Book of Common Prayer
God Implored to Confound His Enemies.
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
83 Do not keep silent, O God;
Do not hold Your peace or be still, O God.
2
For behold, Your enemies are in tumult,
And those who hate You have raised their heads [in hatred of You].(A)
3
They concoct crafty schemes against Your people,
And conspire together against Your hidden and precious ones.
4
They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation;
Let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5
For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You they make a covenant—
6
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Of Moab and the Hagrites,
7
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8
Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot [the Ammonites and the Moabites] and have been an arm [of strength] to them. Selah.
9
Deal with them as [You did] with Midian,
As with Sisera and Jabin at the brook of Kishon,(B)
10
Who were destroyed at En-dor,
Who became like dung for the earth.
11
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb
And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,(C)
12
Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God.”
13
O my God, make them like [a]whirling dust,
Like chaff before the wind [worthless and without substance].
14
Like fire consumes the forest,
And like the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15
So pursue them with Your tempest
And terrify them with [the violence of] Your storm.
16
Fill their faces with shame and disgrace,
That they may [persistently] seek Your name, O Lord.
17
Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be humiliated and perish,
18
That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.
Book Two
Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.
To the Chief Musician. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,
So my [a]soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.
2
My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God.
When will I come and see the face of God?(A)
3
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4
These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul;
How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song],
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.
5
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
6
O my God, my soul is in despair within me [the burden more than I can bear];
Therefore I will [fervently] remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of [Mount] Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7
Deep calls to deep at the [thundering] sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8
Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song will be with me,
A prayer to the God of my life.
9
I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10
As a crushing of my bones [with a sword], my adversaries taunt me,
While they say continually to me, “Where is your God?”
11
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
Why have you become restless and disquieted within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him,
The [b]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer for Rescue.
43 Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead my case against an ungodly nation.
O rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2
For You are the God of my strength [my stronghold—in whom I take refuge]; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
4
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God, my exceeding joy;
With the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God!
5
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him,
The [c]help of my [sad] countenance and my God.
Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
85 O Lord, You have [at last] shown favor to Your land [of Canaan];
You have restored [from Babylon] the captives of Jacob (Israel).
2
You have forgiven the wickedness of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah.
3
You have withdrawn all Your wrath,
You have turned away from Your burning anger.
4
Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
5
Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6
Will You not revive us and bring us to life again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7
Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8
I will hear [with expectant hope] what God the Lord will say,
For He will speak peace to His people, to His [a]godly ones—
But let them not turn again to folly.
9
Surely His salvation is near to those who [reverently] fear Him [and obey Him with submissive wonder],
That glory [the manifest presence of God] may dwell in our land.
10
Steadfast love and truth and faithfulness meet together;
Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11
Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12
Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.
13
Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way [in which to walk].
A Psalm of Supplication and Trust.
A Prayer of David.
86 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
For I am distressed and needy [I long for Your help].
2
Protect my life (soul), for I am godly and faithful;
O You my God, save Your servant, who trusts in You [believing in You and relying on You, confidently committing everything to You].
3
Be gracious and merciful to me, O Lord,
For to You I cry out all the day long.
4
Make Your servant rejoice,
For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul [all that I am—in prayer].
5
For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our sins, sending them away, completely letting them go forever and ever];
And abundant in lovingkindness and overflowing in mercy to all those who call upon You.
6
Hear, O Lord, my prayer;
And listen attentively to the voice of my supplications (specific requests)!
7
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8
There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord,
Nor are there any works [of wonder and majesty] like Yours.
9
All nations whom You have made shall come and kneel down in worship before You, O Lord,
And they shall glorify Your name.
10
For You are great and do wondrous works!
You alone are God.
11
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
I will walk and live in Your truth;
Direct my heart to fear Your name [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].(A)
12
I will give thanks and praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
And will glorify Your name forevermore.
13
For great is Your lovingkindness and graciousness toward me;
And You have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol [from death].
14
O God, arrogant and insolent men have risen up against me;
A band of violent men have sought my life,
And they have not set You before them.
15
But You, O Lord, are a God [who protects and is] merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.
16
Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Grant Your strength [Your might and the power to resist temptation] to Your servant,
And save the son of Your handmaid.
17
Show me a sign of [Your] goodwill,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O Lord, helped and comforted me.
Jacob Moves to Egypt
46 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba [where both his father and grandfather had worshiped God], and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.(A) 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you (your descendants) a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you (your people) up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes [to close them at the time of your death].”
5 So Jacob set out from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 And they took their livestock and the possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him. 7 His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
28 Now Jacob (Israel) sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; as soon as he presented himself before him (authenticating his identity), he fell on his [father’s] neck and wept on his neck a [very] long time. 30 And Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die [in peace], since I have seen your face [and know] that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; 32 and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 And it shall be that when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers [before us],’ in order that you may live [separately and securely] in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians.”
Paul’s Use of Liberty
9 Am I not free [unrestrained and exempt from any obligation]? Am I not an apostle? Have I not [a]seen Jesus our [risen] Lord [in person]? Are you not [the result and proof of] my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not [considered] an apostle to others, at least I am one to you; for you are the seal and the certificate and the living evidence of my apostleship in the Lord [confirming and authenticating it].
3 This is my defense to those who would put me on trial and interrogate me [concerning my authority as an apostle]: 4 Have we not the right to our food and drink [at the expense of the churches]? 5 Have we not the right to take along with us a believing wife, as do the rest of the apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas (Peter)? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to stop doing manual labor [in order to support our ministry]? 7 [Consider this:] Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
8 Do I say these things only from a man’s perspective? Does the Law not endorse the same principles? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain [to keep it from eating the grain].” Is it [only] for oxen that God cares?(A) 10 Or does He speak entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake: The plowman ought to plow [b]in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the harvest. 11 If we have sown [the good seed of] spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share in this rightful claim over you, do not we even more? However, we did not exercise this right, but we put up with everything so that we will not hinder [the spread of] the good news of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who officiate in the sacred services of the temple eat from the temple [offerings of meat and bread] and those who regularly attend the altar have their share from the [offerings brought to the] altar?(B) 14 So also [on the same principle] the Lord directed those who preach the gospel to get their living from the gospel.
15 But I have used none of these privileges, nor am I writing this [to suggest] that any such provision be made for me now. For it would be better for me to die than to have anyone deprive me of my [c]boast [in this matter of financial support].
Five Thousand Fed
30 The apostles [who had been sent out on a mission] gathered together with Jesus and told Him everything that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while”—for there were many [people who were continually] coming and going, and they could not even find time to eat. 32 And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place.(A) 33 Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things. 35 When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it is already late; 36 send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 [a]denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”(B) 38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five [loaves], and two fish.” 39 Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots]. 41 Taking the five loaves and two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing [of praise and thanksgiving to the Father]. Then He broke the loaves and [repeatedly] gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and He divided up the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied. 43 And the disciples picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces [of the loaves], and of the fish. 44 Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men [not counting the women and children].
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Jesus immediately insisted that His disciples get into the boat and go ahead [of Him] to the other side to Bethsaida, while He was dismissing the crowd.(C) 46 And after He said goodbye to them, He went to the mountain to pray.
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