Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.
A Psalm of David.
25 To You, O Lord, I (A)lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You (B)I trust,
Do not let me (C)be ashamed;
Do not let my (D)enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, (E)none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
[a]Those who (F)deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
4 (G)Make me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in (H)Your truth and teach me,
For You are the (I)God of my salvation;
For You I (J)wait all the day.
6 (K)Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been [b](L)from of old.
7 Do not remember the (M)sins of my youth or my transgressions;
(N)According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your (O)goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 (P)Good and (Q)upright is the Lord;
Therefore He (R)instructs sinners in the way.
9 He (S)leads the [c]humble in justice,
And He (T)teaches the [d]humble His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are (U)lovingkindness and truth
To (V)those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For (W)Your name’s sake, O Lord,
(X)Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who (Y)fears the Lord?
He will (Z)instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will (AA)abide in [e]prosperity,
And his [f]descendants will (AB)inherit the [g]land.
14 The [h](AC)secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
[i]And He will (AD)make them know His covenant.
15 My (AE)eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will [j](AF)pluck my feet out of the net.
16 (AG)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am (AH)lonely and afflicted.
17 [k]The (AI)troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me (AJ)out of my distresses.
18 (AK)Look upon my affliction and my [l]trouble,
And (AL)forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they (AM)are many,
And they (AN)hate me with violent hatred.
20 (AO)Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me (AP)be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let (AQ)integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For (AR)I wait for You.
22 (AS)Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.
For the choir director; on [a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all (A)my heart;
I will (B)tell of all Your [b]wonders.
2 I will be glad and (C)exult in You;
I will (D)sing praise to Your name, O (E)Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and (F)perish before You.
4 For You have (G)maintained [c]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne [d](H)judging righteously.
5 You have (I)rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;
You have (J)blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 [e]The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (K)memory of them has perished.
7 But the (L)Lord [f]abides forever;
He has established His (M)throne for judgment,
8 And He will (N)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
9 [g]The Lord also will be a (O)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And [h]those who (P)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not (Q)forsaken those who seek You.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (R)dwells in Zion;
(S)Declare among the peoples His deeds.
12 For (T)He who [i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (U)the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord;
See my affliction from those (V)who hate me,
You who (W)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may tell of (X)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may (Y)rejoice in Your [j]salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down (Z)in the pit which they have made;
In the (AA)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has (AB)made Himself known;
He has (AC)executed judgment.
In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. [k]Higgaion [l]Selah.
17 The wicked will [m](AD)return to [n]Sheol,
Even all the nations who (AE)forget God.
18 For the (AF)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the (AG)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 (AH)Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be (AI)judged before You.
20 Put them (AJ)in fear, O Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (AK)but men. Selah.
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who may [a]abide (A)in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your (B)holy hill?
2 He who (C)walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And (D)speaks truth in his heart.
3 He (E)does not slander [b]with his tongue,
Nor (F)does evil to his neighbor,
Nor (G)takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 In [c]whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But [d]who (H)honors those who fear the Lord;
He (I)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He (J)does not put out his money [e]at interest,
Nor (K)does he take a bribe against the innocent.
(L)He who does these things will never be shaken.
9 “Only (A)give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart (B)all the days of your life; but (C)make them known to your sons and your grandsons. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words (D)so they may learn to [a]fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may (E)teach their children.’ 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, (F)and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, (G)the Ten [b]Commandments; and (H)He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it.
Introduction
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of (B)Christ Jesus (C)by the will of God, and (D)Timothy our brother,
To (E)the church of God which is at (F)Corinth with all the [a]saints who are throughout (G)Achaia:
2 (H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 (I)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and (J)God of all comfort, 4 who (K)comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in [b]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just (L)as the sufferings of Christ are [c]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is (M)for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that (N)as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
8 For (O)we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our (P)affliction which came to us in [d](Q)Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 [e]indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who (R)delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, [f]He (S)on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in (T)helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by (U)many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Discipleship Tested
25 Now [a]large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “(A)If anyone comes to Me, and does not [b]hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not (B)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and (C)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends [c]a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who (D)does not give up all his own possessions.
34 “Therefore, salt is good; but (E)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. (F)He who has ears to hear, [d]let him hear.”
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