Book of Common Prayer
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into dry ground,
34 and a fruitful land into a salty waste,
due to the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
dry land into springs of water.
36 There he settled the hungry,
where they built a city to live in.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a productive harvest.
38 Then he blessed them, and they became numerous;
he multiplied their cattle.[a]
39 But they became few in number, and humiliated
by continued oppression, agony, and sorrow.
40 Having poured contempt on their nobles,
causing them to err aimlessly in the way.
41 Yet he lifted the needy from affliction
and made them families like a flock.
42 The upright see it and rejoice,
but the mouth of an evil person is shut.
43 Let whoever is wise observe these things,
that they may comprehend the gracious love of the Lord.
A song. A Davidic psalm.
A Plea for Victory
108 My heart is firm, God;
I will sing and praise you with my whole being.
2 Awake, harp and lyre!
I will wake up at dawn.
3 I will give thanks to you among the peoples, Lord!
I will sing praise to you among the nations.
4 For your gracious love extends to the sky,[b]
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 May you be exalted above the heavens, God,
and your glory be over all the earth.
6 In order that those you love may be rescued,
deliver with your power[c] and answer me!
7 God had promised in his sanctuary:
“I will triumph and divide Shechem,
then I will measure the valley of Succoth!
8 Gilead and Manasseh belong to me,
while Ephraim is my chief stronghold
and Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
I will fling my shoe on Edom
and shout over Philistia.”
10 Who will lead me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me as far as Edom?
11 God, you have rejected us, have you not,
since you did not march out with our army, God?
12 Give us help against the enemy,
because human help is useless.[d]
13 I will find strength in God,
for he will trample on our foes.
Praise to the Creator and Deliverer
33 Rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones;
for the praise of the upright is beautiful.
2 With the lyre, give thanks to the Lord;
with the ten stringed harp, play music to him;
3 with a new song, sing to him;
with shouts of joy, play skillfully.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright;
and all his works are done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the world is filled with the gracious love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made;
all the heavenly bodies[a] by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the oceans into a single place;
he put the deep water into storehouses.
8 Let all the world fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him;
9 because he spoke and it came to be,
because he commanded, it stood firm.
10 The Lord makes void the counsel of nations;
he frustrates the plans of peoples.
11 But the Lord’s counsel stands firm forever,
the plans in his mind for all generations.
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own inheritance.
13 When the Lord looks down from heaven,
he observes every human being.
14 From his dwelling place,
he looks down on all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He formed the hearts of them all;
he understands everything they do.
16 A king is not saved by a large army;
a mighty soldier is not delivered by his great strength.
17 It is vain to trust in a horse for deliverance,
even with its great strength, it cannot deliver.
18 Indeed, the Lord watches those who fear him;
those who trust in his gracious love
19 to deliver them from death;
to keep them alive in times of famine.
20 We wait on the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 Indeed, our heart will rejoice in him,
because we have placed our trust in his holy name.
22 Lord, may your gracious love be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
The Worship that God Commands
66 This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house[a] that you would build for me,
and where will my resting place be?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came into being,”
declares the Lord.
“But this is the one to whom I will look favorably:
to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and who[b] trembles at[c] my message.
3 “Whoever slaughters an ox
is just like[d] one who kills a human being;
whoever sacrifices a lamb
is just like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
is just like one who offers pig’s blood;
and whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense
is just like one who blesses an idol.
Yes, these have chosen their own ways,
and they take delight in their contaminated actions.
4 Therefore[e] I, too, will choose harsh treatment for them,
and will bring upon them what they dread.
For when I called, no[f] one answered;
when I spoke, they didn’t listen;
but they did what I consider to be evil,
and chose what doesn’t please me.”
The Lord Vindicates Zion
5 “Hear this message from the Lord,
you who tremble at his words:[g]
“Your own brothers who hate you
and exclude you because of my name
have said: ‘Let the Lord be glorified;
he will see[h] your joy,’
yet it is they who will be put to shame.
6 “Listen to that uproar in[i] the city!
Listen to that noise from the Temple!
It is the sound of the Lord
paying back retribution to his enemies!
6 Of course, godliness with contentment does bring a great profit.
7 Nothing to this world we bring;
from it take we nothing.
8 With food to eat and clothes to wear;
content we are in everything.
9 But people who want to get rich keep toppling into temptation and are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires that plunge them into destruction and ruin. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused[a] themselves a lot of pain.
Advice for Timothy
11 But you, man of God, must flee from all these things.
Instead, you must pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness,[b]
love, endurance, and gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight for the faith.
Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called
and about which you gave a good testimony
in front of many witnesses.
13 Since you are[c] in the presence of God, who gives life to everything, and in the presence of the Messiah[d] Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, I solemnly charge you 14 to keep these commands stainlessly and blamelessly until the appearance of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[e] 15 At the right time, he will make him known.
God[f] is the blessed and only Ruler,
the King of kings
and Lord of lords.
16 He alone has endless life
and lives in inaccessible light.
No one has ever seen him,
nor can anyone see him.
Honor and eternal power belong to him!
Amen.
Advice for the Wealthy
17 Tell those who are rich in this age not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, let them place their confidence[g] in God, who lavishly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good actions, to be generous, and to share. 19 By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves that is a good foundation for the future, so that they can keep their hold on the life that is real.
Final Greeting
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the pointless discussions and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. 21 Although some claim to have it, they have abandoned the faith. May grace be with all of you!
A Question about David’s Son(A)
35 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah[a] is David’s son? 36 David himself said by the Holy Spirit,
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd kept listening to him with delight.
Jesus Denounces the Scribes(B)
38 As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes! They like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses[d] and say long prayers to cover it up. They will receive greater condemnation!”
The Widow’s Offering(C)
41 As Jesus[e] sat facing the offering box, he watched how the crowd was dropping their money into it.[f] Many rich people were dropping in large amounts. 42 Then a destitute widow came and dropped in two small copper coins,[g] worth about a cent.[h] 43 He called his disciples and told them, “I tell all of you[i] with certainty, this destitute widow has dropped in more than everyone who is contributing to the offering box, 44 because all of them contributed out of their surplus, but out of her poverty she has given everything she had to live on.”
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