Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
Vindicate Me, O Lord
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By David.
Affirmation of Innocence and Plea for Judgment
1 Judge me favorably, O Lord,
because I have walked in my integrity.
In the Lord I have trusted. I have not wavered.
2 Test me, O Lord, and examine me.
Refine my thoughts and my emotions,
3 for your mercy is in front of my eyes,
and I keep walking in your truth.
Separation From Evil
4 I do not sit with deceivers.
I do not associate with hypocrites.
5 I hate the company of evildoers.
I do not sit with the wicked.
Affirmation of Innocence and Love for God
6 I wash my hands from sin,
so I can march around your altar, O Lord,
7 to shout thanks to you
and to proclaim all your wonderful deeds.
8 Lord, I love the house where you reside,
the place where your glory dwells.
Separation From Evil
9 Do not snatch my soul away along with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 who grasp wicked schemes in their hands,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
Affirmation of Innocence and Prayer for Redemption
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground.
In the assemblies I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 28
My Rock
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By David.
Protect Me From the Wicked
1 O Lord, I keep calling to you.
My Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the sound of my plea for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those evildoers.
They speak peace to their neighbors but hide evil in their hearts.
Punish the Wicked
4 Give to them what they have done to others.
According to their evil actions,
according to the deeds of their hands,
punish them.
Repay to them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not recognize the works of the Lord
or the deeds of his hands,
he will tear them down and not build them up.
Then I Will Praise You
6 Blessed be the Lord,
because he has heard the sound of my plea for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
My heart also celebrates.
With my song I will give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed king.
9 Save your people, and bless the people that belong to you.
Shepherd them, and carry them forever.
Psalm 36
Concerning the Rebelliousness of the Wicked
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For the choir director. By the servant of the Lord. By David.
1 A declaration about the rebellion of the wicked is deep in my heart.[a]
The Arrogance of the Wicked
There is no dread of God before his eyes,
2 because he flatters himself in his own eyes
too much to notice his guilt and to hate it.
3 The words from his mouth are deception and deceit.
He has given up being wise and doing good.
4 He plots deception even on his bed.
He sets out on a path that is not good.
He does not reject wrong.
The Goodness of God
5 Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens.
Your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is as high as the mountains of God.
Your justice is as deep as the ocean.
You save both man and animal, O Lord.
7 How precious is your mercy, O God!
So all people[b] find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are satisfied by the rich food of your house.
You let them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life.
In your light we see light.
Closing Prayer
10 Stretch out your mercy over those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the proud trample me.
Do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers have fallen.
They have been thrown down.
They are not able to rise!
Psalm 39
Show Me My Life’s End
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For the choir director. For Jeduthun.[a] A psalm by David.
The Psalmist’s Anguish
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I do not sin with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are confronting me.”
2 I said nothing. I kept silent.
I did not even say anything good,
but my pain became worse.
3 Inside me my heart grew hot.
As I fretted, the fire burned.
So I spoke with my tongue.
The Shortness of Human Life
4 Lord, help me understand my end.
What is the limit of my days?
Let me know how fleeting I am.
5 See, you have cut short my days.[b]
My brief time before you is like nothing.
Indeed, every person, even at his best,
is just a puff of air.[c] Interlude
6 A man flickers like a mirage.
He really has no more effect than a breeze.[d]
He piles things up, never knowing who will get them.
The Enduring Goodness of God
7 But now what do I wait for, Lord?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my rebellious acts.
Do not let fools scorn me.
9 I said nothing.
I did not open my mouth,
because you are the one who caused this.
10 Stop punching me.
By the attack of your hand I am finished.
11 By your rebuke against guilt you discipline a man.
Like a moth you consume what he desires.
Indeed, every person is nothing but a puff of air. Interlude
Closing Prayer
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Listen to my cry.
Do not ignore my tears,
for with you I am an alien,
just a visitor, as were all my ancestors.
13 Look away from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and am no more.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream Is Fulfilled
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on top of the palace of his kingdom in Babylon. 30 The king said, “Isn’t this the great Babylon that I built for a royal residence by my mighty power and my majestic glory?”
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven. It said, “It is announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar: The kingdom has been taken away from you. 32 You will be driven away from humans, and your dwelling will be with the wild animals. Grass will be fed to you as grass is fed to bulls, and seven times will pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to whomever he wishes.”
33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven away from humans. So he ate grass as bulls do, and his body was wet with the dew from the sky until his hair grew long like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
34 At the end of the set time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. So I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever, because his dominion is an eternal dominion, and his kingdom lasts forever and ever. 35 All of the inhabitants of the earth are considered to be nothing, and he does as he wishes with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. So there is no one who can hold back the hand of the Most High and say to him, “What have you done?” 36 At that time my reason[a] returned to me, and my splendor and glory returned to me for the honor of my kingdom. So my advisors and nobles looked for me. I was reinstated over my kingdom, and I became even more majestic than I was before. 37 Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of Heaven, because all his works are true, and his ways are just. All those who walk in arrogance he is able to humble.
God Is Love
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love. 9 This is how God’s love for us was revealed: God has sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we may live through him. 10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us so much, we also should love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love has been brought to its goal in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. 16 We also have come to know and trust the love that God has for us.
God is love. Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 17 In this way his love has been brought to its goal among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are just like Jesus.[a] 18 There is no fear in love, but complete love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who continues to be afraid has not been brought to the goal in love.
19 We love[b] because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For how can anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen,[c] love God, whom he has not seen? 21 This then is the command we have from him: The one who loves God should also love his brother.
Jesus Drives Out a Demon
31 He went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. 32 They were amazed by his teaching, because his message had authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the unclean spirit of a demon. He cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”
35 Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” The demon threw him down in front of them and came out of him without harming him.
36 They were all filled with awe and began to say to one another, “What is this message? With authority and power he commands unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 News about him spread to every place in the surrounding area.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.