Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 26
Plea for Justice and Declaration of Righteousness
Of David.
1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.(A)
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and mind.(B)
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.[a](C)
4 I do not sit with the worthless,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;(D)
5 I hate the company of evildoers
and will not sit with the wicked.(E)
6 I wash my hands in innocence
and go around your altar, O Lord,(F)
7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving
and telling all your wondrous deeds.(G)
Psalm 28
Prayer for Help and Thanksgiving for It
Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.(A)
2 Hear the voice of my supplication,
as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.[a](B)
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbors
while mischief is in their hearts.(C)
4 Repay them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
render them their due reward.(D)
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more.(E)
Psalm 36
Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness
To the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
before their eyes.(A)
2 For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
they have ceased to act wisely and do good.(B)
4 They plot mischief while on their beds;
they are set on a way that is not good;
they do not reject evil.(C)
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains;
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.(D)
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.(E)
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.(F)
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.(G)
10 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me
or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie prostrate;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.(H)
Psalm 39
Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness
To the leader: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”(A)
2 I was silent and still;
I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse;(B)
3 my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, let me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.(C)
5 You have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah(D)
6 Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
they heap up and do not know who will gather.(E)
7 “And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.(F)
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool.(G)
9 I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.(H)
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am worn down by the blows[a] of your hand.(I)
11 “You chastise mortals
in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
surely everyone is a mere breath. Selah(J)
Nebuchadnezzar’s Humiliation
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.(A) 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king said, “Is this not magnificent Babylon, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?”(B) 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven: “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: The kingdom is taken from you!(C) 32 You shall be driven away from human society, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you, until you have learned that the Most High has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the sentence was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven away from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails became like birds’ claws.(D)
Nebuchadnezzar Praises God
34 When that period was over, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me.
I blessed the Most High
and praised and honored the one who lives forever.
For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.(E)
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does what he wills with the host of heaven
and the inhabitants of the earth.
There is no one who can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”(F)
36 At that time my reason returned to me, and my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom. My counselors and my lords sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.(G) 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven,
for all his works are truth,
and his ways are justice;
he is able to bring low
those who walk in pride.(H)
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.(A) 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.(B) 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.(C) 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.(D) 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.(E)
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.(F) 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.(G) 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love[a] because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.(H) 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
The Man with an Unclean Spirit
31 He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.(A) 32 They were astounded at his teaching because he spoke with authority.(B) 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”(C) 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” Then the demon, throwing the man down before them, came out of him without doing him any harm.(D) 36 They were all astounded and kept saying to one another, “What kind of word is this, that with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out?”(E) 37 And news about him began to reach every place in the region.(F)
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