before my eyes.
I hate the practice of transgression;
it will not cling to me.(C)
4 A devious heart will be far from me;
I will not be involved with[a] evil.(D)
5 I will destroy anyone
who secretly slanders his neighbor;(E)
I cannot tolerate anyone
with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart.(F)
6 My eyes favor the faithful of the land
so that they may sit down with me.
The one who follows the way of integrity
may serve me.(G)
7 No one who acts deceitfully
will live in my palace;
no one who tells lies
will remain in my presence.[b](H)
8 Every morning I will destroy
all the wicked of the land,
eliminating all evildoers from the Lord’s city.(I)
Psalm 109
Prayer against an Enemy
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 God of my praise, do not be silent.(A)
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;
they speak against me with lying tongues.(B)
3 They surround me with hateful words
and attack me without cause.(C)
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I continue to pray.[a](D)
5 They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.(E)
6 Set a wicked person over him;
let an accuser[b] stand at his right hand.(F)
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
and let his prayer be counted as sin.(G)
8 Let his days be few;
let another take over his position.(H)
9 Let his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.(I)
10 Let his children wander as beggars,
searching for food far[c] from their demolished homes.(J)
11 Let a creditor seize all he has;
let strangers plunder what he has worked for.(K)
12 Let no one show him kindness,
and let no one be gracious to his fatherless children.(L)
13 Let the line of his descendants be cut off;
let their name be blotted out in the next generation.(M)
14 Let his ancestors’ guilt
be remembered before the Lord,(N)
and do not let his mother’s sin be blotted out.(O)
15 Let their sins[d] always remain before the Lord,
and let Him erase[e] all memory of them from the earth.(P)
16 For he did not think to show kindness,
but pursued the afflicted, poor, and brokenhearted
in order to put them to death.(Q)
17 He loved cursing—let it fall on him;
he took no delight in blessing—let it be far from him.(R)
18 He wore cursing like his coat—
let it enter his body like water
and go into his bones like oil.(S)
19 Let it be like a robe he wraps around himself,
like a belt he always wears.(T)
20 Let this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil against me.(U)
21 But You, Yahweh my Lord,
deal kindly with me because of Your name;(V)
deliver me because of the goodness of Your faithful love.(W)
22 For I am afflicted and needy;(X)
my heart is wounded within me.(Y)
23 I fade away like a lengthening shadow;(Z)
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting,
and my body is emaciated.[f](AA)
25 I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers;[g]
when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn.(AB)
26 Help me, Lord my God;
save me according to Your faithful love(AC)
27 so they may know that this is Your hand
and that You, Lord, have done it.(AD)
28 Though they curse, You will bless.
When they rise up, they will be put to shame,
but Your servant will rejoice.(AE)
29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace;
they will wear their shame like a cloak.(AF)
30 I will fervently thank the Lord with my mouth;
I will praise Him in the presence of many.(AG)
ע Ayin
121 I have done what is just and right;(A)
do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee Your servant’s well-being;(B)
do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes grow weary(C) looking for Your salvation
and for Your righteous promise.
124 Deal with Your servant based on Your faithful love;(D)
teach me Your statutes.
125 I am Your servant;(E) give me understanding(F)
so that I may know Your decrees.
126 It is time for the Lord to act,(G)
for they have violated Your instruction.
127 Since I love Your commands(H)
more than gold, even the purest gold,
128 I carefully follow[a] all Your precepts(I)
and hate every false way.(J)
פ Pe
129 Your decrees are wonderful;(K)
therefore I obey them.(L)
130 The revelation of Your words(M) brings light
and gives understanding to the inexperienced.(N)
131 I open my mouth and pant(O)
because I long for Your commands.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,(P)
as is Your practice toward those who love Your name.
133 Make my steps steady through Your promise;(Q)
don’t let any sin dominate me.(R)
134 Redeem me from human oppression,(S)
and I will keep Your precepts.
135 Show favor to Your servant,(T)
and teach me Your statutes.(U)
136 My eyes pour out streams of tears(V)
because people do not follow Your instruction.
צ Tsade
137 You are righteous, Lord,(W)
and Your judgments are just.
138 The decrees You issue are righteous
and altogether trustworthy.(X)
139 My anger overwhelms me
because my foes forget Your words.(Y)
140 Your word is completely pure,(Z)
and Your servant loves it.(AA)
141 I am insignificant and despised,(AB)
but I do not forget Your precepts.(AC)
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and Your instruction is true.(AD)
143 Trouble and distress have overtaken me,
but Your commands are my delight.(AE)
144 Your decrees are righteous forever.(AF)
Give me understanding, and I will live.
15 “Please stay here,” Manoah told Him, “and we will prepare a young goat(A) for You.”
16 The Angel of the Lord said to him, “If I stay, I won’t eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the Lord.
17 Then Manoah said to Him, “What is Your name, so that we may honor You when Your words come true?”
18 “Why do you ask My name,” the Angel of the Lord asked him, “since it is wonderful.”(B)
19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, and He did a wonderful thing[a] while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the Angel of the Lord went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground. 21 The Angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the Angel of the Lord.
22 “We’re going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!”(C)
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, He wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and He would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us now like this.”
24 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson.(D) The boy grew,(E) and the Lord blessed him.
Seven Chosen to Serve
6 In those days, as the number of the disciples(A) was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews[a] against the Hebraic Jews[b] that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.(B) 2 Then the Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching about God to handle financial matters.[c] 3 Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation,(C) full of the Spirit(D) and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry.” 5 The proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen,(E) a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch.(F) 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed(G) and laid their hands on(H) them.[d]
7 So the preaching about God flourished, the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied(I) greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.
Stephen Accused of Blasphemy
8 Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some from what is called the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.
11 Then they persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God!”(J) 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, dragged him off, and took him to the Sanhedrin. 13 They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.(K) 14 For we heard him say that Jesus, this Nazarene, will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”(L) 15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
4 When Jesus[a] knew that the Pharisees(A) heard He was making(B) and baptizing more disciples than John(C) 2 (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea(D) and went again to Galilee.(E) 4 He had to travel through Samaria,(F) 5 so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property[b] that Jacob(G) had given his son Joseph.(H) 6 Jacob’s well(I) was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.[c]
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water.(J)
“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.
9 “How is it that You, a Jew,(K) ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan(L) woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with[d] Samaritans.[e]
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God,(M) and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”(N)
11 “Sir,”(O) said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob,(P) are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever!(Q) In fact, the water I will give him will become a well[f](R) of water springing up within him for eternal life.”(S)
15 “Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”
16 “Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.”
17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.
“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,[g](T) yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”(U)
21 Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans[h] worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.(V) 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here,(W) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. 24 God is spirit,(X) and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”(Y)
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah[i](Z) is coming” (who is called Christ(AA)). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
26 “I am He,”(AB) Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”
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