Book of Common Prayer
145 I call with all my heart, O Lord;
answer me that I may keep your statutes.
146 I call to you to save me
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before dawn and cry out;
I put my hope in your words.
148 My eyes greet the night watches
as I meditate on your promise.(A)
149 Hear my voice in your mercy, O Lord;
by your judgment give me life.
150 Malicious persecutors draw near me;
they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Lord;
reliable are all your commandments.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 Look at my affliction and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Take up my cause and redeem me;(B)
for the sake of your promise give me life.
155 Salvation is far from sinners
because they do not cherish your statutes.
156 Your compassion is great, O Lord;
in accord with your judgments, give me life.
157 Though my persecutors and foes are many,
I do not turn from your testimonies.
158 I view the faithless with loathing(C)
because they do not heed your promise.
159 See how I love your precepts, Lord;
in your mercy give me life.
160 Your every word is enduring;
all your righteous judgments are forever.
Shin
161 Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart reveres only your word.
162 I rejoice at your promise,
as one who has found rich spoil.
163 Falsehood I hate and abhor;
your law I love.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
because your judgments are righteous.
165 Lovers of your law have much peace;(D)
for them there is no stumbling block.
166 I look for your salvation, Lord,
and I fulfill your commandments.
167 I observe your testimonies;
I love them very much.
168 I observe your precepts and testimonies;
all my ways are before you.
Taw
169 Let my cry come before you, Lord;(E)
in keeping with your word, give me understanding.
170 Let my prayer come before you;
rescue me according to your promise.
171 May my lips pour forth your praise,
because you teach me your statutes.
172 May my tongue sing of your promise,
for all your commandments are righteous.
173 Keep your hand ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, Lord;
your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live to praise you;
may your judgments give me help.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep;
seek out your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments.(F)
Psalm 128[a]
The Blessed Home of the Just
1 A song of ascents.
I
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
and who walk in his ways.(A)
2 What your hands provide you will enjoy;
you will be blessed and prosper:(B)
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your home,
Your children like young olive plants
around your table.(C)
4 Just so will the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
II
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;
may you see Jerusalem’s prosperity
all the days of your life,(D)
6 and live to see your children’s children.(E)
Peace upon Israel!(F)
Psalm 129[b]
Against Israel’s Enemies
1 A song of ascents.
I
Viciously have they attacked me from my youth,
let Israel say now.(G)
2 Viciously have they attacked me from my youth,(H)
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 Upon my back the plowers plowed,
as they traced their long furrows.(I)
4 But the just Lord cut me free
from the ropes of the wicked.[c]
II
5 May they recoil in disgrace,
all who hate Zion.
6 May they be like grass on the rooftops[d]
withered in early growth,(J)
7 Never to fill the reaper’s hands,
nor the arms of the binders of sheaves,
8 And with none passing by to call out:
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you![e]
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”(K)
Psalm 130[f]
Prayer for Pardon and Mercy
1 A song of ascents.
I
Out of the depths[g] I call to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my cry!
May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.(L)
3 If you, Lord, keep account of sins,
Lord, who can stand?(M)
4 But with you is forgiveness
and so you are revered.[h]
II
5 I wait for the Lord,
my soul waits
and I hope for his word.(N)
6 My soul looks for the Lord
more than sentinels for daybreak.(O)
More than sentinels for daybreak,
7 let Israel hope in the Lord,
For with the Lord is mercy,
with him is plenteous redemption,(P)
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its sins.(Q)
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophet, wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter. When they had spoken to her, 15 she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord: I am about to bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have abandoned me and have burned incense to other gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands, my rage is ablaze against this place and it cannot be extinguished.
18 “But to the king of Judah who sent you to consult the Lord, give this response: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: As for the words you have heard, 19 because you were heartsick and have humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken concerning this place and its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse; and because you tore your garments and wept before me, I in turn have heard, oracle of the Lord. 20 I will therefore gather you to your ancestors; you shall go to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil I am about to bring upon this place.” This they reported to the king.
Chapter 23
1 The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned before him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: priests, prophets, and all the people, great and small. He read aloud to them all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.(A) 3 The king stood by the column and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to observe his commandments, statutes, and decrees with his whole heart and soul, and to re-establish the words of the covenant written in this book. And all the people stood by the covenant.
Tradition of the Institution. 23 [a]For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,(A) that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, 24 and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”(B) 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.[b] 28 A person should examine himself,[c] and so eat the bread and drink the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment[d] on himself. 30 That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. 31 If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; 32 but since we are judged by [the] Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.(C)
33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that your meetings may not result in judgment. The other matters I shall set in order when I come.
9 As Jesus passed on from there,(A) he saw a man named Matthew[a] sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10 While he was at table in his house,[b] many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.(B) 11 The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher[c] eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.[d] 13 Go and learn the meaning of the words,(C) ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[e] I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
The Question About Fasting. 14 (D)Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.[f] 16 No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,[g] for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. 17 People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.