Book of Common Prayer
ק QOPH
145 I cry out with my whole heart;
Hear me, O Lord!
I will keep Your statutes.
146 I cry out to You;
Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.
147 (A)I rise before the dawning of the morning,
And cry for help;
I hope in Your word.
148 (B)My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word.
149 Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;
O Lord, revive me according to Your justice.
150 They draw near who follow after wickedness;
They are far from Your law.
151 You are (C)near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are truth.
152 Concerning Your testimonies,
I have known of old that You have founded them (D)forever.
ר RESH
153 (E)Consider my affliction and deliver me,
For I do not forget Your law.
154 (F)Plead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me according to Your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
156 [a]Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
157 Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not (G)turn from Your testimonies.
158 I see the treacherous, and (H)am disgusted,
Because they do not keep Your word.
159 Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160 The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
ש SHIN
161 (I)Princes persecute me without a cause,
But my heart stands in awe of Your word.
162 I rejoice at Your word
As one who finds great treasure.
163 I hate and abhor lying,
But I love Your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
165 (J)Great peace have those who love Your law,
And [b]nothing causes them to stumble.
166 (K)Lord, I hope for Your salvation,
And I do Your commandments.
167 My soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I love them exceedingly.
168 I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
(L)For all my ways are before You.
Jeremiah’s Life Threatened
18 Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. 19 But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, (A)and let us cut him off from (B)the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts,
You who judge righteously,
(C)Testing the [a]mind and the heart,
Let me see Your (D)vengeance on them,
For to You I have revealed my cause.
21 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of (E)Anathoth who seek your life, saying, (F)‘Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, lest you die by our hand’— 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall (G)die by famine; 23 and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even (H)the year of their punishment.’ ”
Persecutions Are Coming(A)
16 (B)“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. (C)Therefore be wise as serpents and (D)harmless[a] as doves. 17 But beware of men, for (E)they will deliver you up to councils and (F)scourge you in their synagogues. 18 (G)You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 (H)But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For (I)it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 (J)for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
21 (K)“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And (L)you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. (M)But he who endures to the end will be saved.
The Blessed State of the Righteous
112 Praise[a] the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who (A)delights greatly in His commandments.
2 (B)His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 (C)Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness [b]endures forever.
4 (D)Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
5 (E)A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs (F)with discretion.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
(G)The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
7 (H)He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His (I)heart is established;
(J)He will not be afraid,
Until he (K)sees his desire upon his enemies.
9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His [c]horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.
The Lord the Strength of His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
3 For (A)the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside to their (B)crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.
(C)Peace be upon Israel!
Renew Your Spiritual Vitality(A)
12 Therefore (B)strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14 (C)Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, (D)without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone (E)fall short of the grace of God; lest any (F)root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any (G)fornicator or [a]profane person like Esau, (H)who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was (I)rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
The Glorious Company
18 For you have not come [b]to (J)the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and [c]darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it (K)begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: (L)“And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned [d]or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, (M)“I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the [e]general assembly and church of (N)the firstborn (O)who are registered in heaven, to God (P)the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men (Q)made perfect, 24 to Jesus (R)the Mediator of the new covenant, and to (S)the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things (T)than that of Abel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.