Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26[a]
Prayer for the Righteous
1 Of David.
O Lord, come to my defense,
for I have lived a blameless life.
I have placed my trust in the Lord,
and never have I wavered in that regard.
2 Test me, O Lord, and try me;
probe my heart and my mind.
3 For your kindness[b] is before my eyes,
and I am constantly guided by your truth.
4 I do not sit in the company of deceivers,
nor do I associate with hypocrites.
5 I abhor the assembly of the wicked,
and I refuse to associate with evildoers.
6 I wash my hands in innocence[c]
and join the procession around your altar, O Lord,
7 giving voice to your praises
and proclaiming all your wondrous deeds.[d]
8 I love the house where you dwell, O Lord,
the place where your glory resides.[e]
9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with those who thirst for blood,[f]
10 whose hands carry out evil schemes,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 Rather, I choose to walk in innocence;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground;[g]
in the full assembly I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 28[a]
Thanksgiving for Supplications Heard
1 Of David.
To you I call out, O Lord, my Rock;[b]
do not turn a deaf ear to my cry.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear my voice in supplication
as I plead for your help,
as I lift up my hands[c]
toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Do not snatch me away with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil,
who talk of peace to their neighbors
while treachery is in their hearts.[d]
4 [e]Repay them as their deeds deserve
in accordance with the evil they inflict;
repay them for the works of their hands
and heap upon them what they justly deserve.
5 Since they have paid no heed to the deeds of the Lord
or to the works of his hands,
he will strike them down
and refuse to restore them.
6 Blessed[f] be the Lord,
for he has heard my cry of supplication.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart[g] places its trust in him.
He has helped me, and I exult;
then with my song I praise him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
the refuge where his anointed one[h] finds salvation.
9 Save your people and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd[i] and sustain them forever.
Psalm 36[a]
Human Weakness and Divine Goodness
1 For the director.[b] Of David the servant of the Lord.
2 Sin speaks to the wicked man in his heart;[c]
in his eyes there is no fear of God.
3 He deludes himself with the idea
that his guilt will not be discovered and hated.[d]
4 The words his mouth utters are malicious and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and act uprightly.
5 Even when he lies on his bed,[e]
he is hatching evil plots.
He commits himself to a wicked course
and refuses to reject evil.
6 [f]O Lord, your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
7 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments, like the mighty deep;
you sustain both humans and beasts, O Lord.
8 How precious, O God, is your kindness![g]
People seek refuge in the shadow of your wings.
9 They feast on the abundance of your house,[h]
and you give them to drink from your delightful streams.
10 For with you is the fountain of life,[i]
and by your light we see light.
11 Continue to bestow your kindness[j] on those who know you,
and your saving justice on the upright of heart.
12 Let not the foot of the arrogant tread upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me out.
13 Behold, the evildoers have fallen;
they are overthrown and unable to rise.
Psalm 39[a]
The Brevity and Vanity of Life
1 For the director.[b] For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
2 I said, “I will be careful of my behavior
so as not to sin with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth[c]
whenever the wicked are in my presence.”
3 I kept completely silent
and refrained from speech,
but my distress only increased.
4 My heart[d] smoldered within me,
and, as I pondered, my mind was inflamed,
and my tongue began to speak:
5 [e]“O Lord, let me know my end
and the number of days left to me;
show me how fleeting my life is.
6 You have allotted me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight;
human existence is a mere breath. Selah
7 Humans are nothing but a passing shadow;
the riches they amass are a mere breath,
and they do not know who will enjoy them.[f]
8 “So now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
9 Deliver me from all my sins;
do not subject me to the taunts of fools.[g]
10 “I was silent and did not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
11 Remove your scourge from me;
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
12 You rebuke and punish people for their sins;
like a moth you consume all their desires;
human existence is a mere puff of wind. Selah
13 [h]“Hear my prayer, O Lord;
do not be deaf to my cry
or ignore my weeping.
For I am a wayfarer[i] before you,
a nomad like all my ancestors.
14 Turn your eyes away so that I may be glad
before I depart and am no more.”[j]
Chapter 9
1 God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 [a]Fear and dread of you will come upon every wild animal and every bird of the air, everything that crawls upon the earth and all the fish of the sea; they will be under your dominion.
3 “Whatever moves and has life will be used for your food. I give you all these things, just as I have already given you every green plant. 4 [b]Only do not eat flesh along with its life, that is, with its blood. 5 For your blood, that is, your life, I will require an accounting. I will require it of every living creature, and I will require it of every human in regard to other humans, each person for his brother.
6 “Whoever spills human blood,
that person’s blood will be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; become numerous upon the earth and have dominion over it.”
Covenant of Mercy.[c] 8 God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “As for me, I will establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 with every living creature along with you—the birds, tame and wild animals, and with all the animals which left the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you: never again will all living creatures be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will the earth be laid waste by a flood again.”
12 God said, “This will be a sign of the covenant that I establish between me and you and every living creature for all generations. 13 I will place my rainbow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I gather the clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and with every living creature of every kind, that water and flood shall never again destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will be in the clouds and I will look upon it and remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is found upon the earth.”
17 God said to Noah, “This is a sign of the covenant that I am establishing between myself and every creature upon the earth.”
7 During the course of his earthly life, Jesus offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who had the power to save him from death, and he was heard because of his godly fear. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through his sufferings, 9 and when he had been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 and he was designated a high priest by God according to the order of Melchizedek.
Christ, the One True Priest[a]
Deepen the Christian Life.[b] We have much to say about this subject, but it is difficult to explain because you have been slow in learning. 12 By this time you should have been teachers, yet you still need to have someone explain to you the basic elements of God’s words.You need milk, not solid food. 13 Anyone who lives on milk is still an infant and is ignorant of the word of righteousness. 14 But solid food is for adults whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish between good and evil.
16 “For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish
but may attain eternal life.
17 “For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe in him
already stands condemned,
because he has not believed in the name
of the only-begotten Son of God.
19 “And the judgment is this:
the light has come into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light
because their deeds were evil.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light
and avoids coming near the light
so that his misdeeds may not be exposed.
21 However, whoever lives by the truth
comes to the light
so that it may be clearly seen
that his deeds have been done
in God.”
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.