Book of Common Prayer
My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from (C)the pit of destruction,
out of (D)the miry bog,
and (E)set my feet upon a rock,
(F)making my steps secure.
3 He put (G)a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will (H)see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who (I)makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who (J)go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your (K)wondrous deeds and your (L)thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are (M)more than can be told.
6 (N)In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open (O)ear.[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written (P)of me:
8 (Q)I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is (R)within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance[b]
in (S)the great congregation;
behold, I have not (T)restrained my lips,
(U)as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your (V)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have (W)encompassed me
beyond number;
my (X)iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot (Y)see;
they are (Z)more than the hairs of my head;
my heart (AA)fails me.
13 (AB)Be pleased, O Lord, to (AC)deliver me!
O Lord, (AD)make haste to help me!
14 (AE)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be (AF)turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who (AG)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
The Lord Upholds My Life
To the choirmaster: with (A)stringed instruments. A Maskil[a] of David, (B)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
54 O God, save me by your (C)name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, (D)hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 (E)For (F)strangers[b] have risen against me;
ruthless men (G)seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when (A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (B)Have mercy on me,[a] O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your (C)abundant mercy
(D)blot out my transgressions.
2 (E)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and (F)cleanse me from my sin!
3 (G)For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 (H)Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil (I)in your sight,
(J)so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, (K)I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in (L)the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
(N)wash me, and I shall be (O)whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
(P)let the bones (Q)that you have broken rejoice.
9 (R)Hide your face from my sins,
and (S)blot out all my iniquities.
10 (T)Create in me a (U)clean heart, O God,
and (V)renew a right[b] spirit within me.
11 (W)Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not (X)your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will (Y)return to you.
14 Deliver me from (Z)bloodguiltiness, O God,
O (AA)God of my salvation,
and (AB)my tongue will sing aloud of your (AC)righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 (AD)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are (AE)a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 (A)“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in (B)the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 (C)All that open the womb are mine, all your male[a] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The (D)firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And (E)none shall appear before me empty-handed.
21 (F)“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 (G)You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23 (H)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will (I)cast out nations before you and (J)enlarge your borders; (K)no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 (L)“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, (M)or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 (N)The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. (O)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”
27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words (P)I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 (Q)So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he (R)wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.[b]
The Shining Face of Moses
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with (S)the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face (T)shone because he had been talking with God.[c] 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face (U)shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he (V)commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a (W)veil over his face.
34 Whenever Moses (X)went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was (Y)shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing (A)to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we (B)sent Timothy, (C)our brother and God's coworker[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that (D)we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, (E)just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, (F)when I could bear it no longer, (G)I sent to learn about your faith, (H)for fear that somehow (I)the tempter had tempted you and (J)our labor would be in vain.
Timothy's Encouraging Report
6 But (K)now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of (L)your faith and love and reported (M)that you always remember us kindly and (N)long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers,[b] in all our distress and affliction (O)we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you (P)are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For (Q)what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly (R)night and day (S)that we may see you face to face and (T)supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may (U)our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, (V)direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord (W)make you increase and abound in love (X)for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may (Y)establish your hearts blameless in holiness before (Z)our God and Father, at (AA)the coming of our Lord Jesus (AB)with all his saints.
Lust
27 (A)“You have heard that it was said, (B)‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that (C)everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 (D)If your right eye (E)causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into (F)hell. 30 (G)And if your right hand (H)causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into (I)hell.
Divorce
31 (J)“It was also said, (K)‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 (L)But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and (M)whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 “Again (N)you have heard that it was said to those of old, (O)‘You shall not swear falsely, but (P)shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, (Q)Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for (R)it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is (S)the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; (T)anything more than this comes from evil.[a]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.