Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26[a]
Prayer of Innocence
1 Of David.
I
Judge me, Lord!
For I have walked in my integrity.(A)
In the Lord I trust;
I do not falter.
2 Examine me, Lord, and test me;
search my heart and mind.(B)
3 Your mercy is before my eyes;
I walk guided by your faithfulness.(C)
II
4 I do not sit with worthless men,
nor with hypocrites do I mingle.
5 I hate an evil assembly;
with the wicked I do not sit.
6 I will wash my hands[b] in innocence(D)
so that I may process around your altar, Lord,
7 To hear the sound of thanksgiving,
and recount all your wondrous deeds.
8 Lord, I love the refuge of your house,
the site of the dwelling-place of your glory.(E)
III
Psalm 28[a]
Petition and Thanksgiving
1 Of David.
I
To you, Lord, I call;
my Rock, do not be deaf to me,(A)
Do not be silent toward me,
so that I join those who go down to the pit.(B)
2 Hear the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help
when I lift up my hands toward your holy place.[b](C)
3 Do not drag me off with the wicked,
with those who do wrong,(D)
Who speak peace to their neighbors
though evil is in their hearts.(E)
4 Repay them for their deeds,
for the evil that they do.
For the work of their hands repay them;
give them what they deserve.(F)
5 Because they do not understand the Lord’s works,
the work of his hands,(G)
He will tear them down,
never to rebuild them.
II
6 [c]Blessed be the Lord,
who has heard the sound of my pleading.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield,
in whom my heart trusts.
I am helped, so my heart rejoices;
with my song I praise him.
III
8 [d]Lord, you are a strength for your people,
the saving refuge of your anointed.
9 Save your people, bless your inheritance;
pasture and carry them forever!
Psalm 36[a]
Human Wickedness and Divine Providence
1 For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
I
2 Sin directs the heart of the wicked man;
his eyes are closed to the fear of God.(A)
3 For he lives with the delusion:
his guilt will not be known and hated.[b]
4 Empty and false are the words of his mouth;
he has ceased to be wise and do good.
5 On his bed he hatches plots;
he sets out on a wicked way;
he does not reject evil.(B)
II
6 [c]Lord, your mercy reaches to heaven;
your fidelity, to the clouds.(C)
7 Your justice is like the highest mountains;
your judgments, like the mighty deep;
human being and beast you sustain, Lord.
8 How precious is your mercy, O God!
The children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings.[d](D)
9 They feast on the rich food of your house;
from your delightful stream(E) you give them drink.
10 For with you is the fountain of life,(F)
and in your light we see light.(G)
11 Show mercy on those who know you,
your just defense to the upright of heart.
12 Do not let the foot of the proud overtake me,
nor the hand of the wicked disturb me.
13 There make the evildoers fall;
thrust them down, unable to rise.
Psalm 39[a]
The Vanity of Life
1 For the leader, for Jeduthun.(A) A psalm of David.
I
2 I said, “I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth.”
3 Mute and silent before the wicked,
I refrain from good things.
But my sorrow increases;
4 my heart smolders within me.(B)
In my sighing a fire blazes up,
and I break into speech:
II
5 Lord, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.
6 To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;
indeed, my life is as nothing before you.
Every man is but a breath.(C)
Selah
III
7 Man goes about as a mere phantom;
they hurry about, although in vain;
he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.
8 And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
You are my only hope.
9 From all my sins deliver me;
let me not be the taunt of fools.
10 I am silent and do not open my mouth
because you are the one who did this.
11 Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
12 You chastise man with rebukes for sin;
like a moth you consume his treasures.
Every man is but a breath.
Selah
13 Listen to my prayer, Lord, hear my cry;
do not be deaf to my weeping!
For I am with you like a foreigner,
a refugee, like my ancestors.(D)
14 Turn your gaze from me, that I may smile
before I depart to be no more.
Danger of Idolatry. 15 Because you saw no form at all on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, be strictly on your guard 16 not to act corruptly by fashioning an idol for yourselves to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or of a woman,(A) 17 the form of any animal on the earth, the form of any bird that flies in the sky, 18 the form of anything that crawls on the ground, or the form of any fish in the waters under the earth. 19 And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or the stars, the whole heavenly host, do not be led astray into bowing down to them and serving them.(B) These the Lord, your God, has apportioned to all the other nations under the heavens; 20 but you the Lord has taken and led out of that iron foundry, Egypt, that you might be his people, his heritage, as you are today.(C) 21 But the Lord was angry with me on your account(D) and swore that I should not cross the Jordan nor enter the good land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage. 22 I myself shall die in this country; I shall not cross the Jordan; but you are going to cross over and take possession of that good land.(E) 23 Be careful, therefore, lest you forget the covenant which the Lord, your God, has made with you, and fashion for yourselves against his command an idol in any form whatsoever.(F) 24 For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God.[a](G)
II. The Crisis Between Paul and the Corinthians
A. Past Relationships[a]
Paul’s Sincerity and Constancy. 12 [b]For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with the simplicity and sincerity of God, [and] not by human wisdom but by the grace of God. 13 For we write you nothing but what you can read and understand, and I hope that you will understand completely, 14 as you have come to understand us partially, that we are your boast as you also are ours, on the day of [our] Lord Jesus.(A)
15 With this confidence I formerly intended to come[c] to you so that you might receive a double favor, 16 namely, to go by way of you to Macedonia, and then to come to you again on my return from Macedonia, and have you send me on my way to Judea.(B) 17 So when I intended this, did I act lightly?[d] Or do I make my plans according to human considerations, so that with me it is “yes, yes” and “no, no”?(C) 18 As God is faithful,[e] our word to you is not “yes” and “no.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not “yes” and “no,” but “yes” has been in him.(D) 20 For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him; therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.(E) 21 [f]But the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God;(F) 22 he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.(G)
Chapter 15
The Parable of the Lost Sheep.(A) 1 [a]The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, 2 but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”(B) 3 So to them he addressed this parable. 4 (C)“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one(D) until he finds it?(E) 5 And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy 6 and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.(F)
The Parable of the Lost Coin. 8 “Or what woman having ten coins[b] and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ 10 In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
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