Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.
A Psalm of David.
101 I will sing of [steadfast] lovingkindness and justice;
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.
2
I will behave wisely and follow the way of integrity.
When will You come to me?
I will walk in my house in integrity and with a blameless heart.
3
I will set no worthless or wicked thing before my eyes.
I hate the practice of those who fall away [from the right path];
It will not grasp hold of me.
4
A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not tolerate evil.
5
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will silence;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud (arrogant) heart I will not tolerate.
6
My eyes will be on the faithful (honorable) of the land, that they may dwell with me;
He who walks blamelessly is the one who will minister to and serve me.
7
He who practices deceit will not dwell in my house;
He who tells lies and half-truths will not continue [to remain] in my presence.
8
Morning after morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land,
That I may cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do evil.
Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
109 O God of my praise!
Do not keep silent,
2
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3
They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me without a cause.
4
In return for my love, they attack me,
But I am in prayer.
5
They have repaid me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
6
Appoint a wicked man against him,
And let an attacker stand at his right hand [to kill him].
7
When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about.
Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin.
8
Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.(A)
9
Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.
10
Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.(B)
11
Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12
Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
Nor let anyone be gracious to his fatherless children.
13
Let his descendants be cut off,
And in the following generation let their name be blotted out.
14
Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15
Let them be before the Lord continually,
That He may cut off their memory from the earth;
16
Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17
He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him;
He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18
He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it seeped into his inner self like water
And like [anointing] oil into his bones.
19
Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself,
And as a sash with which he is constantly bound.
20
Let this be the reward of my attackers from the Lord,
And of those who speak evil against my life.
21
But You, O God, the Lord, show kindness to me, for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me;
22
For I am suffering and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23
I am vanishing like a shadow when it lengthens and fades;
I am shaken off like the locust.
24
My knees are unsteady from fasting;
And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness.
25
I also have become a reproach and an object of taunting to others;
When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].(C)
26
Help me, O Lord my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness—
27
And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
28
Let them curse, but You bless.
When adversaries arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
29
Let my attackers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30
I will give great praise and thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.
Ayin.
121
I have done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to those who oppress me.
122
Be the guarantee for Your servant for good [as Judah was the guarantee for Benjamin];
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.(A)
123
My eyes fail [with longing, watching] for [the fulfillment of] Your salvation,
And for [the fulfillment of] Your righteous word.
124
Deal with Your servant according to Your [gracious] lovingkindness,
And teach me Your statutes.
125
I am Your servant; give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart]
That I may know Your testimonies.
126
It is time for the Lord to act;
They have broken Your law.
127
Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold,
Yes, more than refined gold.
128
Therefore I esteem as right all Your precepts concerning everything;
I hate every false way.
Pe.
129
Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul keeps them.
130
The unfolding of Your [glorious] words give light;
Their unfolding gives understanding to the simple (childlike).
131
I opened my mouth and panted [with anticipation],
Because I longed for Your commandments.
132
Turn to me and be gracious to me and show me favor,
As is Your way to those who love Your name.
133
Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word;
Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You].
134
Redeem me from the oppression of man;
That I may keep Your precepts.(B)
135
Make Your face shine [with pleasure] upon Your servant,
And teach me Your statutes.(C)
136
My eyes weep streams of water
Because people do not keep Your law.
Tsadhe.
137
Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.
138
You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
And in great faithfulness.
139
My zeal has [completely] consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
140
Your word is very pure (refined);
Therefore Your servant loves it.
141
I am small and despised,
But I do not forget Your precepts.
142
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is truth.(D)
143
Trouble and anguish have found me,
Yet Your commandments are my delight and my joy.
144
Your righteous testimonies are everlasting;
Give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart] that I may live.
36 [a]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, that he is to pick up the censers from the midst of the blaze for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. 38 As for the censers of these people who have sinned at the cost of their lives, have the censers made into hammered sheets as a plating for the altar [of burnt offering], for they were presented before the Lord and they are sacred. They shall be a [warning] sign to the sons of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the Levites who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out [into broad sheets] as a plating for the [bronze] altar [of burnt offering], 40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman—that is, one who is not of the descendants of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord; so that he will not become like Korah and as his company—just as the Lord had said to him through Moses.
Murmuring and Plague
41 But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have caused the death of the people of the Lord.” 42 When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 45 “Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces [in silence before the Lord]. 46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord; the plague has begun!” 47 So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had [already] begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end. 49 But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through [observing the requirements of] the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.(A) 14 If those who are [followers] of the Law are [the true] heirs [of Abraham], then faith [leading to salvation] is of no effect and void, and the promise [of God] is nullified. 15 For the Law results in [God’s] wrath [against sin], but where there is no law, there is no violation [of it either].
16 Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all— 17 (as it is written [in Scripture], “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the sight of Him in whom he believed, that is, God [a]who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.(B) 18 In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]: “So [numberless] shall your descendants be.”(C) 19 Without becoming weak in faith he considered his own body, now as good as dead [for producing children] since he was about a hundred years old, and [he considered] the deadness of Sarah’s womb.(D) 20 But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised. 22 Therefore his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).(E) 23 Now not for his sake alone was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also—to whom righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead— 25 who was betrayed and crucified because of our sins, and was raised [from the dead] because of our justification [our acquittal—absolving us of all sin before God].
Laborers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning at dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard. 2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a [a]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour (9:00 a.m.) and saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right (an appropriate wage).’ And they went. 5 He went out about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), and did the same thing. 6 And about the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They answered him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard also.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last [to be hired] and ending with the first [to be hired].’(A) 9 Those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) came and received a denarius each [a day’s wage]. 10 Now when the first [to be hired] came, they thought they would get more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they protested and grumbled at the owner of the estate, 12 saying, ‘These men who came last worked [only] one hour, and yet you have made them equal [in wages] to us who have carried [most of] the burden and [worked in] the scorching heat of the day.’ 13 But the owner of the estate replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go, but I choose to give to this last man [hired] the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not lawfully permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? Or is your eye [b]envious because I am generous?’ 16 So those who are last [in this world] shall be first [in the world to come], and those who are first, last.”
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