Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem
97 Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandments have made me wiser than my enemies,
for they are continually with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the elders,
because I keep Your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
that I might keep Your word.
102 I have not departed from Your judgments,
for You have taught me.
103 How sweet are Your words to the taste of my mouth!
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through Your precepts I receive understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
נ Nun
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it,
that I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am greatly afflicted;
revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 Accept the freewill offerings of my praise, O Lord,
and teach me Your judgments.
109 My soul is continually in my hand,
yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a trap for me,
yet I do not depart from Your precepts.
111 Your testimonies are my inheritance forever,
for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes always,
even unto the end.
ס Samekh
113 I hate those who are double-minded,
but I love Your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield,
I hope in Your word.
115 Depart from me, you who are wicked,
for I keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live,
and let me not be ashamed with my hope.
117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe,
and I will have respect for Your statutes continually.
118 You have rejected all those who stray from Your statutes,
for their deceit is falsehood.
119 You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross;
therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 My body trembles for fear of You,
and I am afraid of Your judgments.
Psalm 81
For the Music Director. According to The Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud unto God our strength;
make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a melody, and sound the tambourine,
the pleasant lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
at the full moon on our feast day.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
a decree of the God of Jacob.
5 This He ordained in Joseph as a decree
when He went out against the land of Egypt.
I heard a voice that I had not known:
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were released from holding the basket.
7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O My people, and I will testify against you.
O Israel, if you would listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
neither shall you bow down to any strange god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not listen to My voice;
Israel would not submit to Me.
12 So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts,
to walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
and Israel would follow in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 Let those who hate the Lord cower before Him
and their fate might last forever.
16 But I would feed them with the finest of wheat,
and with honey out of the rock I would satisfy you.”
Psalm 82
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God stands among the divine council;
He renders judgment among the gods.
2 “How long will you all judge unjustly
and accept partiality of the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless;
vindicate the afflicted and needy.
4 Grant escape to the abused and the destitute,
pluck them out of the hand of the false.
5 “They have neither knowledge nor understanding;
they walk in darkness:
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”
6 I have said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you,
7 but you all shall die like men,
and fall like a man, O princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,
for You shall inherit all nations.
16 When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this. Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan. 18 Get your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’
19 “You are also commanded to say, ‘Do this: Take your wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come. 20 Also do not concern yourself with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
21 So the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each of them he gave a change of clothes, but he gave to Benjamin three hundred shekels of silver[a] and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father on the journey. 24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”
25 They went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob’s heart stood still because he could not believe them. 27 They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 Then Israel said, “Enough! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Food Offered to Idols
8 Now as concerning food offered to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge produces arrogance, but love edifies. 2 So if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
4 So concerning the eating of foods that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there are many gods and many lords. 6 But for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist. And there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7 However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat the food as a thing offered to an idol. So their weak conscience is defiled. 8 But food does not commend us to God. Neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
9 But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, eating in the idol’s temple, shall the conscience of him who is weak not be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols, 11 and by your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 When you thus sin against the brothers, wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble.
13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
The Death of John the Baptist(A)
14 King Herod heard of Him, for His name was spread publicly. He said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and therefore these miracles are at work in him.”
15 But others said, “He is Elijah.”
And yet others said, “He is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets.”
16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “It is John, whom I beheaded. He has been raised from the dead!”
17 Herod had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for he had married her. 18 For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias had a grudge against him and would have killed him, but she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, but heard him gladly.
21 But a convenient day came when Herod on his birthday prepared a ceremonial dinner for his lords and commanding officers and leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you desire, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?”
She said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25 She came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter at once.”
26 The king was extremely sorrowful. Yet for the sake of his oath and those who sat with him, he would not reject her. 27 So the king immediately sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. And the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.