Book of Common Prayer
Protestation of integrity, and prayer for protection.
A Psalm of David.
26 Judge me, O Jehovah, for I have walked in mine integrity:
I have trusted also in Jehovah [a]without wavering.
2 Examine me, O Jehovah, and prove me;
Try my [b]heart and my mind.
3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes;
And I have walked in thy truth.
4 I have not sat with men of falsehood;
Neither will I go in with dissemblers.
5 I hate the assembly of evil-doers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocency:
So will I compass thine altar, O Jehovah;
7 That I may [c]make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard,
And tell of all thy wondrous works.
8 Jehovah, I love the habitation of thy house,
And the place [d]where thy glory dwelleth.
9 [e]Gather not my soul with sinners,
Nor my life with men of blood;
10 In whose hands is wickedness,
And their right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity:
Redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
12 My foot standeth in an even place:
In the congregations will I bless Jehovah.
A prayer for help, and praise for its answer.
A Psalm of David.
28 Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call:
My rock, be not thou deaf unto me;
Lest, if thou be silent unto me,
I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee,
When I lift up my hands [a]toward thy holy oracle.
3 Draw me not away with the wicked,
And with the workers of iniquity;
That speak peace with their neighbors,
But mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings:
Give them after the operation of their hands;
Render to them their desert.
5 Because they regard not the works of Jehovah,
Nor the operation of his hands,
He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be Jehovah,
Because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Jehovah is my strength and my shield;
My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped:
Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
And with my song will I praise him.
8 Jehovah is their strength,
And he is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance:
Be their shepherd also, and bear them up for ever.
Wickedness of men and lovingkindness of God.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of Jehovah.
[a]36 The transgression of the wicked [b]saith within my heart,
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For [c]he flattereth himself in his own eyes,
[d]That his iniquity will not be found out and be hated.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit:
He hath ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 He deviseth iniquity upon his bed;
He setteth himself in a way that is not good;
He abhorreth not evil.
5 Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens;
Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the skies.
6 Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Thy judgments are a great deep:
O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.
7 How precious is thy lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge under the shadow of thy wings.
8 They shall be [e]abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house;
And thou wilt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life:
In thy light shall we see light.
10 Oh continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee,
And thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen:
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
The vanity of life.
For the Chief Musician, for [a]Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39 I said, I will take heed to my ways,
That I sin not with my tongue:
I will keep [b]my mouth with a bridle,
While the wicked is before me.
2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, [c]even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred.
3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then spake I with my tongue:
4 Jehovah, make me to know mine end,
And the measure of my days, what it is;
Let me know how frail I am.
5 Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;
And my life-time is as nothing before thee:
Surely every man [d]at his best estate is altogether [e]vanity. Selah
6 Surely every man walketh [f]in a vain show;
Surely they are disquieted [g]in vain:
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
7 And now, Lord, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions:
Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;
Because thou didst it.
10 Remove thy stroke away from me:
I am consumed by the [h]blow of thy hand.
11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,
Thou [i]makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:
Surely every man is [j]vanity. Selah
12 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry;
Hold not thy peace at my tears:
For I am a stranger with thee,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 Oh [k]spare me, that I may [l]recover strength,
Before I go hence, and be no more.
15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the side of the wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17 And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we shall be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 But if thou utter this our business, then we shall be guiltless of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 23 Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly Jehovah hath delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.
13 But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 16 And if the first-fruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them [a]of the root of the fatness of the olive tree; 18 glory not over the branches: but if thou gloriest, it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee. 22 Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God’s goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23 And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
14 For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own [a]servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Straightway he that received the five talents went and traded with them, and made other five talents. 17 In like manner he also that received the two gained other two. 18 But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19 Now after a long time the lord of those [b]servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them. 20 And he that received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: lo, I have gained other five talents. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful [c]servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 And he also that received the two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: lo, I have gained other two talents. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful [d]servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; 25 and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, thou hast thine own. 26 But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful [e]servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter; 27 thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest. 28 Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. 30 And cast ye out the unprofitable [f]servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
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