Book of Common Prayer
Rescue Me, O Yahweh, from Evil Men
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
140 (A)Rescue me, O Yahweh, from evil men;
Guard me from (B)violent men
2 Who (C)think up evil things in their hearts;
They (D)continually stir up wars.
3 They (E)sharpen their tongues as a serpent;
(F)Poison of an asp is under their lips. [a]Selah.
4 (G)Keep me, O Yahweh, from the hands of the wicked;
(H)Guard me from violent men
Who [b]give thought to [c](I)trip up my steps.
5 The proud have (J)hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a (K)net by the [d]wayside;
They have set (L)snares for me. Selah.
6 I (M)said to Yahweh, “You are my God;
(N)Give ear, O Yahweh, to the (O)voice of my supplications.
7 O Yahweh, O Lord, (P)the strength of my salvation,
You have (Q)covered my head in the day of [e]battle.
8 Do not grant, O Yahweh, the (R)desires of the wicked;
Do not promote (S)his evil [f]scheme, that they not be exalted. Selah.
9 “As for the head of those who surround me,
May the (T)trouble from their lips cover them.
10 May (U)burning coals be shaken out upon them;
May He (V)cause them to fall into the fire,
Into [g]bottomless pits from which they (W)can never rise.
11 May a [h]slanderer not be established in the earth;
(X)May evil hunt the violent man [i]speedily.”
Give Heed to My Cry
A [a]Maskil of David. When he was [b]in the cave. A Prayer.
142 With my voice to Yahweh, I (A)cry aloud;
With my voice to Yahweh, I (B)make supplication.
2 I (C)pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my (D)distress before Him.
3 When (E)my spirit [c]was faint within me,
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have (F)hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see;
That there is (G)no one who regards me;
(H)A way of escape has been destroyed from me;
(I)No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried out to You, O Yahweh;
I said, “You are (J)my refuge,
My (K)portion in the (L)land of the living.
6 (M)Give heed to my cry of lamentation,
For I am (N)brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are too (O)strong for me.
7 (P)Bring my soul out of prison,
To give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will encircle me,
For You will (Q)deal bountifully with me.”
My Prayer as Incense Before You
A Psalm of David.
141 O Yahweh, I call upon You; (A)hasten to me!
(B)Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
2 May my prayer be established as (C)incense before You;
The (D)lifting up of my hands as the (E)evening offering.
3 Set a (F)guard, O Yahweh, [a]over my mouth;
Keep watch over the (G)door of my lips.
4 (H)Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds in wickedness
With men who are (I)workers of iniquity;
And (J)do not let me eat of their delicacies.
5 Let the (K)righteous smite me in lovingkindness and reprove me;
It is (L)oil upon the head;
Let not my head refuse it,
[b]For still my prayer (M)is [c]against their evil deeds.
6 Their judges are (N)thrown down by the sides of the cliff,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one (O)plows and splits open the earth,
Our (P)bones have been scattered at the (Q)mouth of Sheol.
8 For my (R)eyes are toward You, O Yahweh, O Lord;
In You I (S)take refuge; (T)do not pour out my soul to death.
9 Keep me from the [d](U)jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the (V)snares of workers of iniquity.
10 Let the wicked (W)fall into their own nets,
As for myself—meanwhile, (X)I am passing by.
My Soul Reaches for You
A Psalm of David.
143 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
(A)Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your (B)faithfulness, in Your (C)righteousness!
2 And (D)do not enter into judgment with Your slave,
For (E)no one living is righteous in Your sight.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
He has crushed my life (F)to the ground;
He (G)has made me inhabit dark places, like those who have long been dead.
4 Therefore (H)my spirit was faint within me;
My heart was [a](I)appalled within me.
5 I (J)remember the days of old;
I (K)meditate on all You have done;
I (L)muse on the work of Your hands.
6 I (M)stretch out my hands to You;
My (N)soul reaches for You like a weary land. [b]Selah.
