Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem
97 Oh, how I love your law!(A)
I meditate(B) on it all day long.
98 Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser(C) than my enemies.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.(D)
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.(E)
101 I have kept my feet(F) from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.(G)
102 I have not departed from your laws,(H)
for you yourself have taught(I) me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey(J) to my mouth!(K)
104 I gain understanding(L) from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.(M)
נ Nun
105 Your word is a lamp(N) for my feet,
a light(O) on my path.
106 I have taken an oath(P) and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.(Q)
107 I have suffered much;
preserve my life,(R) Lord, according to your word.
108 Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth,(S)
and teach me your laws.(T)
109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands,(U)
I will not forget(V) your law.
110 The wicked have set a snare(W) for me,
but I have not strayed(X) from your precepts.
111 Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.(Y)
112 My heart is set(Z) on keeping your decrees
to the very end.[a](AA)
ס Samekh
113 I hate double-minded people,(AB)
but I love your law.(AC)
114 You are my refuge and my shield;(AD)
I have put my hope(AE) in your word.
115 Away from me,(AF) you evildoers,
that I may keep the commands of my God!
116 Sustain me,(AG) my God, according to your promise,(AH) and I will live;
do not let my hopes be dashed.(AI)
117 Uphold me,(AJ) and I will be delivered;(AK)
I will always have regard for your decrees.(AL)
118 You reject all who stray(AM) from your decrees,
for their delusions come to nothing.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross;(AN)
therefore I love your statutes.(AO)
120 My flesh trembles(AP) in fear of you;(AQ)
I stand in awe(AR) of your laws.
Psalm 81[a]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!(A)
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,(B)
play the melodious harp(C) and lyre.(D)
3 Sound the ram’s horn(E) at the New Moon,(F)
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.(G)
5 When God went out against Egypt,(H)
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:(I)
6 “I removed the burden(J) from their shoulders;(K)
their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called(L) and I rescued you,
I answered(M) you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[c](N)
8 Hear me, my people,(O) and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god(P) among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.(Q)
Open(R) wide your mouth and I will fill(S) it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.(T)
12 So I gave them over(U) to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
13 “If my people would only listen to me,(V)
if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue(W) their enemies
and turn my hand against(X) their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe(Y) before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;(Z)
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
2 “How long will you[d] defend the unjust
and show partiality(AC) to the wicked?[e](AD)
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;(AE)
uphold the cause of the poor(AF) and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.(AG)
They walk about in darkness;(AH)
all the foundations(AI) of the earth are shaken.
15 Truth(A) is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.(B)
16 He saw that there was no one,(C)
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;(D)
so his own arm achieved salvation(E) for him,
and his own righteousness(F) sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,(G)
and the helmet(H) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments(I) of vengeance(J)
and wrapped himself in zeal(K) as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay(L)
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands(M) their due.
19 From the west,(N) people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun,(O) they will revere his glory.(P)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath(Q) of the Lord drives along.[a]
20 “The Redeemer(R) will come to Zion,(S)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”(T)
declares the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant(U) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,(V) who is on you, will not depart from you,(W) and my words that I have put in your mouth(X) will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia(A) has deserted me,(B) including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus,(C) because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed(D) of my chains.(E) 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!(F) You know very well in how many ways he helped me(G) in Ephesus.(H)
The Appeal Renewed
2 You then, my son,(I) be strong(J) in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say(K) in the presence of many witnesses(L) entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering,(M) like a good soldier(N) of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown(O) except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.(P) 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead,(Q) descended from David.(R) This is my gospel,(S) 9 for which I am suffering(T) even to the point of being chained(U) like a criminal. But God’s word(V) is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything(W) for the sake of the elect,(X) that they too may obtain the salvation(Y) that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.(Z)
11 Here is a trustworthy saying:(AA)
Divorce(A)
10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan.(B) Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.(C)
2 Some Pharisees(D) came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”(E)
5 “It was because your hearts were hard(F) that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a](G) 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c](H) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.(I) 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”(J)
The Little Children and Jesus(K)
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.(L) 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”(M) 16 And he took the children in his arms,(N) placed his hands on them and blessed them.
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