Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 140
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from those who are violent,(A)
2 who plan evil things in their minds
and stir up wars continually.(B)
3 They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,
and under their lips is the venom of vipers. Selah(C)
4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent
who have planned my downfall.(D)
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net,[a]
along the road they have set snares for me. Selah(E)
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God;
give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”(F)
7 O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.(G)
8 Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their evil plot.[b] Selah(H)
Psalm 142
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors
A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.(A)
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.(B)
3 When my spirit is faint,
you know my way.
In the path where I walk,
they have hidden a trap for me.(C)
4 Look on my right hand and see:
there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for me.(D)
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”(E)
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
Psalm 141
Prayer for Preservation from Evil
A Psalm of David.
1 I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
give ear to my voice when I call to you.(A)
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.(B)
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not turn my heart to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
do not let me eat of their delicacies.(C)
5 Let the righteous strike me;
let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,[a]
for my prayer is continually[b] against their wicked deeds.(D)
6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
7 Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.[c](E)
Psalm 143
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness.(A)
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.(B)
3 For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.(C)
5 I remember the days of old;
I think about all your deeds;
I meditate on the works of your hands.(D)
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah(E)
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.(F)
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.(G)
Israel Restored to the Land
21 I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed and my hand that I have laid on them.(A) 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt treacherously with me. So I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.(B) 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions and hid my face from them.(C)
25 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.(D) 26 They shall bear their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they live securely in their land with no one to make them afraid,(E) 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands and through them have displayed my holiness in the sight of many nations.(F) 28 Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I sent them into exile among the nations and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them behind,(G) 29 and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.(H)
3 1
4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.(B) 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.(C) 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children,[b] let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 Everyone who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.(D) 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin because God’s seed abides in them;[c] they cannot sin because they have been born of God.(E) 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love a brother or sister.(F)
24 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master;(A) 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!(B)
Whom to Fear
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.(C) 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[a] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.(D) 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,(E) 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.