7 (O)Answer me quickly, O Yahweh, my (P)spirit wastes away;
(Q)Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like (R)those who go down to the pit.
8 Cause me to hear Your (S)lovingkindness (T)in the morning;
For I trust (U)in You;
Cause me to know the (V)way in which I should walk;
For to You I (W)lift up my soul.
9 (X)Deliver me from my enemies, O Yahweh,
I have concealed myself in You.
10 (Y)Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let (Z)Your good Spirit (AA)lead me on level [c]ground.
11 (AB)For the sake of Your name, O Yahweh, (AC)revive me.
(AD)In Your righteousness bring my soul out of distress.
12 And in Your lovingkindness, [d](AE)cut off my enemies
And cause all those who assail my soul to (AF)perish,
For (AG)I am Your slave.
9 Now hear this, (A)heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who (B)abhor justice
And twist everything that is straight,
10 Who (C)build Zion with bloodshed
And Jerusalem with violent injustice.
11 Her heads pronounce (D)judgment for a bribe,
And her (E)priests instruct for a price,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on Yahweh saying,
“(F)Is not Yahweh in our midst?
Evil will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore, on account of you
(G)Zion will be plowed as a field;
(H)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the (I)mountain of the house of God will become high places of a forest.
The Law Will Go Forth from Zion
4 Now it will be that in the (J)last days
The (K)mountain of the house of Yahweh
Will be established [a]as the head of the mountains,
And will be lifted up above the hills,
And the (L)peoples will stream to it.
2 (M)And many nations will come and say,
“(N)Come and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
That (O)He may instruct us from His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For (P)from Zion will go forth the law,
And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
3 And He will (Q)judge between many peoples
And will render decisions for mighty, [b]distant nations.
And they will hammer their swords (R)into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.
4 And each of them will (S)sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With (T)no one to make them tremble,
For the (U)mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.
5 Though all the peoples walk
Each in the (V)name of his god,
As for us, (W)we will walk
In the name of (X)Yahweh our God forever and ever.
24 But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his [a]wife who was a Jewess, and summoned Paul and heard him speak about (A)faith in Christ Jesus. 25 But as he was discussing (B)righteousness, (C)self-control, and (D)the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and answered, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will call for you.” 26 At the same time, he was also hoping that (E)money would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to summon for him quite often and converse with him. 27 But after two years had passed, Felix [b]was succeeded by Porcius (F)Festus, and (G)wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul (H)imprisoned.
Paul Before Festus
25 Festus then, having arrived in (I)the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from (J)Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews (K)brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with him, 3 requesting a favor against [c]Paul, that he might [d]have him brought to Jerusalem (while they (L)set an ambush to kill him on the way). 4 Festus then (M)answered that Paul (N)was being kept in custody at (O)Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. 5 “Therefore,” he *said, “let the influential men among you go down there with me, and if there is anything wrong [e]about the man, let them accuse him.”
6 And after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to (P)Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on (Q)the judgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought. 7 And after Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing (R)many and serious charges against him (S)which they could not prove, 8 while Paul said in his own defense, “(T)I have committed no sin either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” 9 But Festus, (U)wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “(V)Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and to be tried before me on these matters?” 10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s (W)judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. 11 If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I (X)appeal to Caesar.” 12 Then when Festus had conferred with [f]his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”
Many Women Contribute to Jesus’ Ministry
8 And it happened that soon afterward He was going around from one city and village to another, (A)preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 2 and also (B)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: (C)Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, (D)Herod’s (E)manager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.
The Parable of the Sower
4 (F)Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the [a]air ate it up. 6 And other seed fell on rock and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and when the thorns grew up with it, they choked it out. 8 And other seed fell into the good soil; and growing up, it produced a crop one hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “(G)He who has ears to hear, [b]let him hear.”
The Parable of the Sower Explained
9 (H)And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. 10 And He said, “(I)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that (J)seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
11 “Now the parable is this: (K)the seed is the word of God. 12 And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. 13 And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; [c]they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit. 15 But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with [d]perseverance.
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