Book of Common Prayer
The Ways of the Righteous and the Wicked
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked;
nor does he stand in the way of sinners;
nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers.
2 Instead, in the law of Yahweh is his delight,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 And so, he is like a tree planted by streams of water
that gives its fruit in its season;
its leaf also does not wither.
Therefore all that he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked.
Instead, they are like the chaff that the wind scatters.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,[a]
but the way of the wicked will perish.
The Messiah’s Reign
2 Why are nations in tumult,
and countries plotting[b] in vain?[c]
2 The kings of the earth establish themselves,
and the rulers conspire[d] together
against Yahweh and his anointed:
3 “Let us tear off their bonds,
and cast their cords from us!”
4 He who sits enthroned in the heavens laughs.
The Lord derides them.
5 Then he speaks to them in his wrath,
and in his fury he terrifies them:
6 “But as for me, I have set my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will tell the decree;
Yahweh said to me:
“You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask from me and I will make the nations your heritage,
and your possession the ends of the earth.
9 You will break them with an iron rod.
Like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them.”
10 So then, O kings, be wise.
Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve Yahweh with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son
lest he be angry and you perish on the way,
for his anger burns quickly.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
A Call to Yahweh in Distress
A psalm of David at his fleeing from the presence of Absalom, his son.[e]
3 Yahweh, how many are my enemies;
many are rising against me.
2 Many are saying about my soul,
“There is no deliverance for him from[f] God. Selah[g]
3 But[h] you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory and the one who lifts up my head.
4 With my voice I call to Yahweh
and he answers me from his holy hill.[i] Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I woke up because Yahweh sustains me.
6 I am not afraid of the ten thousands of people
who all around have set themselves against me.
7 Rise up, O Yahweh; deliver me, O my God;
for you strike all my enemies on the cheek.
The teeth of the wicked you break.
8 To Yahweh belongs deliverance;
may your blessing be over your people. Selah
Safety in Yahweh
For the music director; with stringed instruments. A psalm of David.[j]
4 When I call, answer me, O God of my righteousness.[k]
In trouble deliver me.[l]
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
2 O sons of man, how long will my honor[m] be a disgrace?
How long will you love vanity?
How long will you seek lies?[n] Selah
3 But know that Yahweh has set apart[o] for himself the faithful one.[p]
Yahweh hears when I call to him.
4 Be disturbed but do not sin.
Commune in your heart[q] on your bed and be silent. Selah
5 Offer correct sacrifices,[r]
and trust in[s] Yahweh.
6 Many are saying, “Who will show us something good?”
Lift up over[t] us the light of your face, O Yahweh.
7 You have put gladness in my heart
more than when[u] their grain and their wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep at once,[v]
for you alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell safely.
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
A Shiggaion[a] of David which he sang to Yahweh
on account of Cush, a Benjaminite.[b]
7 O Yahweh, my God, in you I have taken refuge.
Save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me.
2 Or else he will tear me apart like a lion,
ripping to pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O Yahweh, my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my ally[c] with harm,
or if I have plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy of my soul pursue,
and overtake and trample my life into the ground,
and lay my honor in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Yahweh, in your anger,
and lift yourself up against the wrath[d] of my oppressors,
and awake for me,
since you have commanded judgment.
7 And let the assembly of peoples surround you,
and over it return on high.
8 Yahweh judges the nations.
O Yahweh, vindicate me
according to my innocence[e] and according to my integrity within me.
9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
and test the hearts and innermost being, O righteous God.
10 My shield is with God
who saves the upright of heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If he[f] does not repent, he[g] will sharpen his sword.
He has bent his bow and he has strung[h] it.
13 And he has prepared for him weapons of death.
He has made his arrows fiery shafts.
14 See, he[i] travails with[j] evil.
He is pregnant with trouble,
and he gives birth to deception.
15 He makes a pit and digs it out,
then falls in the trap he has made.
16 His trouble comes back on his head,
and his violence comes down on his skull.
17 I will thank Yahweh according to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of Yahweh, the Most High.
The Generations of Heaven and Earth
4 These are the generations[a] of heaven[b] and earth[c] when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven[d]— 5 before any plant of the field was[e] on earth, and before any plant of the field[f] had sprung up, because Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no human being to cultivate the ground, 6 but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground— 7 when[g] Yahweh God formed the man[h] of dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
8 And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man[i] whom he had formed. 9 And Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, along with[j] the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now[k] a river flowed out from Eden that watered the garden, and from there it diverged and became four branches. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It went around all the land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stones are there.) 13 And the name of the second is Gihon. It went around all the land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 And Yahweh God took the man[l] and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. 16 And Yahweh God commanded the man,[m] saying, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat,[n] 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat[o] from it you shall surely die.”[p]
18 Then[q] Yahweh God said, “it is not good that the man[r] is alone. I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.”[s] 19 And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky,[t] and he brought each to the man[u] to see what he would call it. And whatever the man[v] called that living creature was its name. 20 And the man[w] gave names[x] to every domesticated animal and to the birds of heaven[y] and to all the wild animals.[z] But for the man there was not found a helper as his counterpart.[aa] 21 And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man.[ab] While[ac] he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh where it had been.[ad] 22 And Yahweh God fashioned the rib which he had taken from the man[ae] into a woman and brought her to the man.[af] 23 And the man[ag] said,
“She is now[ah] bone from my bones
and flesh from my flesh;
she[ai] shall be called ‘Woman,’
for she was taken[aj] from man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh. 25 And the man[ak] and his wife, both of them, were naked, and they were not ashamed.
God’s Full and Final Revelation in the Son
1 Although[a] God spoke long ago in many parts[b] and in many ways to the fathers by the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world,[c] 3 who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all things by the word of power.[d] When he[e] had made purification for sins through him, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become by so much better than the angels, by as much as he has inherited a more excellent name than theirs.
The Son Superior to the Angels
5 For to which of the angels did he ever say,
“You are my son,
today I have begotten you,”[f]
and again,
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“And let all the angels of God worship him.”[j]
7 And concerning the angels he says,
“The one who makes his angels winds,
and his servants a flame of fire,”[k]
8 but concerning the Son,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever[l],
and the scepter of righteous is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
because of this God, your God, has anointed you
with the olive oil of joy more than your companions.[m]
10 And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the works of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you continue,
and they will all become old like a garment,
12 and like a robe you will roll them up,
and like a garment they will be changed;
but you are the same, and your years will not run out.”[n]
13 But to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit down at my right hand,
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”[o]
14 Are they not all spirits engaged in special service, sent on assignment for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?
The Prologue to John’s Gospel
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 This one was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that[a] has come into being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.[b] 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome[c] it.
6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was[d] John. 7 This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. 8 That one was not the light, but came[e] in order that he could testify about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize[f] him. 11 He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about him and cried out, saying, “This one was he about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.’” 16 For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him[g] known.
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