Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16[a]
A prayer[b] of David.
16 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you.[c]
2 I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord,
my only source of well-being.”[d]
3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,
and the leading officials I admired so much[e]—
4 their troubles multiply;
they desire other gods.[f]
I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods,[g]
nor will I make vows in the name of their gods.[h]
5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity;[i]
you make my future secure.[j]
6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields
or received a beautiful tract of land.[k]
7 I will praise[l] the Lord who[m] guides[n] me;
yes, during the night I reflect and learn.[o]
8 I constantly trust in the Lord;[p]
because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 So my heart rejoices
and I am happy;[q]
my life is safe.[r]
10 You will not abandon me[s] to Sheol;[t]
you will not allow your faithful follower[u] to see[v] the Pit.[w]
11 You lead me in[x] the path of life.[y]
I experience absolute joy in your presence;[z]
you always give me sheer delight.[aa]
Psalm 17[ab]
A prayer of David.
17 Lord, consider my just cause.[ac]
Pay attention to my cry for help.
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer.[ad]
2 Make a just decision on my behalf.[ae]
Decide what is right.[af]
3 You have scrutinized my inner motives;[ag]
you have examined me during the night.[ah]
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful.[ai]
4 As for the actions of people[aj]—
just as you have commanded,
I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men.[ak]
5 I carefully obey your commands;[al]
I do not deviate from them.[am]
6 I call to you because you will answer me, O God.
Listen to me![an]
Hear what I say![ao]
7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds,[ap]
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies.[aq]
8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye.[ar]
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.[as]
9 Protect me from[at] the wicked men who attack[au] me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill.[av]
10 They are calloused;[aw]
they speak arrogantly.[ax]
11 They attack me, now they surround me;[ay]
they intend to throw me to the ground.[az]
12 He[ba] is like a lion[bb] that wants to tear its prey to bits,[bc]
like a young lion crouching[bd] in hidden places.
13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him.[be] Knock him down.[bf]
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man.[bg]
14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers,[bh]
from the murderers of this world.[bi]
They enjoy prosperity;[bj]
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire.[bk]
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring.[bl]
15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face;[bm]
when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.[bn]
Psalm 22[a]
For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”;[b] a psalm of David.
22 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?[c]
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.[d]
2 My God, I cry out during the day,
but you do not answer,
and during the night my prayers do not let up.[e]
3 You are holy;
you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel.[f]
4 In you our ancestors[g] trusted;
they trusted in you[h] and you rescued them.
5 To you they cried out, and they were saved;
in you they trusted and they were not disappointed.[i]
6 But I[j] am a worm,[k] not a man;[l]
people insult me and despise me.[m]
7 All who see me taunt[n] me;
they mock me[o] and shake their heads.[p]
8 They say,[q]
“Commit yourself[r] to the Lord!
Let the Lord[s] rescue him!
Let the Lord[t] deliver him, for he delights in him.”[u]
9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out[v] from the womb
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
10 I have been dependent on you since birth;[w]
from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God.[x]
11 Do not remain far away from me,
for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.[y]
12 Many bulls[z] surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan[aa] hem me in.
13 They[ab] open their mouths to devour me[ac]
like a roaring lion that rips its prey.[ad]
14 My strength drains away like water;[ae]
all my bones are dislocated.
My heart[af] is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
15 The roof of my mouth[ag] is as dry as a piece of pottery;
my tongue sticks to my gums.[ah]
You[ai] set me in the dust of death.[aj]
16 Yes,[ak] wild dogs surround me—
a gang of evil men crowd around me;
like a lion they pin my hands and feet.[al]
17 I can count[am] all my bones;
my enemies[an] are gloating over me in triumph.[ao]
18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;
they are rolling dice[ap] for my garments.
19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away.
You are my source of strength.[aq] Hurry and help me![ar]
20 Deliver me[as] from the sword.
Save[at] my life[au] from the claws[av] of the wild dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion,[aw]
and from the horns of the wild oxen.[ax]
You have answered me.[ay]
22 I will declare your name to my countrymen.[az]
In the middle of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You loyal followers of the Lord,[ba] praise him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him.[bb]
24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering[bc] of the oppressed.[bd]
He did not ignore him;[be]
when he cried out to him, he responded.[bf]
25 You are the reason I offer praise[bg] in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.[bh]
26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled.[bi]
Let those who seek his help praise the Lord.
May you[bj] live forever!
27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him.[bk]
Let all the nations[bl] worship you.[bm]
28 For the Lord is king[bn]
and rules over the nations.
