Book of Common Prayer
Consider the Way of the Blameless
Of David. A Psalm.
101 I will (A)sing of lovingkindness and [a]justice,
To You, O Yahweh, I will sing praises.
2 I will [b](B)consider the way of the blameless.
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house in the [c](C)integrity of my heart.
3 I will set no (D)vile thing before my eyes;
I hate the [d]work of those who (E)fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
4 A (F)crooked heart shall depart from me;
I will know no evil.
5 Whoever secretly (G)slanders his neighbor, him I will [e]destroy;
Whoever has a (H)haughty look and an arrogant heart, I will not endure.
6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may abide with me;
He who walks in the (I)way of the blameless is the one who will minister to me.
7 He who (J)practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who speaks lies (K)shall not be established before my eyes.
8 (L)Every morning I will [f](M)destroy all the wicked of the land,
To (N)cut off from the (O)city of Yahweh all the workers of iniquity.
O God, Do Not Be Silent
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
109 O (A)God of my praise,
(B)Do not be silent!
2 For they have opened a wicked mouth and a (C)deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken to me with a (D)lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me (E)without cause.
4 In return (F)for my love they accuse me;
But (G)I am in prayer.
5 Thus they have (H)set upon me evil for good
And (I)hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man over him,
And let an [a](J)accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, let him (K)come forth a wicked man,
And let his (L)prayer become sin.
8 Let (M)his days be few;
Let (N)another take his office.
9 Let his (O)sons be orphans
And his (P)wife a widow.
10 Let his (Q)sons wander aimlessly and beg;
And let them (R)search for food [b]from their ruined homes.
11 Let (S)the creditor [c]seize all that he has,
And let (T)strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
12 Let there be none to [d](U)extend lovingkindness to him,
And (V)let there be none to be gracious to his orphans.
13 Let those who (W)follow him be [e]cut off;
In a following generation let their (X)name be blotted out.
14 Let (Y)the iniquity of his fathers be remembered [f]before Yahweh,
And let not the sin of his mother be (Z)blotted out.
15 Let (AA)them be before Yahweh continually,
That He may (AB)cut off their memory from the earth;
16 Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness,
But persecuted the (AC)afflicted, the needy man,
And the (AD)disheartened to (AE)put them to death.
17 He also loved cursing, so (AF)it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18 But he (AG)clothed himself with cursing as his garment,
And it (AH)came into his inward parts like water
And like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be to him as (AI)a garment with which he wraps himself,
And for a belt with which he constantly (AJ)girds himself.
20 This is the (AK)reward of my accusers from Yahweh,
And of those who (AL)speak evil against my soul.
21 But as for You, O Yahweh, O Lord, deal with me (AM)for Your name’s sake;
Because (AN)Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;
22 For (AO)I am afflicted and needy,
And [g]my heart is (AP)pierced within me.
23 I am passing (AQ)like a shadow when it is stretched out;
I am shaken off (AR)like the locust.
24 My (AS)knees are feeble from (AT)fasting,
And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.
25 As for me, I have become a (AU)reproach to them;
They see me, they (AV)wag their head.
26 (AW)Help me, O Yahweh my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness.
27 [h]And let them (AX)know that this is Your hand;
You, O Yahweh, have done it.
28 (AY)Let them curse, but You bless;
They arise and will be put to shame,
But Your (AZ)slave shall be glad.
29 [i]Let (BA)my accusers be clothed with dishonor,
And [j]let them (BB)wrap themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30 With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to Yahweh;
And in the midst of many (BC)I will praise Him.
Ayin
121 I have (A)done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Be for Your slave a (B)guarantee for good;
Do not let the arrogant (C)oppress me.
123 My (D)eyes fail with longing for Your salvation
And for Your righteous [a]word.
124 Deal with Your slave (E)according to Your lovingkindness
And (F)teach me Your statutes.
125 (G)I am Your slave; (H)give me understanding,
That I may know Your testimonies.
126 It is time for Yahweh to (I)act,
For they have broken Your law.
127 Therefore I (J)love Your commandments
Above gold, even above fine gold.
128 Therefore I deem all Your (K)precepts concerning everything to be right,
I (L)hate every false way.
