Book of Common Prayer
A Psalm by David, for a memorial.
38 Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath,
neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
2 For your arrows have pierced me,
your hand presses hard on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation,
neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head.
As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are loathsome and corrupt
because of my foolishness.
6 I am in pain and bowed down greatly.
I go mourning all day long.
7 For my waist is filled with burning.
There is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am faint and severely bruised.
I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before you.
My groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs.
My strength fails me.
As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague.
My kinsmen stand far away.
12 They also who seek after my life lay snares.
Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
and meditate deceits all day long.
13 But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear.
I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear,
in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15 For I hope in you, Yahweh.
You will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me,
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
17 For I am ready to fall.
My pain is continually before me.
18 For I will declare my iniquity.
I will be sorry for my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous and many.
Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20 They who render evil for good are also adversaries to me,
because I follow what is good.
21 Don’t forsake me, Yahweh.
My God, don’t be far from me.
22 Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation.
DALETH
25 My soul is laid low in the dust.
Revive me according to your word!
26 I declared my ways, and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
27 Let me understand the teaching of your precepts!
Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Keep me from the way of deceit.
Grant me your law graciously!
30 I have chosen the way of truth.
I have set your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to your statutes, Yahweh.
Don’t let me be disappointed.
32 I run in the path of your commandments,
for you have set my heart free.
HE
33 Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your statutes.
I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law.
Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in them.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes,
not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things.
Revive me in your ways.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
that you may be feared.
39 Take away my disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts!
Revive me in your righteousness.
VAV
41 Let your loving kindness also come to me, Yahweh,
your salvation, according to your word.
42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me,
for I trust in your word.
43 Don’t snatch the word of truth out of my mouth,
for I put my hope in your ordinances.
44 So I will obey your law continually,
forever and ever.
45 I will walk in liberty,
for I have sought your precepts.
46 I will also speak of your statutes before kings,
and will not be disappointed.
47 I will delight myself in your commandments,
because I love them.
48 I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love.
I will meditate on your statutes.
17 Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who causes shame,
and shall have a part in the inheritance among the brothers.
3 The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold,
but Yahweh tests the hearts.
4 An evildoer heeds wicked lips.
A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker.
He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.
6 Children’s children are the crown of old men;
the glory of children is their parents.
7 Excellent speech isn’t fitting for a fool,
much less do lying lips fit a prince.
8 A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who gives it;
wherever he turns, he prospers.
9 He who covers an offense promotes love;
but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.
10 A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding
than a hundred lashes into a fool.
11 An evil man seeks only rebellion;
therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
12 Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man,
rather than a fool in his folly.
13 Whoever rewards evil for good,
evil shall not depart from his house.
14 The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam,
therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.
15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous,
both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
16 Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
since he has no understanding?
17 A friend loves at all times;
and a brother is born for adversity.
18 A man void of understanding strikes hands,
and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.
19 He who loves disobedience loves strife.
One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.
20 One who has a perverse heart doesn’t find prosperity,
and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.
3 This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer[a] desires a good work. 2 The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3 not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 5 (for how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule his own house take care of God’s assembly?) 6 not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Servants,[b] in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10 Let them also first be tested; then let them serve[c] if they are blameless. 11 Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things. 12 Let servants[d] be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well[e] gain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
14 These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly, 15 but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great:
God[f] was revealed in the flesh,
justified in the spirit,
seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
and received up in glory.
43 “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came;’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
46 While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him. 47 One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.”
48 But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
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