29 All the thriving people[bo] of the earth will join the celebration and worship;[bp]
all those who are descending into the grave[bq] will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives.[br]
30 A whole generation[bs] will serve him;
they will tell the next generation about the Lord.[bt]
31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;[bu]
they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.[bv]
Death is Imminent
5 Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you,[a] family[b] of Israel:
2 “The virgin[c] Israel has fallen down and will not get up again.
She is abandoned on her own land
with no one to help her get up.”[d]
3 The Sovereign Lord says this:
“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers[e] will have only a hundred left;
the town[f] that marches out with a hundred soldiers[g] will have only ten left for the family of Israel.”[h]
4 The Lord says this to the family[i] of Israel:
“Seek me[j] so you can live!
5 Do not seek Bethel.[k]
Do not visit Gilgal.
Do not journey down[l] to Beer Sheba.
For the people of Gilgal[m] will certainly be carried into exile,[n]
and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.”[o]
6 Seek the Lord so you can live!
Otherwise he will break out[p] like fire against Joseph’s[q] family;[r]
the fire[s] will consume
and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel.[t]
7 The Israelites[u] turn justice into bitterness;[v]
they throw what is fair and right[w] to the ground.[x]
8 But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight[y] into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name!
9 He flashes[z] destruction down upon the strong
so that destruction overwhelms[aa] the fortified places.
10 The Israelites[ab] hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate;[ac]
they despise anyone who speaks honestly.
11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops[ad]
and exact a grain tax from them,
you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,
nor will you drink the wine from the fine[ae] vineyards you planted.[af]
12 Certainly[ag] I am aware of[ah] your many rebellious acts[ai]
and your numerous sins.
You[aj] torment the innocent, you take bribes,
and you deny justice to[ak] the needy at the city gate.[al]
13 For this reason whoever is smart[am] keeps quiet[an] in such a time,
for it is an evil[ao] time.
14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!
Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies just might be with you,
as you claim he is.
15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right.
Promote[ap] justice at the city gate.[aq]
Maybe the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on[ar] those who are left from[as] Joseph.[at]
16 Because of Israel’s sins[au] this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[av] says:
Salutation
1 From Jude,[a] a slave[b] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,[c] to those who are called, wrapped in the love of[d] God the Father and kept for[e] Jesus Christ. 2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you![f]
Condemnation of the False Teachers
3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you[g] about our common salvation, I now feel compelled[h] instead to write to encourage[i] you to contend earnestly[j] for the faith[k] that was once for all[l] entrusted to the saints.[m] 4 For certain men[n] have secretly slipped in among you[o]—men who long ago[p] were marked out[q] for the condemnation I am about to describe[r]—ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil[s] and who deny our only Master[t] and Lord,[u] Jesus Christ.
5 Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts[v] once for all[w]) that Jesus,[x] having saved the[y] people out of the land of Egypt, later[z] destroyed those who did not believe. 6 You also know that[aa] the angels who did not keep within their proper domain[ab] but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept[ac] in eternal chains[ad] in utter[ae] darkness, locked up[af] for the judgment of the great Day. 7 So also[ag] Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,[ah] since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire[ai] in a way similar to[aj] these angels,[ak] are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet these men,[al] as a result of their dreams,[am] defile the flesh, reject authority,[an] and insult[ao] the glorious ones.[ap] 9 But even[aq] when Michael the archangel[ar] was arguing with the devil and debating with him[as] concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend.[at] 11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path,[au] and because of greed[av] have abandoned themselves[aw] to[ax] Balaam’s error; hence,[ay] they will certainly perish[az] in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These men are[ba] dangerous reefs[bb] at your love feasts,[bc] feasting without reverence,[bd] feeding only themselves.[be] They are[bf] waterless[bg] clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit[bh]—twice dead,[bi] uprooted; 13 wild sea waves,[bj] spewing out the foam of[bk] their shame;[bl] wayward stars[bm] for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness[bn] have been reserved.
14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam,[bo] even prophesied of them,[bp] saying, “Look! The Lord is coming[bq] with thousands and thousands[br] of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on[bs] all, and to convict every person[bt] of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds[bu] that they have committed,[bv] and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[bw] 16 These people are grumblers and[bx] fault-finders who go[by] wherever their desires lead them,[bz] and they give bombastic speeches,[ca] enchanting folks[cb] for their own gain.[cc]
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke[a] to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves[b] to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready.[c] My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’ 5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The[d] rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The[e] king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death[f] and set their city[g] on fire. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say.[h] 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness,[i] where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
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