Pe
129 Your testimonies are (M)wonderful;
Therefore my soul (N)observes them.
130 The (O)unfolding of Your words gives light;
It gives (P)understanding to the simple.
131 I (Q)opened my mouth wide and (R)panted,
For I (S)longed for Your commandments.
132 (T)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
According to Your judgment [b]for those who love Your name.
133 Establish my (U)steps in Your [c]word,
And do not let any wickedness (V)overpower me.
134 (W)Redeem me from the oppression of man,
That I may keep Your precepts.
135 (X)Make Your face shine upon Your slave,
And (Y)teach me Your statutes.
136 My eyes [d]shed (Z)streams of water,
Because they (AA)do not keep Your law.
Tsadhe
137 (AB)Righteous are You, O Yahweh,
And upright are Your judgments.
138 In (AC)righteousness, You have commanded Your testimonies
And in exceeding (AD)faithfulness.
139 My (AE)zeal has [e]consumed me,
Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.
140 Your [f](AF)word is exceedingly refined,
Therefore Your slave (AG)loves it.
141 I am small and (AH)despised,
Yet I do not (AI)forget Your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And (AJ)Your law is truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have found me,
Yet Your commandments are my (AK)delight.
144 Righteous are Your (AL)testimonies forever;
(AM)Give me understanding that I may live.
Prayer for Mercy and Help
15 (A)Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious (B)habitation;
Where are Your (C)zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The (D)tumults within You and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
16 For You are our (E)Father, though (F)Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, O Yahweh, are our Father,
Our (G)Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
17 Why, O Yahweh, do You (H)cause us to stray from Your ways
And (I)stiffen our heart from fearing You?
(J)Return for the sake of Your slaves, the tribes of Your inheritance.
18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while;
Our adversaries have (K)trodden it down.
19 We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name.
64 [a]Oh, that You would rend the heavens and (L)come down,
That the mountains might (M)quake at Your presence—
2 [b]As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the (N)nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did (O)awesome things for which we did not hope,
You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from ancient times (P)they have not heard or given ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who (Q)waits for Him.
5 You (R)meet him who rejoices and (S)does righteousness,
Who (T)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, (U)You were angry; indeed we have sinned—
We continued in them a long time—
And shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is (V)unclean,
And all our (W)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us (X)wither like a leaf,
And our (Y)iniquities, like the wind, carry us away.
7 There is (Z)no one who calls on Your name,
Who awakens himself to take hold of You,
For You have (AA)hidden Your face from us
And have [c]melted us into the hand of our iniquities.
Overseers and Deacons
3 (A)It is a trustworthy saying: if any man aspires to the (B)office of [a]overseer, he desires a good work. 2 [b](C)An overseer, then, must be above reproach, (D)the husband of one wife, (E)temperate, sensible, respectable, (F)hospitable, (G)able to teach, 3 (H)not addicted to wine [c]or pugnacious, but considerate, peaceable, (I)free from the love of money; 4 (J)leading his own household well, having his children in submission with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of (K)the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become (L)conceited and fall into the (M)condemnation of the devil. 7 And he must (N)have a good reputation with (O)those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and (P)the snare of the devil.
8 (Q)Deacons likewise must be dignified, not [d]double-tongued, (R)not indulging in much wine, (S)not fond of dishonest gain, 9 (T)but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 (U)And these men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 [e]Women must likewise be dignified, (V)not malicious gossips, but (W)temperate, faithful in all things. 12 (X)Deacons must be (Y)husbands of only one wife, (Z)leading their children and their own households well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons (AA)obtain for themselves a [f]high standing and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you soon, 15 but [g]in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how [h]one ought to conduct himself in (AB)the household of God, which is the (AC)church of (AD)the living God, the (AE)pillar and support of the truth. 16 And by common confession, great is (AF)the mystery of godliness:
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 Then they *came again to Jerusalem. (A)And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders *came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for everyone was regarding John to have been a real prophet. 33 And answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither [a]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Parable of the Vine-Growers
12 (B)And He began to speak to them in parables: “(C)A man (D)planted a vineyard and put a [b]wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to [c]vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 And they took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 And they took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the [d]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘(E)The stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the chief corner stone;
11 (F)This came about from the [e]Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 (G)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so (H)they left Him and went away.
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