Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.
A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.
30 I will (A)extol You, O Lord, for You have (B)lifted me up,
And have not let my (C)enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God,
I (D)cried to You for help, and You (E)healed me.
3 O Lord, You have (F)brought up my soul from [a]Sheol;
You have kept me alive, [b]that I would not (G)go down to the pit.
4 (H)Sing praise to the Lord, you (I)His godly ones,
And (J)give thanks to His holy [c](K)name.
5 For (L)His anger is but for a moment,
His (M)favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may (N)last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
6 Now as for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I will (O)never be moved.”
7 O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong;
You (P)hid Your face, I was dismayed.
8 To You, O Lord, I called,
And to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my blood, if I (Q)go down to the pit?
Will the (R)dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
10 “(S)Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
O Lord, be my (T)helper.”
11 You have turned for me (U)my mourning into dancing;
You have (V)loosed my sackcloth and girded me with (W)gladness,
12 That my [d](X)soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will (Y)give thanks to You forever.
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A [a]Maskil.
32 (A)How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord (B)does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is (C)no deceit!
3 When (D)I kept silent about my sin, (E)my [b]body wasted away
Through my [c](F)groaning all day long.
4 For day and night (G)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [d](H)vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah.
5 I (I)acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I (J)did not hide;
I said, “(K)I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You (L)forgave the [f]guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [g](M)in a time when You may be found;
Surely (N)in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are (O)my hiding place; You (P)preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with [h](Q)songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will (R)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you (S)with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be (T)as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the (U)sorrows of the wicked,
But (V)he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be (W)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (X)upright in heart.
BOOK 2
Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c](A)pants for You, O God.
2 My soul (B)thirsts for God, for the (C)living God;
When shall I come and [d](D)appear before God?
3 My (E)tears have been my food day and night,
While they (F)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember and I (G)pour out my soul within me.
For I (H)used to go along with the throng and [e]lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of (I)joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
5 (J)Why are you [f](K)in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become (L)disturbed within me?
[g](M)Hope in God, for I shall [h]again praise [i]Him
For the [j](N)help of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is [k]in despair within me;
Therefore I (O)remember You from (P)the land of the Jordan
And the [l]peaks of (Q)Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your (R)breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 The Lord will (S)command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me (T)in the night,
A prayer to (U)the God of my life.
9 I will say to God (V)my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go (W)mourning [m]because of the (X)oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they (Y)say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 (Z)Why are you [n]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
[o]Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The [p]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer for Deliverance.
43 (AA)Vindicate me, O God, and (AB)plead my case against an ungodly nation;
[q]O deliver me from (AC)the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the (AD)God of my strength; why have You (AE)rejected me?
Why do I go (AF)mourning [r]because of the oppression of the enemy?
Daniel in the Lions’ Den
16 Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and (A)cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “[a](B)Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.” 17 A (C)stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel. 18 Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night (D)fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his (E)sleep fled from him.
19 Then the king arose at dawn, at the break of day, and went in haste to the lions’ den. 20 When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has (F)your God, whom you constantly serve, been (G)able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel spoke [b]to the king, “(H)O king, live forever! 22 My God (I)sent His angel and (J)shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as [c]I was found innocent before Him; and also [d]toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.” 23 Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and (K)no injury whatever was found on him, because he had (L)trusted in his God. 24 The king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had [e]maliciously accused Daniel, and they (M)cast them, their (N)children and their wives into the lions’ den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
25 Then Darius the king wrote to all the (O)peoples, nations and men of every [f]language who were living in all the land: “(P)May your [g]peace abound! 26 [h]I (Q)make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel;
For He is the (R)living God and (S)enduring forever,
And (T)His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,
And His dominion will be [i]forever.
27 “He delivers and rescues and performs (U)signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has also delivered Daniel from the [j]power of the lions.”
28 So this (V)Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of (W)Cyrus the Persian.
You Walk in the Truth
1 (A)The elder to the beloved (B)Gaius, whom I (C)love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I (D)was very glad when (E)brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you (F)are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than [a]this, to hear of (G)my children (H)walking in the truth.
5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the (I)brethren, and [b]especially when they are (J)strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to (K)send them on their way in a manner (L)worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of (M)the Name, (N)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to [c]support such men, so that we may [d]be fellow workers [e]with the truth.
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to (O)be first among them, does not accept [f]what we say. 10 For this reason, (P)if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not (Q)receive the (R)brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and (S)puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, (T)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. (U)The one who does good is of God; (V)the one who does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius (W)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and (X)you know that our testimony is true.
13 (Y)I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.
15 (Z)Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends (AA)by name.
Call of Levi (Matthew)
27 (A)After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named [a](B)Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28 And he (C)left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.
29 And (D)Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of (E)tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 (F)The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and [b]sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “(G)It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
33 And they said to Him, “(H)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do [c]the same, but Yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the [d]attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 (I)But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”
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