Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 119
1 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the undefiled (the upright, truly sincere, and blameless) in the way [of the revealed will of God], who walk (order their conduct and conversation) in the law of the Lord (the whole of God’s revealed will).
2 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek, inquire for and of Him and crave Him with the whole heart.
3 Yes, they do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts]; they walk in His ways.(A)
4 You have commanded us to keep Your precepts, that we should observe them diligently.
5 Oh, that my ways were directed and established to observe Your statutes [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]!
6 Then shall I not be put to shame [by failing to inherit Your promises] when I have respect to all Your commandments.
7 I will praise and give thanks to You with uprightness of heart when I learn [by sanctified experiences] Your righteous judgments [Your decisions against and punishments for particular lines of thought and conduct].
8 I will keep Your statutes; O forsake me not utterly.
9 How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to it].
10 With my whole heart have I sought You, inquiring for and of You and yearning for You; Oh, let me not wander or step aside [either in ignorance or willfully] from Your commandments.(B)
11 Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared and recounted all the ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law].(C)
16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
17 Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live; and I will observe Your word [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it].(D)
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.
19 I am a stranger and a temporary resident on the earth; hide not Your commandments from me.(E)
20 My heart is breaking with the longing that it has for Your ordinances and judgments at all times.
21 You rebuke the proud and arrogant, the accursed ones, who err and wander from Your commandments.
22 Take away from me reproach and contempt, for I keep Your testimonies.
23 Princes also sat and talked against me, but Your servant meditated on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.
Psalm 12
To the Chief Musician; set [possibly] an octave below. A Psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord! For principled and godly people are here no more; faithfulness and the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.
2 To his neighbor each one speaks words without use or worth or truth; with flattering lips and double heart [deceitfully] they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongues that speak proud boasting,
4 Those who say, With our tongues we prevail; our lips are our own [to command at our will]—who is lord and master over us?
5 Now will I arise, says the Lord, because the poor are oppressed, because of the groans of the needy; I will set him in safety and in the salvation for which he pants.
6 The words and promises of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times over.
7 You will keep them and preserve them, O Lord; You will guard and keep us from this [evil] generation forever.
8 The wicked walk or prowl about on every side, as vileness is exalted [and baseness is rated high] among the sons of men.
Psalm 13
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 How long will You forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long must I lay up cares within me and have sorrow in my heart day after day? How long shall my enemy exalt himself over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten the eyes [of my faith to behold Your face in the pitchlike darkness], lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted, leaned on, and been confident in Your mercy and loving-kindness; my heart shall rejoice and be in high spirits in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 14
To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David.
1 The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable deeds; there is none that does good or right.(A)
2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, dealt wisely, and sought after God, inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him [of vital necessity].
3 They are all gone aside, they have all together become filthy; there is none that does good or right, no, not one.(B)
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread and who do not call on the Lord?
5 There they shall be in great fear [literally—dreading a dread], for God is with the generation of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those upright and in right standing with Him).
6 You [evildoers] would put to shame and confound the plans of the poor and patient, but the Lord is his safe refuge.
7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord shall restore the fortunes of His people, then Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.(C)
4 And Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she became pregnant and bore Cain; and she said, I have gotten and gained a man with the help of the Lord.
2 And [next] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground.
4 And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect and regard for Abel and for his offering,(A)
5 But for [a]Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he looked sad and depressed.
6 And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.
8 And Cain said to his brother, [b]Let us go out to the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.(B)
9 And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 And [the Lord] said, What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.
11 And now you are cursed by reason of the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.
12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth [in perpetual exile, a degraded outcast].
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is [c]greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land, and from Your face I will be hidden; and I will be a fugitive and a vagabond and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.
15 And the Lord said to him, [d]Therefore, if anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a [e]mark or sign upon Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
16 So Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod [wandering], east of Eden.
11 For both He Who sanctifies [making men holy] and those who are sanctified all have one [Father]. For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren;
12 For He says, I will declare Your [the Father’s] name to My brethren; in the midst of the [worshiping] congregation I will sing hymns of praise to You.(A)
13 And again He says, My trust and assured reliance and confident hope shall be fixed in Him. And yet again, Here I am, I and the children whom God has given Me.(B)
14 Since, therefore, [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought and make of no effect him who had the power of death—that is, the devil—
15 And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives.
16 For, as we all know, He [Christ] did not take hold of angels [[a]the fallen angels, to give them a helping and delivering hand], but He did take hold of [[b]the fallen] descendants of Abraham [to reach out to them a helping and delivering hand].(C)
17 So it is evident that it was essential that He be made like His brethren in every respect, in order that He might become a merciful (sympathetic) and faithful High Priest in the things related to God, to make atonement and propitiation for the people’s sins.
18 For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] [c]to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering].
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!(A)
30 This is He of Whom I said, After me comes a Man Who has priority over me [Who takes rank above me] because He was before me and existed before I did.
31 And I did not know Him and did not recognize Him [myself]; but it is in order that He should be made manifest and be revealed to Israel [be brought out where we can see Him] that I came baptizing [a]in (with) water.
32 John gave further evidence, saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it dwelt on Him [never to depart].
33 And I did not know Him nor recognize Him, but He Who sent me to baptize [b]in (with) water said to me, Upon Him Whom you shall see the Spirit descend and remain, that One is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
34 And I have seen [that happen—I actually did see it] and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!
35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
36 And he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God!
37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Him.
38 But Jesus turned, and as He saw them following Him, He said to them, What are you looking for? [And what is it you wish?] And they answered Him, Rabbi—which translated is Teacher—where are You staying?
39 He said to them, Come and see. So they went and saw where He was staying, and they remained with Him [c] that day. It was then about the tenth hour (about four o’clock in the afternoon).
40 One of the two who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first sought out and found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found (discovered) the Messiah!—which translated is the Christ (the Anointed One).
42 Andrew then led (brought) Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon son of John. You shall be called Cephas—which translated is Peter [Stone].
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