Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
31 I take refuge in you, Lord.
Please never let me be put to shame.
Rescue me by your righteousness!
2 Listen closely to me!
Deliver me quickly;
be a rock that protects me;
be a strong fortress that saves me!
3 You are definitely my rock and my fortress.
Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!
4 Get me out of this net that’s been set for me
because you are my protective fortress.
5 I entrust my spirit into your hands;
you, Lord, God of faithfulness—
you have saved me.
6 I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.
I myself trust the Lord.
7 I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love
because you saw my suffering—
you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress.
8 You didn’t hand me over to the enemy,
but set my feet in wide-open spaces.
9 Have mercy on me, Lord, because I’m depressed.
My vision fails because of my grief,
as do my spirit and my body.
10 My life is consumed with sadness;
my years are consumed with groaning.
Strength fails me because of my suffering;[a]
my bones dry up.
11 I’m a joke to all my enemies,
still worse to my neighbors.
I scare my friends,
and whoever sees me in the street runs away!
12 I am forgotten, like I’m dead,
completely out of mind;
I am like a piece of pottery, destroyed.
13 Yes, I’ve heard all the gossiping,
terror all around;
so many gang up together against me,
they plan to take my life!
14 But me? I trust you, Lord!
I affirm, “You are my God.”
15 My future is in your hands.
Don’t hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
16 Shine your face on your servant;
save me by your faithful love!
17 Lord, don’t let me be put to shame
because I have cried out to you.
Let the wicked be put to shame;
let them be silenced in death’s domain![b]
18 Let their lying lips be shut up
whenever they speak arrogantly
against the righteous with pride and contempt!
19 How great is the goodness
that you’ve reserved for those who honor you,
that you commit to those who take refuge in you—
in the sight of everyone!
20 You hide them in the shelter of your wings,[c]
safe from human scheming.
You conceal them in a shelter,
safe from accusing tongues.
21 Bless the Lord,
because he has wondrously revealed
his faithful love to me
when I was like a city under siege!
22 When I was panicked, I said,
“I’m cut off from your eyes!”
But you heard my request for mercy
when I cried out to you for help.
23 All you who are faithful, love the Lord!
The Lord protects those who are loyal,
but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree.
24 All you who wait for the Lord,
be strong and let your heart take courage.
Psalm 35
Of David.
35 Lord, argue with those who argue with me;
fight with those who fight against me!
2 Grab a shield and armor;
stand up and help me!
3 Use your spear and ax[a]
against those who are out to get me!
Say to me:[b] “I’m your salvation!”
4 Let those who want me dead
be humiliated and put to shame.
Let those who intend to hurt me
be thoroughly frustrated and disgraced.
5 Let them be like dust on the wind—
and let the Lord’s messenger be the one who does the blowing!
6 Let their path be dark and slippery—
and let the Lord’s messenger be the one who does the chasing!
7 Because they hid their net for me for no reason,
they dug a pit for me for no reason.
8 Let disaster come to them when they don’t suspect it.
Let the net they hid catch them instead!
Let them fall into it—to their disaster!
9 But I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will celebrate his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “Lord, who could compare to you?
You rescue the weak from those who overpower them;
you rescue the weak and the needy from those who plunder them.”
11 Violent witnesses stand up.
They question me about things I know nothing about.
12 They pay me back evil for good,
leaving me stricken with grief.
13 But when they were sick, I wore clothes for grieving,
and I kept a strict fast.
When my prayer came back unanswered,[c]
14 I would wander around like I was grieving a friend or a brother.
I was weighed down, sad, like I was a mother in mourning.
15 But when I stumbled, they celebrated and gathered together—
they gathered together against me!
Strangers[d] I didn’t know tore me to pieces and wouldn’t quit.
16 They ridiculed me over and over again,
like godless people would do,
grinding their teeth at me.
17 How long, my Lord, will you watch this happen?
Rescue me from their attacks;
rescue my precious life from these predatory lions!
18 Then I will thank you in the great assembly;
I will praise you in a huge crowd of people.
19 Don’t let those who are my enemies
without cause celebrate over me;
don’t let those who hate me for no reason
wink at my demise.
20 They don’t speak the truth;
instead, they plot false accusations
against innocent people in the land.
21 They speak out against me,
saying, “Yes! Oh, yes! We’ve seen it with our own eyes!”
22 But you’ve seen it too, Lord.
Don’t keep quiet about it.
Please don’t be far from me, my Lord.
23 Wake up! Get up and do justice for me;
argue my case, my Lord and my God!
24 Establish justice for me
according to your righteousness, Lord, my God.
Don’t let them celebrate over me.
25 Don’t let them say to themselves,
Yes! Exactly what we wanted!
Don’t let them say, “We ate him up!”
26 Let all those who celebrate my misfortune be disgraced and put to shame!
Let those who exalt themselves over me
be dressed up in shame and dishonor!
27 But let those who want things to be set right for me
shout for joy and celebrate!
Let them constantly say, “The Lord is great—
God wants his servant to be at peace.”
28 Then my tongue will talk
all about your righteousness;
it will talk
about your praise all day long.
18 For this is what the Lord said, who created the heavens,
who is God,
who formed the earth and made it,
who established it,
who didn’t create it a wasteland but formed it as a habitation:
I, the Lord, and none other!
19 I didn’t speak in secret
or in some land of darkness;
I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob,
“Seek me in chaos.”
I am the Lord, the one who speaks truth,
who announces what is correct.
20 Gather and come,
draw near together,
fugitives of the nations!
Those who carry their wooden idols don’t know;
those who pray to a god who won’t save.
21 Announce! Approach! Confer together!
Who proclaimed this from the beginning, announced it from long ago?
Wasn’t it I, the Lord?
There’s no other God except me,
a righteous God and a savior;
there’s none besides me!
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God, and there’s no other.
23 I have sworn a solemn pledge;
a word has left my mouth;
it is reliable and won’t fail.
Surely every knee will bow
and every tongue will confess;
24 they will say, “Righteousness and strength come only from the Lord.
All who are angry with him will come to shame.
25 All the Israelites
will be victorious and rejoice.”
6 As for children, obey your parents in the Lord, because it is right. 2 The commandment Honor your father and mother is the first one with a promise attached: 3 so that things will go well for you, and you will live for a long time in the land.[a] 4 As for parents, don’t provoke your children to anger, but raise them with discipline and instruction about the Lord.
5 As for slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling and with sincere devotion to Christ. 6 Don’t work to make yourself look good and try to flatter people, but act like slaves of Christ carrying out God’s will from the heart. 7 Serve your owners enthusiastically, as though you were serving the Lord and not human beings. 8 You know that the Lord will reward every person who does what is right, whether that person is a slave or a free person. 9 As for masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Stop threatening them, because you know that both you and your slaves have a master in heaven. He doesn’t distinguish between people on the basis of status.
Jesus stops a storm
35 Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” 36 They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along.
37 Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”
39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. 40 Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?”
41 Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible