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.
24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud(A) and spoke with him,(B) and he took some of the power of the Spirit(C) that was on him and put it on the seventy elders.(D) When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied(E)—but did not do so again.
26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them,(F) and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 Joshua son of Nun,(G) who had been Moses’ aide(H) since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”(I)
29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets(J) and that the Lord would put his Spirit(K) on them!”(L) 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail(M) in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits[a] deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers.[b] Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth(N) and before it could be consumed, the anger(O) of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.(P) 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,[c](Q) because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth(R) and stayed there.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over(A) to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,(B) 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;(C) 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,(D) no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,(E) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve(F) of those who practice them.
God’s Righteous Judgment
2 You, therefore, have no excuse,(G) you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.(H) 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches(I) of his kindness,(J) forbearance(K) and patience,(L) not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?(M)
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath(N), when his righteous judgment(O) will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a](P) 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor(Q) and immortality,(R) he will give eternal life.(S) 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil,(T) there will be wrath and anger.(U) 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil:(V) first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;(W) 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.(X) 11 For God does not show favoritism.(Y)
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven(A)
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,(B) you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.(C) 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.(D) 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.(E)
Causing to Stumble
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.(F) 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!(G) 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,(H) cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble,(I) gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.(J)
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