Book of Common Prayer
מ MEM
97 Oh, how I love Your law!
(A)It is my meditation all the day.
98 You, through Your commandments, make me (B)wiser than my enemies;
For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
(C)For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 (D)I understand more than the [a]ancients,
Because I keep Your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.
102 I have not departed from Your judgments,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103 (E)How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
נ NUN
105 (F)Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 (G)I have sworn and confirmed
That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 Accept, I pray, (H)the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your judgments.
109 (I)My life is continually [b]in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 (J)The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
111 (K)Your testimonies I have taken as a [c]heritage forever,
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, to the very end.
ס SAMEK
113 I hate the [d]double-minded,
But I love Your law.
114 (L)You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in Your word.
115 (M)Depart from me, you evildoers,
For I will keep the commandments of my God!
116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me (N)be ashamed of my hope.
117 [e]Hold me up, and I shall be safe,
And I shall observe Your statutes continually.
118 You reject all those who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceit is falsehood.
119 You [f]put away all the wicked of the earth (O)like [g]dross;
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 (P)My flesh trembles for fear of You,
And I am afraid of Your judgments.
An Appeal for Israel’s Repentance
To the Chief Musician. (A)On[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4 For (B)this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
(C)Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 (D)You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
(E)I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I (F)tested you at the waters of [b]Meribah. Selah
8 “Hear,(G) O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9 There shall be no (H)foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 (I)I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
(J)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have (K)none of Me.
12 (L)So I gave them over to [c]their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh,(M) that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (N)The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him,
But their [d]fate would endure forever.
16 He would (O)have fed them also with [e]the finest of wheat;
And with honey (P)from the rock I would have satisfied you.”
A Plea for Justice
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God (Q)stands in the congregation of [f]the mighty;
He judges among (R)the [g]gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly,
And (S)show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 [h]Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and (T)needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the (U)foundations of the earth are [i]unstable.
6 I said, (V)“You are [j]gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
(W)For You shall inherit all nations.
The King Honors Mordecai
6 That night [a]the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring (A)the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written that Mordecai had told of [b]Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”
And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
4 So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered (B)the outer court of the king’s palace (C)to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5 The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.”
And the king said, “Let him come in.”
6 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?”
Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than (D)me?” 7 And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and (E)a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal [c]crest placed on its head. 9 Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then [d]parade him on horseback through the city square, (F)and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’ ”
10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.”
11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”
12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king’s gate. But Haman (G)hurried to his house, mourning (H)and with his head covered. 13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against (I)him but will surely fall before him.”
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to (J)the banquet which Esther had prepared.
Paul at Ephesus
19 And it happened, while (A)Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through (B)the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, (C)“We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
So they said, (D)“Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, (E)“John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized (F)in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had (G)laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and (H)they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
8 (I)And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading (J)concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But (K)when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil (L)of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 And (M)this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Satan Tempts Jesus(A)
4 Then (B)Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and (C)was led by the Spirit [a]into the wilderness, 2 being [b]tempted for forty days by the devil. And (D)in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are (E)the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, (F)‘Man shall not live by bread alone, [c]but by every word of God.’ ”
5 [d]Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for (G)this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, [e]“Get behind Me, Satan! [f]For it is written, (H)‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
9 (I)Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
(J)‘He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’
11 and,
(K)‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, (L)‘You shall not [g]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
13 Now when the devil had ended every [h]temptation, he departed from Him (M)until an opportune time.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.