Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5
To the Chief Musician; on wind instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, O Lord, give heed to my sighing and groaning.
2 Hear the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You do I pray.
3 In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].
4 For You are not a God Who takes pleasure in wickedness; neither will the evil [man] so much as dwell [temporarily] with You.
5 Boasters can have no standing in Your sight; You abhor all evildoers.
6 You will destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors [and rejects] the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will enter Your house through the abundance of Your steadfast love and mercy; I will worship toward and at Your holy temple in reverent fear and awe of You.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way level (straight and right) before my face.
9 For there is nothing trustworthy or steadfast or truthful in their talk; their heart is destruction [or a destructive chasm, a yawning gulf]; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter and make smooth with their tongue.(A)
10 Hold them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own designs and counsels; cast them out because of the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.
12 For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).
Psalm 6
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, set [possibly] an octave below. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger nor discipline and chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak (faint and withered away); O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
3 My [inner] self [as well as my body] is also exceedingly disturbed and troubled. But You, O Lord, how long [until You return and speak peace to me]?
4 Return [to my relief], O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of Your steadfast love and mercy.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol (the place of the dead) who will give You thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eye grows dim because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.(B)
9 The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord receives my prayer.
10 Let all my enemies be ashamed and sorely troubled; let them turn back and be put to shame suddenly.
Psalm 10
1 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself, [veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble (distress and desperation)?
2 The wicked in pride and arrogance hotly pursue and persecute the poor; let them be taken in the schemes which they have devised.
3 For the wicked man boasts (sings the praises) of his own heart’s desire, and the one greedy for gain curses and spurns, yes, renounces and despises the Lord.
4 The wicked one in the pride of his countenance will not seek, inquire for, and yearn for God; all his thoughts are that there is no God [so He never punishes].
5 His ways are grievous [or persist] at all times; Your judgments [Lord] are far above and on high out of his sight [so he never thinks about them]; as for all his foes, he sniffs and sneers at them.
6 He thinks in his heart, I shall not be moved; for throughout all generations I shall not come to want or be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, oppression (fraud); under his tongue are trouble and sin (mischief and iniquity).
8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he slays the innocent; he watches stealthily for the poor (the helpless and unfortunate).
9 He lurks in secret places like a lion in his thicket; he lies in wait that he may seize the poor (the helpless and the unfortunate); he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 [The prey] is crushed, sinks down; and the helpless falls by his mighty [claws].
11 [The foe] thinks in his heart, God has quite forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see [my deed].
12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the humble [patient and crushed].
13 Why does the wicked [man] condemn (spurn and renounce) God? Why has he thought in his heart, You will not call to account?
14 You have seen it; yes, You note trouble and grief (vexation) to requite it with Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man; and as for the evil man, search out his wickedness until You find no more.
16 The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish out of His land.
17 O Lord, You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts, You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man, who is of the earth, may not terrify them any more.
Psalm 11
To the Chief Musician or Choir Leader. [A Psalm] of David.
1 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]; how can you say to me, Flee like a bird to your mountain?
2 For see, the wicked are bending the bow; they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they [furtively] in darkness may shoot at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the [unyieldingly] righteous do, or what has He [the Righteous One] wrought or accomplished?
4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold; His eyelids test and prove the children of men.(A)
5 The Lord tests and proves the [unyieldingly] righteous, but His soul abhors the wicked and him who loves violence.(B)
6 Upon the wicked He will rain quick burning coals or snares; fire, brimstone, and a [dreadful] scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, or He beholds the upright.
15 Therefore take good heed to yourselves, since you saw no form of Him on the day the Lord spoke to you on Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
16 Beware lest you become corrupt by making for yourselves [to worship] a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, or of any winged fowl that flies in the air,
18 The likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.
19 And beware lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, moon, and stars, even all the host of the heavens, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of His own possession, as you are this day.
21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me because of you, and He swore that I should not go over the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.
22 But I must die in this land; I must not cross the Jordan; but you shall go over and possess that good land.
23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
11 I wish you would bear with me while I indulge in a little [so-called] foolishness. Do bear with me!
2 For I am [a]zealous for you with a godly eagerness and a divine jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one Husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.(A)
3 But [now] I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted and seduced from wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to Christ.(B)
4 For [you seem readily to endure it] if a man comes and preaches another Jesus than the One we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the [Spirit] you [once] received or a different gospel from the one you [then] received and welcomed; you tolerate [all that] well enough!
5 Yet I consider myself as in no way inferior to these [precious] [b]extra-super [false] apostles.
6 But even if [I am] unskilled in speaking, yet [I am] not [unskilled] in knowledge [I know what I am talking about]; we have made this evident to you in all things.
7 But did I perhaps make a mistake and do you a wrong in debasing and cheapening myself so that you might be exalted and enriched in dignity and honor and happiness by preaching God’s Gospel without expense to you?
8 Other churches I have robbed by accepting [more than their share of] support for my ministry [from them in order] to serve you.
9 And when I was with you and ran short financially, I did not burden any [of you], for what I lacked was abundantly made up by the brethren who came from Macedonia. So I kept myself from being burdensome to you in any way, and will continue to keep [myself from being so].
10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this my boast [of independence] shall not be debarred (silenced or checked) in the regions of Achaia (most of Greece).
11 And why? Because I do not love you [do not have a preference for you, wish you well, and regard your welfare]? God perceives and knows that I do!
12 But what I do, I will continue to do, [for I am determined to maintain this independence] in order to cut off the claim of those who would like [to find an occasion and incentive] to claim that in their boasted [mission] they work on the same terms that we do.
13 For such men are false apostles [spurious, counterfeits], deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles (special messengers) of Christ (the Messiah).
14 And it is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light;
15 So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. [But] their end will correspond with their deeds.
16 I repeat then, let no one think I have lost my wits; but even if you do, then bear with a witless man, so that I too may boast a little.
17 What I say by way of this confident boasting, I say not with the Lord’s authority [by inspiration] but, as it were, in pure witlessness.
18 [For] since many boast of worldly things and according to the flesh, I will glory (boast) also.
19 For you readily and gladly bear with the foolish, since you are so smart and wise yourselves!
20 For you endure it if a man assumes control of your souls and makes slaves of you, or devours [your substance, spends your money] and preys upon you, or deceives and takes advantage of you, or is arrogant and puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.
21 To my discredit, I must say, we have shown ourselves too weak [for you to show such tolerance of us and for us to do strong, courageous things like that to you]! But in whatever any person is bold and dares [to boast]—mind you, I am speaking in this foolish (witless) way—I also am bold and dare [to boast].
16 And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy and [a]sour and [b]dreary like the hypocrites, for they put on a dismal countenance, that their fasting may be apparent to and seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward [c]in full already.(A)
17 But when you fast, perfume your head and wash your face,
18 So that your fasting may not be noticed by men but by your Father, Who sees in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.
19 Do not [d]gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.
20 But [e]gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your [f]conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
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