Book of Common Prayer
א Aleph
119 Blessed are those who live without blame.
They live in keeping with the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are those who obey his covenant laws.
They trust in him with all their hearts.
3 They don’t do anything wrong.
They live as he wants them to live.
4 You have given me rules
that I must obey completely.
5 I hope I will always stand firm
in following your orders.
6 Then I won’t be put to shame
when I think about all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an honest heart
as I learn about how fair your decisions are.
8 I will obey your orders.
Please don’t leave me all alone.
ב Beth
9 How can a young person keep their life pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I trust in you with all my heart.
Don’t let me wander away from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
so that I won’t sin against you.
12 Lord, I give praise to you.
Teach me your orders.
13 With my lips I talk about
all the decisions you have made.
14 Following your covenant laws gives me joy
just as great riches give joy to others.
15 I spend time thinking about your rules.
I consider how you want me to live.
16 I take delight in your orders.
I won’t fail to obey your word.
ג Gimel
17 Be good to me while I am alive.
Do this so that I may obey your word.
18 Open my eyes so that I can see
the wonderful truths in your law.
19 I’m a stranger on earth.
Don’t hide your commands from me.
20 My heart is filled with longing
for your laws at all times.
21 You correct proud people. They are under your curse.
They wander away from your commands.
22 I obey your covenant laws.
So don’t let evil people laugh at me or hate me.
23 Even if rulers sit together and tell lies about me,
I will spend time thinking about your orders.
24 Your covenant laws are my delight.
They give me wise advice.
For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord! No one does what is right anymore.
Those who are faithful have disappeared from the human race.
2 Everyone tells lies to their neighbors.
With their lips they praise others, but they don’t really mean it.
3 May the Lord close all lips that don’t mean what they say.
May he stop every tongue that brags.
4 They say, “What we speak with our tongues will win the battle.
What we say with our lips will keep us safe. No one will have victory over us.”
5 The Lord says, “The poor are being robbed.
Those who are in need groan.
So I will stand up to help them.
I will keep them safe from those who tell lies about them.”
6 The words of the Lord are perfect.
They are like silver made pure in a clay furnace.
They are like gold made pure seven times over.
7 Lord, you will keep needy people safe.
You will always keep sinners from hurting us.
8 Proud and sinful people walk around openly
when the evil they do is praised by the human race.
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
13 Lord, how long must I wait? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you turn your face away from me?
2 How long must I struggle with my thoughts?
How long must my heart be sad day after day?
How long will my enemies keep winning the battle over me?
3 Lord my God, look at me and answer me.
Give me new life, or I will die.
4 Then my enemies will say, “We have beaten him.”
They will be filled with joy when I die.
5 But I trust in your faithful love.
My heart is filled with joy because you will save me.
6 I will sing praise to the Lord.
He has been so good to me.
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
14 Foolish people say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They do all kinds of horrible and evil things.
No one does anything good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on all people.
He wants to see if there are any who understand.
He wants to see if there are any who trust in God.
3 All of them have turned away.
They have all become evil.
No one does anything good,
no one at all.
4 Do all these people who do evil know nothing?
They eat up my people as if they were eating bread.
They never call out to the Lord.
5 But just look at them! They are filled with terror
because God is among those who do right.
6 You who do evil keep poor people from succeeding.
But the Lord is their place of safety.
7 How I pray that the God who saves Israel will come out of Zion!
Then the Lord will bless his people with great success again.
So let the people of Jacob be filled with joy! Let Israel be glad!
Samuel Anoints David to Be Israel’s King
16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you be filled with sorrow because of Saul? I have refused to have him as king over Israel. Fill your animal horn with olive oil and go on your way. I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? Suppose Saul hears about it. Then he’ll kill me.”
The Lord said, “Take a young cow with you. Tell the elders of Bethlehem, ‘I’ve come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. Then I will show you what to do. You must anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
4 Samuel did what the Lord said. He arrived at Bethlehem. The elders of the town met him. They were trembling with fear. They asked, “Have you come in peace?”
5 Samuel replied, “Yes, I’ve come in peace. I’ve come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. Set yourselves apart to him and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he set Jesse and his sons apart to the Lord. He invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab. He thought, “This has to be the one the Lord wants me to anoint for him.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider how handsome or tall he is. I have not chosen him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outside of a person. But the Lord looks at what is in the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called for Abinadab. He had him walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen him either.” 9 Then Jesse had Shammah walk by. But Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen him either.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said to him, “The Lord hasn’t chosen any of them.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these the only sons you have?”
“No,” Jesse answered. “My youngest son is taking care of the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he arrives.”
12 So Jesse sent for his son and had him brought in. He looked very healthy. He had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Get up and anoint him. This is the one.”
13 So Samuel got the animal horn that was filled with olive oil. He anointed David in front of his brothers. From that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David. Samuel went back to Ramah.
Cornelius Calls for Peter
10 A man named Cornelius lived in Caesarea. He was a Roman commander in the Italian Regiment. 2 Cornelius and all his family were faithful and worshiped God. He gave freely to people who were in need. He prayed to God regularly. 3 One day about three o’clock in the afternoon he had a vision. He saw clearly an angel of God. The angel came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius was afraid. He stared at the angel. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to poor people are like an offering to God. So he has remembered you. 5 Now send men to Joppa. Have them bring back a man named Simon. He is also called Peter. 6 He is staying with another Simon, a man who works with leather. His house is by the sea.”
7 The angel who spoke to him left. Then Cornelius called two of his servants. He also called a godly soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened. Then he sent them to Joppa.
Peter Has a Vision
9 It was about noon the next day. The men were on their journey and were approaching the city. Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry. He wanted something to eat. While the meal was being prepared, Peter had a vision. 11 He saw heaven open up. There he saw something that looked like a large sheet. It was being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It had all kinds of four-footed animals in it. It also had reptiles and birds in it. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “No, Lord! I will not!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything that is not pure and ‘clean.’ ”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time. It said, “Do not say anything is not pure that God has made ‘clean.’ ”
16 This happened three times. Right away the sheet was taken back up to heaven.
12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent over and saw the strips of linen lying by themselves. Then he went away, wondering what had happened.
On the Road to Emmaus
13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked about those things, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. 16 But God kept them from recognizing him.
17 Jesus asked them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?”
They stood still, and their faces were sad. 18 One of them was named Cleopas. He said to Jesus, “Are you the only person visiting Jerusalem who doesn’t know? Don’t you know about the things that have happened there in the last few days?”
19 “What things?” Jesus asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet. He was powerful in what he said and did in the sight of God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed Jesus over to be sentenced to death. They nailed him to a cross. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to set Israel free. Also, it is the third day since all this happened. 22 Some of our women amazed us too. Early this morning they went to the tomb. 23 But they didn’t find his body. So they came and told us what they had seen. They saw angels, who said Jesus was alive. 24 Then some of our friends went to the tomb. They saw it was empty, just as the women had said. They didn’t see Jesus’ body there.”
25 Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are! How long it takes you to believe all that the prophets said! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and then receive his glory?” 27 Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures. He began with Moses and all the Prophets.
28 They approached the village where they were going. Jesus kept walking as if he were going farther. 29 But they tried hard to keep him from leaving. They said, “Stay with us. It is nearly evening. The day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 He joined them at the table. Then he took bread and gave thanks. He broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But then he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “He explained to us what the Scriptures meant. Weren’t we excited as he talked with us on the road?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 disciples and those with them. They were all gathered together. 34 They were saying, “It’s true! The Lord has risen! He has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two of them told what had happened to them on the way. They told how they had recognized Jesus when he broke the bread.
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