Book of Common Prayer
A Call to Praise and Obedience
95 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord.
Let’s shout praises to the Rock [28:1; 42:9; 62:2; Deut. 32:4] who ·saves us [gives us victory].
2 Let’s ·come [present ourselves] to him with ·thanksgiving [praise].
Let’s ·sing songs [shout psalms] to him,
3 because the Lord is the great God,
the great King over all gods [Ex. 15:11].
4 The deepest places on earth are ·his [L in his hand],
and the ·highest [peaks of the] mountains belong to him.
5 The sea is his because he made it,
and he created the ·land [dry ground] with his own hands.
6 Come, let’s ·worship him [bow down] and ·bow down [bend the knee].
Let’s kneel before the Lord who made us,
7 because he is our God
and we are the people ·he takes care of [L of his pasture],
the sheep ·that he tends [L of his hand; 74:1; 79:13; 100:3; John 10:11–14].
Today listen to ·what he says [L his voice]:
8 “Do not ·be stubborn [L harden your heart], as at Meribah [C “contending”; 81:7; 106:32; Ex. 17:1–17; Num. 20:1–13],
as that day at Massah [C “testing”] in the ·desert [wilderness; Heb. 4:7].
9 There your ·ancestors [fathers] tested me
and tried me even though they saw what I did.
10 I ·was angry with [felt disgust for] ·those people [L that generation] for forty years.
I said, ‘They are ·not loyal to me [L a people whose hearts wander/go astray]
and have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my rest.’”
It Is Better to Confess Sin
A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of David.
32 ·Happy [Blessed] is the person
whose ·sins [transgressions] are forgiven,
whose ·wrongs [sins] are ·pardoned [L covered].
2 ·Happy [Blessed] is the person
whom the Lord ·does not consider guilty [imputes no guilt to]
and in ·whom [L whose spirit] there is nothing ·false [deceptive].
3 When I kept ·things to myself [silent],
·I felt weak deep inside me [L my bones wasted away].
I ·moaned [sighed] all day long.
4 Day and night ·you punished me [L your hand was heavy on me].
My strength was ·gone [dried up; sapped] as in the summer heat. ·
5 Then I ·confessed [made known; disclosed] my sins to you
and didn’t ·hide [cover up] my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my ·sins [transgressions] to the Lord,”
and you forgave ·my guilt [L the guilt of my sin]. ·
6 For this reason, all ·who obey you [your saints/holy ones]
should pray to you while ·they still can [or you may be found; L at a time of finding only; Prov. 1:24–27].
When troubles rise like a flood,
they will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place.
You protect me from ·my troubles [distress]
and ·fill [L surround] me with ·songs [loud cries] of ·salvation [rescue; T deliverance]. ·
8 The Lord says, “I will ·make you wise [instruct you] and ·show [teach] you ·where to [L the way you should] go.
I will ·guide [counsel] you and ·watch over [L my eye will be on] you.
9 So don’t be like a horse or donkey,
that doesn’t understand.
·They must be led [L …whose temper/or gallop must be restrained] with bits and reins,
or they will not come near you.”
10 Wicked people have many ·troubles [pains; torments; woes],
but the Lord’s ·love [loyalty; covenant love] surrounds those who ·trust [have confidence in] him.
11 ·Good [Righteous] people, rejoice and be happy in the Lord.
·Sing [Shout joyfully] all you whose hearts are ·right [upright; virtuous].
A Prayer Not to Be Killed
A psalm of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer;
·listen [L give ear] to my ·cry for mercy [prayer of supplication].
Answer me
because you are ·loyal [faithful] and ·good [righteous].
2 Don’t ·judge me [L bring me into judgment], your servant,
because no one alive is ·right [righteous] before you [Rom. 3:22; Gal. 2:16].
3 My enemies are ·chasing [pursuing; persecuting] me;
they crushed me to the ground.
They made me ·live [sit] in darkness
like those long dead [Lam. 3:6].
4 ·I am afraid [I am depressed; L my spirit is faint; 142:3];
my ·courage is gone [L heart within me is desolated].
