Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 25[a]
Of David.
1 In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.(A)
2 I trust in you;(B)
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,(C)
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous(D) without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.(E)
5 Guide me in your truth(F) and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,(G)
and my hope is in you(H) all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,(I)
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth(J)
and my rebellious ways;(K)
according to your love(L) remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.(M)
8 Good and upright(N) is the Lord;
therefore he instructs(O) sinners in his ways.
9 He guides(P) the humble in what is right
and teaches them(Q) his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful(R)
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.(S)
11 For the sake of your name,(T) Lord,
forgive(U) my iniquity,(V) though it is great.
12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?(W)
He will instruct them in the ways(X) they should choose.[b]
13 They will spend their days in prosperity,(Y)
and their descendants will inherit the land.(Z)
14 The Lord confides(AA) in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known(AB) to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,(AC)
for only he will release my feet from the snare.(AD)
16 Turn to me(AE) and be gracious to me,(AF)
for I am lonely(AG) and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles(AH) of my heart
and free me from my anguish.(AI)
18 Look on my affliction(AJ) and my distress(AK)
and take away all my sins.(AL)
19 See how numerous are my enemies(AM)
and how fiercely they hate me!(AN)
20 Guard my life(AO) and rescue me;(AP)
do not let me be put to shame,(AQ)
for I take refuge(AR) in you.
21 May integrity(AS) and uprightness(AT) protect me,
because my hope, Lord,[c] is in you.(AU)
22 Deliver Israel,(AV) O God,
from all their troubles!
Psalm 9[a][b]
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;(A)
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.(B)
2 I will be glad and rejoice(C) in you;
I will sing the praises(D) of your name,(E) O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right(F) and my cause,(G)
sitting enthroned(H) as the righteous judge.(I)
5 You have rebuked the nations(J) and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name(K) for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;(L)
even the memory of them(M) has perished.
7 The Lord reigns forever;(N)
he has established his throne(O) for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness(P)
and judges the peoples with equity.(Q)
9 The Lord is a refuge(R) for the oppressed,(S)
a stronghold in times of trouble.(T)
10 Those who know your name(U) trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken(V) those who seek you.(W)
11 Sing the praises(X) of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;(Y)
proclaim among the nations(Z) what he has done.(AA)
12 For he who avenges blood(AB) remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.(AC)
13 Lord, see how my enemies(AD) persecute me!
Have mercy(AE) and lift me up from the gates of death,(AF)
14 that I may declare your praises(AG)
in the gates of Daughter Zion,(AH)
and there rejoice in your salvation.(AI)
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;(AJ)
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.(AK)
16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.[c](AL)
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,(AM)
all the nations that forget God.(AN)
18 But God will never forget the needy;
the hope(AO) of the afflicted(AP) will never perish.
Psalm 15
A psalm of David.
2 The one whose walk is blameless,(D)
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth(E) from their heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,(F)
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
but honors(G) those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath(H) even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
5 who lends money to the poor without interest;(I)
who does not accept a bribe(J) against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.(K)
Rahab and the Spies
2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies(A) from Shittim.(B) “Go, look over(C) the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.(D)” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab(E) and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:(F) “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men(G) and hidden them.(H) She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,(I) they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”(J) 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax(K) she had laid out on the roof.)(L) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan,(M) and as soon as the pursuers(N) had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof(O) 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear(P) of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up(Q) the water of the Red Sea[a] for you when you came out of Egypt,(R) and what you did to Sihon and Og,(S) the two kings of the Amorites(T) east of the Jordan,(U) whom you completely destroyed.[b](V) 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear(W) and everyone’s courage failed(X) because of you,(Y) for the Lord your God(Z) is God in heaven above and on the earth(AA) below.
12 “Now then, please swear to me(AB) by the Lord that you will show kindness(AC) to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign(AD) 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them(AE)—and that you will save us from death.”
14 “Our lives for your lives!”(AF) the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully(AG) when the Lord gives us the land.”
The Remnant of Israel
11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means!(A) I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham,(B) from the tribe of Benjamin.(C) 2 God did not reject his people,(D) whom he foreknew.(E) Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”[a]?(F) 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”[b](G) 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant(H) chosen by grace.(I) 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works;(J) if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.(K) The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,(L) 8 as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that could not see
and ears that could not hear,(M)
to this very day.”[c](N)
9 And David says:
“May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,(O)
and their backs be bent forever.”[d](P)
Ingrafted Branches
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!(Q) Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles(R) to make Israel envious.(S) 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles,(T) how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like(A) ten virgins who took their lamps(B) and went out to meet the bridegroom.(C) 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.(D) 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.(E)
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’(F)
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet.(G) And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’(H)
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.(I)
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