Book of Common Prayer
Davidic
A Man of Integrity Pleads for Justice
26 Vindicate me, Lord,
because I have walked in integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord, and inspect me!
Test my heart and mind.[a]
3 For your gracious love precedes me,
and I continuously walk according to your truth.
4 I do not sit with those committed to what is false,
nor do I travel with hypocrites.
5 I hate the company of those who practice evil,
nor do I sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands innocently.
I go around your altar, Lord,
7 so I may praise you loudly with thanksgiving
and declare all your wondrous acts.
8 Lord, I love the dwelling place that is your house,
the place where your glory resides.
9 Do not group me[b] with sinners,
nor include me[c] with men who shed blood.
10 Their hands are filled with wicked schemes,
and their right hands with bribes.
11 But as for me,
I walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me!
12 My feet stand on level ground;
among the worshiping congregations
I will bless the Lord.
Davidic
A Prayer for Help
28 To you, Lord, I cry out!
My Rock, do not refuse to answer me.[a]
If you remain silent,
I will become like those who descend into the Pit.[b]
2 Hear the sound of my supplications when I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who practice iniquity,
who speak peace to their neighbors
while harboring evil in their hearts.
4 Reward them according to their deeds;
according to the evil of their actions.
Reward them based on what they do;[c]
give them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not understand the deeds of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
He will tear them down and never build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the sound of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him,
and I received help.
My heart rejoices,
and I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;[d]
he is a refuge of deliverance for his anointed.
9 Deliver your people
and bless your inheritance!
Shepherd them
and lift them up forever!
To the Director: By the servant of the Lord, David.
An Oracle from the Lord
36 An oracle that came to me[a] about the transgressions of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself[b] too much[c] to discover his transgression and hate it.
3 The words from his mouth are vain and deceptive.
He has abandoned behaving wisely and doing good.
4 He devises iniquity on his bed
and is determined to follow a path that is not good.
He does not resist evil.
Praise to the Lord
5 Your gracious love, Lord, reaches to the heavens;
your truth[d] extends to the skies.[e]
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your justice is like the great depths of the sea.[f]
You deliver both[g] people and animals, Lord.
7 How precious is your gracious love, God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are refreshed from the abundance of your house;
You cause them to drink from the river of your pleasures.
9 For with you is a fountain of life,
and in your light we will see light.
10 Send forth your gracious love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to those who are upright in heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the proud crush me;
and do not let the hand of the wicked dissuade me.
12 There, those who do evil have fallen;
They have been thrown down,
and they cannot get up.
To the Director: To Jeduthun. A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer about Life’s Priorities
39 I told myself, “I will keep watch over my tongue to keep from sinning.
I will muzzle my mouth when the wicked are around.”
2 I was as silent as a mute person;
I said nothing, not even something good,
and my distress deepened.
3 My heart within me became incensed;[a]
as I thought about it, the fire burned.
Then I[b] spoke out:
4 “Lord, let me know how my life ends,[c]
and the standard by which you will measure[d] my days, whatever it is!
Then I will know how transient my life is.
5 Look, you have made my life span fit in your hand;
It is nothing compared to yours.
Surely every person at their best is a puff of wind.
6 In fact, people walk around as shadows.
Surely, they busy themselves for nothing,
heaping up possessions but not knowing who will get them.
7 How long, Lord, will I wait expectantly?
I have placed my hope in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions,
and do not let fools scorn me.”
9 I remain silent;
I do not open my mouth,
for you are the one who acted.
10 Stop scourging me,
since I have been crushed by your heavy hand.
11 You rebuke by chastening a man with the consequence of iniquities;
you destroy what is attractive to him, as one would treat a moth.
Indeed, every person is a puff of wind.
12 Hear my prayer, Lord,
pay attention to my cry,
and do not ignore my tears.
I am an alien in your presence,
a stranger just like my ancestors were.
13 Stop looking at me with chastisement,[e] so I can smile again,
before I depart and am no more.
The Vision of Tribulation Saints
9 After these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying,
“Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength
be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”
13 “Who are these people wearing white robes,” one of the elders asked me, “and where did they come from?”
14 I told him, “Sir, you know.”
Then he told me, “These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering.[a] They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. 15 That is why:
“They are in front of the throne of God
and worship[b] him night and day in his Temple.
The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty again.
Neither the sun nor its heat will ever beat down on them,
17 because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd.
He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life,
and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”[c]
The Mission of the Seventy
10 After this, the Lord appointed 70[a] other disciples[b] and was about to send them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place that he intended to go. 2 So he instructed them, “The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest. 3 Get going! See, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t carry a wallet, a traveling bag, or sandals, and don’t greet anyone on the way.
5 “Whatever house you go into, first say, ‘May there be peace in this house.’ 6 If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting of peace will remain with him. But if that’s not the case, your greeting[c] will come back to you. 7 Stay with the same family, eating and drinking whatever they provide, because the worker deserves his pay. Don’t move from house to house.
8 “Whenever you go into a town and the people[d] welcome you, eat whatever they serve you, 9 heal the sick that are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you!’ 10 But whenever you go into a town and people[e] don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We’re wiping off your town’s dust that clings to our feet in protest against you! But realize this: the kingdom of God is near!’ 12 I tell you, on the last[f] day it will be easier for Sodom than for that town!”
Jesus Denounces Unrepentant Cities(A)
13 “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 It will be easier for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you!
15 And you, Capernaum! You won’t be lifted up to heaven, will you? You’ll go down to Hell![g] 16 The person who listens to you listens to me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
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