5 I remember ·what happened long ago [L the former days];
I ·consider [meditated on] everything you have done.
I ·think [considered] ·about all you have made [L the work of your hands].
6 I ·lift my hands to you in prayer [L spread out my hands to you].
·As a dry land needs rain, I thirst [L My life/soul is like a thirsty/parched land] for you. ·
7 Lord, answer me quickly,
because ·I am getting weak [L my spirit languishes].
Don’t ·turn away [L hide your face] from me,
or I will be like those who ·are dead [L go down to the pit].
8 ·Tell me [Make me hear] in the morning about your ·love [loyalty],
because I ·trust [have confidence in] you.
·Show me what I should do [L Make me know the way I should walk],
because ·my prayers go up [L I lift up my soul] to you.
9 Lord, ·save [protect] me from my enemies;
I hide in you.
10 Teach me to do ·what you want [your will],
because you are my God.
Let your good Spirit [or spirit]
·lead [guide] me on level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
·so people will praise you [L for the sake of your name].
In your ·goodness [righteousness]
·save me [L bring me out] from my ·troubles [distress].
12 In your ·love [loyalty] ·defeat [destroy] my enemies.
·Destroy [L Make perish] all those who ·trouble [distress] me,
because I am your servant.
A Cry for Help
A prayer of a person who is suffering when he is ·discouraged [faint; disturbed] and ·tells the Lord his complaints [L pours out his concerns before the Lord].
102 Lord, listen to my prayer;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your ·presence [L face] from me
in my time of ·trouble [distress].
·Pay attention [L Extend your ear] to me.
·When I cry for help [L On the day I call], answer me quickly.
3 My ·life [L days] is ·passing away [vanishing] like smoke,
and my bones are burned up ·with fire [L like a furnace/oven/or glowing embers].
4 My heart is like grass
that has been ·cut [stricken] and dried.
I forget to eat my ·food [or bread].
5 Because of ·my grief [L the sounds of my groans],
my ·skin hangs on my bones [L bones cling to my flesh].
6 I am like a ·desert [wilderness] owl,
like an owl living among the ·ruins [wastelands; Is. 34:10–15; Zeph. 2:13–15].
7 I ·lie awake [or keep watch].
I am like a lonely bird on a ·housetop [roof].
8 All day long enemies ·insult [scorn; reproach] me;
those who ·make fun of [mock] me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes for ·food [or bread],
and my tears ·fall into [mingle with] my drinks.
10 Because of your ·great anger [L wrath and indignation],
you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a passing shadow;
I am like dried grass.
12 But, Lord, you ·rule [L are enthroned] forever,
and your ·fame [memory] ·goes on and on [L throughout the generations].
13 You will ·come [L rise up] and have ·mercy [compassion] on ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple],
because the time has now come to be ·kind [gracious] to her;
the ·right [appointed] time has come.
14 Your servants ·love even [are pleased/delighted with] her stones;
they even ·care about [L have pity/compassion for] her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings on earth ·will honor you [L your glory; C God’s manifest presence].
16 The Lord will rebuild ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple];
there his glory [C manifest presence] will be seen.
17 He will answer the prayers of the ·needy [lowly; L naked];
he will not ·reject [despise] their prayers.
18 Write these things for ·the future [L a future generation]
so that people who are not yet ·born [created] will praise the Lord.
19 The Lord looked down from his holy place above;
from heaven he ·looked [gazed] down at the earth.
20 He heard the ·moans [groans] of the prisoners,
and he ·freed [released] those sentenced to die.
21 The name of the Lord will be ·heard [recounted] in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple];
his praise ·will be heard there [L in Jerusalem].
22 People will ·come [gather] together,
and kingdoms will serve the Lord.
23 ·God has made me tired of living [He broke my strength in midcourse/L the way];
he has cut short my ·life [L days].
24 So I said, “My God, do not take me in the middle of my ·life [L days].
Your years ·go on and on [endure for generations].
25 In the beginning you ·made [founded] the earth,
and ·your hands made the skies [L the heavens are the work of your hands; Gen. 1].
