Book of Common Prayer
ק Qoph
145 I call with all my heart;(A) answer me, Lord,
and I will obey your decrees.(B)
146 I call out to you; save me(C)
and I will keep your statutes.
147 I rise before dawn(D) and cry for help;
I have put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,(E)
that I may meditate on your promises.
149 Hear my voice(F) in accordance with your love;(G)
preserve my life,(H) Lord, according to your laws.
150 Those who devise wicked schemes(I) are near,
but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you are near,(J) Lord,
and all your commands are true.(K)
152 Long ago I learned from your statutes(L)
that you established them to last forever.(M)
ר Resh
153 Look on my suffering(N) and deliver me,(O)
for I have not forgotten(P) your law.
154 Defend my cause(Q) and redeem me;(R)
preserve my life(S) according to your promise.(T)
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek out(U) your decrees.
156 Your compassion, Lord, is great;(V)
preserve my life(W) according to your laws.(X)
157 Many are the foes who persecute me,(Y)
but I have not turned(Z) from your statutes.
158 I look on the faithless with loathing,(AA)
for they do not obey your word.(AB)
159 See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life,(AC) Lord, in accordance with your love.
160 All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.(AD)
ש Sin and Shin
161 Rulers persecute me(AE) without cause,
but my heart trembles(AF) at your word.
162 I rejoice(AG) in your promise
like one who finds great spoil.(AH)
163 I hate and detest(AI) falsehood
but I love your law.(AJ)
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous laws.(AK)
165 Great peace(AL) have those who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.(AM)
166 I wait for your salvation,(AN) Lord,
and I follow your commands.
167 I obey your statutes,
for I love them(AO) greatly.
168 I obey your precepts(AP) and your statutes,(AQ)
for all my ways are known(AR) to you.
ת Taw
169 May my cry come(AS) before you, Lord;
give me understanding(AT) according to your word.(AU)
170 May my supplication come(AV) before you;
deliver me(AW) according to your promise.(AX)
171 May my lips overflow with praise,(AY)
for you teach me(AZ) your decrees.
172 May my tongue sing(BA) of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.(BB)
173 May your hand be ready to help(BC) me,
for I have chosen(BD) your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation,(BE) Lord,
and your law gives me delight.(BF)
175 Let me live(BG) that I may praise you,
and may your laws sustain me.
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep.(BH)
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten(BI) your commands.
Psalm 128
A song of ascents.
1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,(A)
who walk in obedience to him.(B)
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;(C)
blessings and prosperity(D) will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine(E)
within your house;
your children(F) will be like olive shoots(G)
around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing(H)
for the man who fears the Lord.(I)
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;(J)
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem(K)
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—(L)
peace be on Israel.(M)
Psalm 129
A song of ascents.
1 “They have greatly oppressed(N) me from my youth,”(O)
let Israel say;(P)
2 “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory(Q) over me.
3 Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous;(R)
he has cut me free(S) from the cords of the wicked.”(T)
5 May all who hate Zion(U)
be turned back in shame.(V)
6 May they be like grass on the roof,(W)
which withers(X) before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,(Y)
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8 May those who pass by not say to them,
“The blessing of the Lord be on you;
we bless you(Z) in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths(AA) I cry to you,(AB) Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.(AC)
Let your ears be attentive(AD)
to my cry for mercy.(AE)
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?(AF)
4 But with you there is forgiveness,(AG)
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.(AH)
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil(A) on their beds!(B)
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields(C) and seize them,(D)
and houses, and take them.
They defraud(E) people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.(F)
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster(G) against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(H)
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(I)
my people’s possession is divided up.(J)
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace(M) will not overtake us.(N)”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[a] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good(O)
to the one whose ways are upright?(P)
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.(Q)
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,(R)
because it is defiled,(S)
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(T) comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(U)
that would be just the prophet for this people!(V)
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant(W) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.(X)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(Y) them;
they will break through the gate(Z) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Paul Transferred to Caesarea
23 Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen[a] to go to Caesarea(A) at nine tonight.(B) 24 Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”(C)
25 He wrote a letter as follows:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency,(D) Governor Felix:
Greetings.(E)
27 This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him,(F) but I came with my troops and rescued him,(G) for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen.(H) 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin.(I) 29 I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law,(J) but there was no charge against him(K) that deserved death or imprisonment. 30 When I was informed(L) of a plot(M) to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers(N) to present to you their case against him.
31 So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day they let the cavalry(O) go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.(P) 33 When the cavalry(Q) arrived in Caesarea,(R) they delivered the letter to the governor(S) and handed Paul over to him. 34 The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,(T) 35 he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers(U) get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard(V) in Herod’s palace.
Jesus and John the Baptist(A)
18 John’s(B) disciples(C) told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”
21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses(D) and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[a] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.(E) 23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
24 After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 25 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet?(F) Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written:
28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God(H) is greater than he.”
29 (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John.(I) 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law(J) rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
31 Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine,(K) and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’(L) 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
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