Book of Common Prayer
Lead Me in Your Righteousness
For the choir director. For [a]the flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Give ear to my words, O Yahweh,
Consider my (B)meditation.
2 Give heed to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will order my [c]prayer to You and eagerly (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who delights in wickedness;
(H)Evil does not sojourn with You.
5 The (I)boastful shall not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak falsehood;
Yahweh abhors (M)the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)in the abundance of Your lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)worship in (P)fear of You.
8 O Yahweh, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of [e]my foes;
Make Your way [f]straight before me.
9 There is (T)nothing [g]reliable in their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Hold them guilty, O God;
(W)By their own devices let them fall!
In the abundance of their transgressions (X)thrust them out,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But let all who (Z)take refuge in You (AA)be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And [i]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may exult in You.
12 For it is You who (AD)blesses the righteous one, O Yahweh,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a large shield.
Yahweh, Rescue My Soul
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. According to the [j]Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
6 O Yahweh, (AF)do not reprove me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, for I am (AG)pining away;
(AH)Heal me, O Yahweh, for (AI)my bones are dismayed.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O Yahweh—(AK)how long?
4 Return, O Yahweh, (AL)rescue my [k]soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
5 For (AM)there is no remembrance of You in death;
In Sheol who will give You thanks?
Do Not Forget the Afflicted
Lamedh
10 [a]Why (A)do You stand afar off, O Yahweh?
Why (B)do You hide [b]Yourself in times of distress?
2 In his (C)lofty pride the wicked [c]hotly pursues the afflicted;
[d]Let them be (D)caught in the thoughts which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [e]the greedy man curses and (G)spurns Yahweh.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, (H)does not seek Him.
All his [f]thoughts are, “(I)There is no God.”
5 His ways [g](J)prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says in his heart, “(L)I will not be shaken;
[h]From generation to generation (M)I will not be in adversity.”
Pe
7 His (N)mouth is full of curses and deceit and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
Ayin
8 He sits in the [i](Q)places of the villages where one lies in wait;
In the hiding places he (R)kills the innocent;
His eyes [j]stealthily watch for the [k](S)unfortunate.
9 He lies in wait in a hiding place as (T)a lion in his [l]lair;
He (U)lies in wait to catch (V)the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his (W)net.
10 He [m]crouches, he [n]bows down,
And the [o]unfortunate fall [p]by his mighty ones.
11 He (X)says in his heart, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
Qoph
12 Arise, O Yahweh; O God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)spurned God?
He has said in his heart, “You will not require it.”
Resh
14 You have seen it, for You have beheld (AB)mischief and vexation to [q]take it into Your hand.
The [r](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
Shin
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[s](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
Tav
17 O Yahweh, You have heard the (AI)desire of the [t]humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will cause Your ear to give heed
18 To give justice to the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause (AN)terror.
Yahweh Is in His Holy Temple
For the choir director. Of David.
11 In Yahweh I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain;
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They [u](AR)make ready their arrow upon the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 Yahweh is in His (AU)holy temple; [v]Yahweh’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 Yahweh (AX)tests the righteous,
But (AY)the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 May He (AZ)rain [w]snares upon the wicked;
(BA)Fire and brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For Yahweh is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [x]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)behold His face.
Zion Will Be Redeemed with Justice
21 How the faithful city has become a (A)harlot,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
Your drink diluted with water.
23 Your (B)rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone (C)loves a bribe
And pursues rewards.
They (D)do not execute justice for the [a]orphan,
Nor does the widow’s plea come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts,
The (E)Mighty One of Israel, declares,
“Ah, I will be comforted concerning My adversaries,
And I will (F)avenge Myself on My enemies.
25 I will also turn My hand against you,
And will (G)smelt away your dross as with lye
And will remove all your alloy.
26 Then I will have your (H)judges return as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning;
Afterwards you will be called the (I)city of righteousness,
A faithful town.”
27 Zion will be (J)redeemed with justice
And her [b]repentant ones with righteousness.
28 But [c]transgressors and sinners will be (K)broken together,
And those who forsake Yahweh will come to an end.
29 For [d]you will be ashamed of the [e](L)oaks which you have desired,
And you will be humiliated because of the (M)gardens which you have chosen.
30 For you will be like [f]an oak whose (N)leaf withers away
Or as a garden that has no water.
31 And the strong man will become tinder,
His work also a spark.
Thus they shall both (O)burn together,
And there will be (P)none to quench them.
Entrusted with the Gospel
2 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our (A)entrance to you (B)was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been (C)mistreated in (D)Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God (E)to speak to you the (F)gospel of God amid much (G)struggle. 3 For our (H)exhortation does not come from (I)error or (J)impurity or [a]by way of (K)deceit; 4 (L)but just as we have been approved by God to be (M)entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, (N)not as pleasing men, but God who [b](O)examines our hearts. 5 For we never came with a flattering word, as you know, nor with (P)a pretext for greed—(Q)God is witness— 6 nor (R)seeking glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as (S)apostles of Christ we [c]could have been a burden to you. 7 But we [d]proved to be [e](T)gentle [f]among you, (U)as a nursing mother [g]tenderly cares for her own children. 8 In this way, having fond affection for you, we were pleased to (V)impart to you not only the (W)gospel of God but also our own [h]lives, because you had become beloved to us.
9 For you remember, brothers, our (X)labor and hardship, how (Y)working night and day so as not to be a (Z)burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the (AA)gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is (AB)God, of (AC)how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we [i]behaved toward you [j]believers; 11 just as you know how we were (AD)exhorting and encouraging and (AE)bearing witness to each one of you as (AF)a father would his own children, 12 so that you would (AG)walk in a manner worthy of the God who (AH)calls you into His own kingdom and (AI)glory.
Parable of the Vine-Growers
9 (A)And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to [a]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. 10 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine-growers sent him away empty-handed having beaten him. 11 And he proceeded to send another slave; and when they beat him also and treated him shamefully, they sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Now the [b]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will (B)respect him.’ 14 But when the vine-growers saw him, they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the [c]owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and (C)destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “(D)May it never be!” 17 But when [d]Jesus looked at them, He said, “What then is this that is written:
18 (G)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
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