26 They will be destroyed, but you will ·remain [endure].
They will all wear out like ·clothes [garments].
And, like clothes, you will change them
and throw them away.
27 But you ·never change [are the same/L he],
and your ·life [L years] will never end.
28 ·Our children [L The children of your servants] will live in your presence,
and their ·children [offspring; L seed] will remain with you.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
130 Lord, ·I am in great trouble [L from the depths],
so I ·call out [pray] to you.
2 Lord, hear my voice;
·listen to my prayer for help [L let your ear pay attention to the sound of my supplication].
3 Lord, if you ·punished people for all their sins [L observed/watched/guarded against iniquity],
·no one would be left [L who could stand…?], Lord.
4 But you forgive ·us [L your people],
so you are ·respected [feared; Prov. 1:7].
5 I ·wait [hope] for the Lord ·to help me [L my soul hopes],
and I ·trust [hope in] his word.
6 I ·wait for the Lord to help me [hope for the Lord]
more than night watchmen wait for the ·dawn [morning],
more than night watchmen wait for the ·dawn [morning].
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is ·loving [loyal]
and ·able to save [L with him is abundant redemption].
8 He will ·save [redeem] Israel
from all their ·sins [iniquities].
God Calls and Jonah Obeys
3 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Jonah ·again [a second time] and said, 2 “Get up, go to the great city Nineveh [1:2], and ·preach [cry out] to it what I tell you to say.”
3 So Jonah obeyed the Lord and got up and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city; just to walk ·across it [or through it all] took a person three days. 4 After Jonah had entered the city and walked for one day, he preached to the people, saying, “After forty days, Nineveh will be ·destroyed [overthrown]!”
5 The people of Nineveh believed God. They ·announced that they would fast [called for/decreed a fast], and they put on ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth; C to show their sorrow and repentance]. All the people in the city did this, from the ·most important to the least important [L greatest to the least].
6 When the king of Nineveh heard this news, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, and covered himself with ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth] and sat in ashes [C to show sorrow and repentance].
7 He ·sent this announcement [issued a proclamation] through Nineveh:
By ·command [the decree] of the king and his ·important men [nobles]: No person or animal, herd or flock, will be allowed to taste anything. Do not let them eat food or drink water. 8 But every person and animal should be covered with ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth], and people should ·cry loudly [pray earnestly] to God. Everyone must turn away from evil living and stop doing ·harm [violence] all the time. 9 Who knows? Maybe God will ·change his mind [relent]. Maybe he will ·stop being angry [turn from his fierce anger], and then we will not ·die [perish].
10 When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, he ·changed his mind [relented] and did not carry out the ·destruction [disaster; punishment] he had threatened.
God’s Mercy Makes Jonah Angry
4 But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “When I was still in my own country ·this is [L isn’t this…?] what I said would happen, and that is why I quickly ran away to Tarshish [1:3]. I knew that you are a God who is ·kind [gracious] and ·shows mercy [compassionate]. ·You don’t become angry quickly […slow to anger], and you ·have great love [abound in lovingkindness/mercy; Ex. 34:6–7]. I knew you would ·choose not to cause [relent from doing] harm. 3 So now I ask you, Lord, please ·kill me [take my life]. It is better for me to die than to live.”
4 Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah went out and sat down east of the city. There he made a shelter for himself and sat in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city. 6 The Lord made a ·plant [gourd] grow quickly up over Jonah, which gave him shade and ·helped him to be more comfortable [eased his discomfort]. Jonah was very pleased to have the ·plant [gourd]. 7 But the next day when the sun rose, God sent a worm to attack the ·plant [gourd] so that it ·died [dried up; withered].
8 As the sun rose higher in the sky, God sent a very hot east wind to blow, and the sun ·became so hot [beat down] on Jonah’s head that he became ·very weak [faint] and wished he were dead. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry about the ·plant [gourd]?”
Jonah answered, “It is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!”
10 And the Lord said, “You ·are so concerned [have pity] for that ·plant [gourd] even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared ·one day [overnight], and ·the next day [overnight] it died. 11 Then shouldn’t I ·show concern [have pity] for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know ·right from wrong [L their right hand from their left], and ·many animals [much cattle], too?”
