Book of Common Prayer
Book One
Psalm 1[a]
1 Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.
2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.(A)
3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].(B)
4 Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor [b]sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].
6 For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations assemble with commotion [uproar and confusion of voices], and why do the people imagine (meditate upon and devise) an empty scheme?
2 The kings of the earth take their places; the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed One (the Messiah, the Christ). They say,(C)
3 Let us break Their bands [of restraint] asunder and cast Their cords [of control] from us.
4 He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].
5 He speaks to them in His deep anger and troubles (terrifies and confounds) them in His displeasure and fury, saying,
6 Yet have I anointed (installed and placed) My King [firmly] on My holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, You are My Son; this day [I declare] I have begotten You.(D)
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like potters’ ware.(E)
10 Now therefore, O you kings, act wisely; be instructed and warned, O you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with reverent awe and worshipful fear; rejoice and be in high spirits with trembling [lest you displease Him].
12 Kiss the Son [pay homage to Him in purity], lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for soon shall His wrath be kindled. O blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are all those who seek refuge and put their trust in Him!
Psalm 3
A Psalm of David. When he fled from Absalom his son.
1 Lord, how they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
5 I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; May Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
Psalm 4
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness (uprightness, justice, and right standing with You)! You have freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my prayer.
2 O you sons of men, how long will you turn my honor and glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and futility and seek after lies? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
3 But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself [and given distinction to] him who is godly [the man of loving-kindness]. The Lord listens and heeds when I call to Him.
4 Be angry [or stand in awe] and sin not; commune with your own hearts upon your beds and be silent (sorry for the things you say in your hearts). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!(F)
5 Offer just and right sacrifices; trust (lean on and be confident) in the Lord.
6 Many say, Oh, that we might see some good! Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord.
7 You have put more joy and rejoicing in my heart than [they know] when their wheat and new wine have yielded abundantly.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.
Psalm 7
An Ode of David, [probably] in a wild, irregular, enthusiastic strain, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.
1 O Lord my God, in You I take refuge and put my trust; save me from all those who pursue and persecute me, and deliver me,
2 Lest my foe tear my life [from my body] like a lion, dragging me away while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4 If I have paid back with evil him who was at peace with me or without cause have robbed him who was my enemy,
5 Let the enemy pursue my life and take it; yes, let him trample my life to the ground and lay my honor in the dust. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies; and awake [and stir up] for me the justice and vindication [that] You have commanded.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about You, and return on high over them.
8 The Lord judges the people; judge me, O Lord, and do me justice according to my righteousness [my rightness, justice, and right standing with You] and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the [uncompromisingly] righteous [those upright and in harmony with You]; for You, Who try the hearts and emotions and thinking powers, are a righteous God.(A)
10 My defense and shield depend on God, Who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous Judge, yes, a God Who is indignant every day.
12 If a man does not turn and repent, [God] will whet His sword; He has strung and bent His [huge] bow and made it ready [by treading it with His foot].
13 He has also prepared for him deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, [the wicked man] conceives iniquity and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
15 He made a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made [before the trap was completed].
16 His mischief shall fall back in return upon his own head, and his violence come down [with the loose dirt] upon his own scalp.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His rightness and justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
9 Only take heed, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your [mind and] heart all the days of your life. Teach them to your children and your children’s children—
10 Especially how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, the Lord said to me, Gather the people together to Me and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn [reverently] to fear Me all the days they live upon the earth and that they may teach their children.
11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.
12 And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
13 And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you the statutes and precepts, that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.
10 Now I myself, Paul, beseech you, by the gentleness and consideration of Christ [Himself; I] who [am] lowly enough [so they say] when among you face to face, but bold (fearless and outspoken) to you when [I am] absent from you!
2 I entreat you when I do come [to you] that I may not [be driven to such] boldness as I intend to show toward those few who suspect us of acting according to the flesh [on the low level of worldly motives and as if invested with only human powers].
3 For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,
5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),
6 Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.
7 Look at [this obvious fact] which is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him reflect and remind himself that even as he is Christ’s, so too are we.
8 For even though I boast rather freely about our power and authority, which the Lord gave for your upbuilding and not for demolishing you, yet I shall not be put to shame [for exceeding the truth],
9 Neither would I seem to be overawing or frightening you with my letters;
10 For they say, His letters are weighty and impressive and forceful and telling, but his personality and bodily presence are weak, and his speech and delivery are utterly contemptible (of no account).
11 Let such people realize that what we say by letters when we are absent, [we put] also into deeds when we are present—
12 Not that we [have the audacity to] venture to class or [even to] compare ourselves with some who exalt and furnish testimonials for themselves! However, when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely.
13 We, on the other hand, will not boast beyond our legitimate province and proper limit, but will keep within the limits [of our commission which] God has allotted us as our measuring line and which reaches and includes even you.
14 For we are not overstepping the limits of our province and stretching beyond our ability to reach, as though we reached not (had no legitimate mission) to you, for we were [the very first] to come even as far as to you with the good news (the Gospel) of Christ.
15 We do not boast therefore, beyond our proper limit, over other men’s labors, but we have the hope and confident expectation that as your faith continues to grow, our field among you may be greatly enlarged, still within the limits of our commission,
16 So that [we may even] preach the Gospel in lands [lying] beyond you, without making a boast of work already done in another [man’s] sphere of activity [before we came on the scene].
17 However, let him who boasts and glories boast and glory in the Lord.(A)
18 For [it is] not [the man] who praises and commends himself who is approved and accepted, but [it is the person] whom the Lord accredits and commends.
7 And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking.(A)
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven ([a]left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have [b]given up resentment against) our debtors.
13 And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 For if you forgive people their trespasses [their [c]reckless and willful sins, [d]leaving them, letting them go, and [e]giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their [f]reckless and willful sins, [g]leaving them, letting them go, and [h]giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
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