Book of Common Prayer
(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use flutes.)
A Prayer for Help
1 Listen, Lord, as I pray!
Pay attention when I groan.[a]
2 You are my King and my God.
Answer my cry for help
because I pray to you.
3 Each morning you listen
to my prayer,
as I bring my requests[b] to you
and wait for your reply.
4 You are not the kind of God
who is pleased with evil.
Sinners can't stay with you.
5 No one who boasts can stand
in your presence, Lord,
and you hate evil people.
6 You destroy every liar,
and you despise violence
and deceit.
7 Because of your great mercy,
I come to your house, Lord,
and I am filled with wonder
as I bow down to worship
at your holy temple.
8 You do what is right,
and I ask you to guide me.
Make your teaching clear
because of my enemies.
9 (A) Nothing they say is true!
They just want to destroy.
Their words are deceitful
like a hidden pit,
and their tongues are good
only for telling lies.
10 Punish them, God,
and let their own plans
bring their downfall.
Get rid of them!
They keep committing crimes
and turning against you.
11 Let all who run to you
for protection
always sing joyful songs.
Provide shelter for those
who truly love you
and let them rejoice.
12 Our Lord, you bless those
who live right,
and you shield them
with your kindness.
(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use stringed instruments.[c])
A Prayer in Time of Trouble
1 (B) Don't punish me, Lord,
or even correct me
when you are angry!
2 Have pity on me and heal
my feeble body.
My bones tremble with fear,
3 and I am in deep distress.
How long will it be?
4 Turn and come to my rescue.
Show your wonderful love
and save me, Lord.
5 If I die, I cannot praise you
or even remember you.
6 My groaning has worn me out.
At night my bed and pillow
are soaked with tears.
7 Sorrow has made my eyes dim,
and my sight has failed
because of my enemies.
8 (C) You, Lord, heard my crying,
and those hateful people
had better leave me alone.
9 You have answered my prayer
and my plea for mercy.
10 My enemies will be ashamed
and terrified,
as they quickly run away
in complete disgrace.
A Prayer for Help
1 Why are you far away, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself
when I am in trouble?
2 Proud and brutal people
hunt down the poor.
But let them get caught
by their own evil plans!
3 The wicked brag about
their deepest desires.
Those greedy people hate
and curse you, Lord.
4 The wicked are too proud
to turn to you
or even think about you.
5 They are always successful,
though they can't understand
your teachings,
and they keep sneering
at their enemies.
6 In their hearts they say,
“Nothing can hurt us!
We'll always be happy
and free from trouble.”
7 (A) They curse and tell lies,
and all they talk about
is how to be cruel
or how to do wrong.
8 They hide outside villages,
waiting to strike and murder
some innocent victim.
9 They are hungry lions
hiding in the bushes,
hoping to catch
some helpless passerby.
They trap the poor in nets
and drag them away.
10 They crouch down and wait
to grab a victim.
11 They say, “God can't see!
He's got on a blindfold.”
12 Do something, Lord God,
and use your powerful arm
to help those in need.
13 The wicked don't respect you.
In their hearts they say,
“God won't punish us!”
14 But you see the trouble
and the distress,
and you will do something.
The poor can count on you,
and so can orphans.
15 Now break the power
of all merciless people.
Punish them for doing wrong
and make them stop.
16 Our Lord, you will always rule,
but every godless nation
will vanish from the earth.
17 You listen to the longings
of those who suffer.
You offer them hope,
and you pay attention
to their cries for help.
18 You defend orphans
and everyone else in need,
so that no one on earth
can terrify others again.
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
Trusting the Lord
1 The Lord is my fortress!
Don't say to me,
“Escape like a bird
to the mountains!”
2 You tell me, “Watch out!
Those evil people have put
their arrows on their bows,
and they are standing
in the shadows,
aiming at good people.
3 What can an honest person do
when everything crumbles?”
4 The Lord is sitting
in his sacred temple
on his throne in heaven.
He knows everything we do
because he sees us all.
5 The Lord tests honest people,
but despises those
who are cruel
and love violence.
6 He will send fiery coals[a]
and flaming sulfur
down on the wicked,
and they will drink nothing
but a scorching wind.
7 The Lord always does right
and wants justice done.
Everyone who does right
will see his face.
The First Sin
3 (A) The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the Lord God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
2 The woman answered, “God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 3 except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die.”
4 “No, you won't!” the snake replied. 5 “God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”
6 The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. 7 At once they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 Late in the afternoon, when the breeze began to blow, the man and woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. So they hid behind some trees.
Sin Brings a Curse
9 The Lord God called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?”
10 The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!”
11 “How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?”
12 “It was the woman you put here with me,” the man said. “She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 (B) The Lord God then asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The snake tricked me,” she answered, “and I ate some of that fruit.”
14 So the Lord God said to the snake:
“Because of what you have done,
you will be the only animal
to suffer this curse—
For as long as you live,
you will crawl on your stomach
and eat dirt.
15 (C) You and this woman
will hate each other;
your descendants and hers
will always be enemies.
One of hers will strike you
on the head,
and you will strike him
on the heel.”
16 Then the Lord God said to the woman,
“You will suffer terribly
when you give birth.
But you will still desire
your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 (D) The Lord said to the man,
“You listened to your wife
and ate the fruit
I told you not to eat.
And so, the ground
will be under a curse
because of what you did.
As long as you live,
you will have to struggle
to grow enough food.
18 Your food will be plants,
but the ground will produce
thorns and thistles.
19 You will sweat all your life
to earn a living;
you were made out of soil,
and you will once again
turn into soil.”
20 The man Adam[a] named his wife Eve[b] because she would become the mother of all who live.
21 Then the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife.
22 (E) The Lord said, “They now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made. 24 Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree.
This Great Way of Being Saved
2 We must give our full attention to what we were told, so we won't drift away. 2 The message spoken by angels proved to be true, and all who disobeyed or rejected it were punished as they deserved. 3 So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape? The Lord himself was the first to tell about it, and people who heard the message proved to us that it was true. 4 God himself showed that his message was true by working all kinds of powerful miracles and wonders. He also gave his Holy Spirit to anyone he chose to.
The One Who Leads Us To Be Saved
5 We know that God did not put the future world under the power of angels. 6 (A) Somewhere in the Scriptures someone says to God,
“What makes you care
about us humans?
Why are you concerned
for weaklings such as we?
7 You made us lower
than the angels
for a while.
Yet you have crowned us
with glory and honor.[a]
8 And you have put everything
under our power!”
God has put everything under our power and has not left anything out of our power. But we still don't see it all under our control. 9 What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Because of God's gift of undeserved grace, Jesus died for everyone. And now that Jesus has suffered and died, he is crowned with glory and honor!
10 Everything belongs to God, and all things were created by his power. So God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering, as Jesus led many of God's children to be saved and to share in his glory.
John the Baptist Tells about Jesus
(Matthew 3.1-12; Mark 1.1-8; Luke 3.15-17)
19-20 The religious authorities in Jerusalem sent priests and temple helpers to ask John who he was. He told them plainly, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 (A) Then when they asked him if he were Elijah, he said, “No, I am not!” And when they asked if he were the Prophet,[a] he also said “No!”
22 Finally, they said, “Who are you then? We have to give an answer to the ones who sent us. Tell us who you are!”
23 (B) John answered in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am only someone shouting in the desert, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord!’ ”
24 Some Pharisees had also been sent to John. 25 They asked him, “Why are you baptizing people, if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”
26 John told them, “I use water to baptize people. But here with you is someone you don't know. 27 Even though I came first, I am not good enough to untie his sandals.” 28 John said this as he was baptizing east of the Jordan River in Bethany.[b]
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