Follow Jesus’ Example
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of ·people whose lives tell us what faith means [L witnesses], let us run the race that is before us ·and never give up [with endurance/perseverance]. ·We should [Let us] ·remove from our lives [get rid of; cast aside] anything that ·would get in the way [impedes/hinders us] and the sin that so easily ·holds us back [entangles/clings to us]. 2 Let us ·look only to [keep our eyes on] Jesus, the ·One who began [Pioneer/Founder of; or Leader/Prince of] our faith and who ·makes it perfect [completes it]. He ·suffered death on [L endured] the cross, ·accepting the shame as if it were nothing [L disregarding/despising the shame] because of the joy that ·God put before [lay ahead for] him. And now he is sitting at the right ·side [L hand] of God’s throne [1:3; 13; Ps. 110:1]. 3 Think about Jesus, who endured such ·hostility [opposition] from sinful people, so that you will not ·get tired [grow weary; get discouraged] and ·stop trying [give up].
God Is like a Father
4 You are struggling against sin, but your ·struggles [resistance; opposition] have not yet ·caused you to be killed [resulted in bloodshed/L blood]. 5 ·You have forgotten [or Have you forgotten…?] the ·encouraging words [exhortation] that ·call you his [or address you as] ·children [or sons]:
“My ·child [or son], don’t ·think the Lord’s discipline is worth nothing [scorn/treat lightly/make light of the Lord’s discipline],
and don’t ·stop trying [get discouraged] when he ·corrects [rebukes] you.
6 [L For; Because] The Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he ·punishes [chastises; severely disciplines] everyone he accepts as his child [Prov. 3:11–12].”
7 ·So hold on through your sufferings, because they are like a father’s discipline [L Persevere in discipline]. God is treating you as ·children [or sons]. ·All children are [L For what child/son is not…?] disciplined by their fathers. 8 If you are never disciplined (and every ·child [or son] must be disciplined), you are ·not true children [L illegitimate and not (true) children/sons]. 9 [Furthermore; Moreover] We have all had ·fathers [or parents] here on earth who disciplined us, and we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from ·the Father of our spirits [or our spiritual Father; or the Father of all spirit beings; 12:23; Num. 16:22] so we will have [C eternal or true spiritual] life. 10 ·Our fathers on earth [L They] disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us ·to help us [for our good/benefit], so we can ·become holy as he is [L share in his holiness]. 11 We do not enjoy being disciplined. It is painful at the time, but later, after we have ·learned from [been trained by] it, ·we have peace [L it produces/bears the fruit of peace], ·because we start living in the right way [or …and righteousness].
Be Careful How You Live
12 ·You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again [L Therefore, strengthen your drooping arms/hands and your weak/disabled knees; Is. 35:3]. 13 ·Keep on the right path [L Make straight/clear paths for your feet; Prov. 4:27], so the ·weak [lame] will not ·stumble [be disabled; put out of joint] but rather be ·strengthened [healed].
14 ·Try to live in [L Pursue] peace with all people, and ·try to live free from sin [L pursue holiness/sanctification]. [L For] Anyone whose life is not ·holy [sanctified] will never see the Lord.
Being Right with God
9 Jesus told this ·story [parable] to some people who ·thought they were very good [were confident of their own righteousness] and ·looked down on [scorned; despised] everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple [courts] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [C despised by their fellow Jews because they worked for the hated Romans and were notorious for extortion]. 11 The Pharisee ·stood alone and prayed [or stood and prayed about himself], ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, ·cheaters [evildoers; unrighteous people], adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week [C Pharisees commonly fasted on Monday and Thursday], and I ·give one-tenth of [pay tithes on] everything I get!’
13 “[L But] The tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even ·look up [L raise his eyes] to heaven. But he beat on his chest [C a sign of sorrow and remorse] and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, when this man went home, he was ·right with God [justified], ·but the Pharisee was not [L rather than that (other) man]. [L Because] All who ·make themselves great [exalt themselves] will be made humble, but all who make themselves humble will be ·made great [exalted].”
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