Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61
Security in God
For the choir director: on stringed instruments. Of David.
1 God, hear my cry;
pay attention to my prayer.(A)
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth
when my heart is without strength.(B)
Lead me to a rock that is high above me,(C)
3 for you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower(D) in the face of the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge under the shelter of your wings.(E)Selah
5 God, you have heard my vows;(F)
you have given a heritage
to those who fear your name.(G)
6 Add days to the king’s life;
may his years span many generations.(H)
7 May he sit enthroned before God forever.(I)
Appoint faithful love and truth to guard him.(J)
8 Then I will continually sing of your name,(K)
fulfilling my vows day by day.(L)
Psalm 62
Trust in God Alone
For the choir director: according to Jeduthun.(M) A psalm of David.
1 I am at rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him.(N)
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,(O)
my stronghold; I will never be shaken.(P)
3 How long will you threaten a man?
Will all of you attack[a]
as if he were a leaning wall
or a tottering fence?(Q)
4 They only plan to bring him down
from his high position.
They take pleasure in lying;
they bless with their mouths,
but they curse inwardly.(R)Selah
5 Rest in God alone, my soul,
for my hope comes from him.(S)
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,(T)
my stronghold; I will not be shaken.(U)
7 My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.(V)
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts before him.
God is our refuge.(W)Selah
Psalm 68
God’s Majestic Power
For the choir director. A psalm of David. A song.
1 God arises. His enemies scatter,
and those who hate him flee from his presence.(A)
2 As smoke is blown away,
so you blow them away.
As wax melts before the fire,
so the wicked are destroyed before God.(B)
3 But the righteous are glad;
they rejoice before God and celebrate with joy.(C)
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name.
Exalt him who rides on the clouds[a]—
his name is the Lord[b]—and celebrate before him.(D)
5 God in his holy dwelling is
a father of the fatherless
and a champion of widows.(E)
6 God provides homes for those who are deserted.
He leads out the prisoners to prosperity,[c]
but the rebellious live in a scorched land.(F)
7 God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the desert,Selah
8 the earth trembled and the skies poured rain
before God, the God of Sinai,[d]
before God, the God of Israel.(G)
9 You, God, showered abundant rain;
you revived your inheritance when it languished.(H)
10 Your people settled in it;
God, you provided for the poor by your goodness.(I)
11 The Lord gave the command;
a great company of women brought the good news:(J)
12 “The kings of the armies flee—they flee!”
She who stays at home divides the spoil.(K)
13 While[e] you lie among the sheep pens,[f]
the wings of a dove are covered with silver,
and its feathers with glistening gold.(L)
14 When the Almighty scattered kings in the land,
it snowed on Zalmon.[g](M)
15 Mount Bashan is God’s towering mountain;
Mount Bashan is a mountain of many peaks.(N)
16 Why gaze with envy, you mountain peaks,
at the mountain God desired for his abode?
The Lord will dwell there forever!(O)
17 God’s chariots are tens of thousands,
thousands and thousands;(P)
the Lord is among them in the sanctuary[h]
as he was at Sinai.(Q)
18 You ascended to the heights, taking away captives;
you received gifts from[i] people,
even from the rebellious,
so that the Lord God might dwell there.[j](R)
19 Blessed be the Lord!
Day after day he bears our burdens;
God is our salvation.(S)Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
and escape from death belongs to the Lord my Lord.(T)
21 Surely God crushes the heads of his enemies,
the hairy brow of one who goes on in his guilty acts.(U)
22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea(V)
23 so that your foot may wade[k] in blood
and your dogs’ tongues may have their share
from the enemies.”(W)
24 People have seen your procession, God,
the procession of my God,
my King, in the sanctuary.(X)
25 Singers lead the way,
with musicians following;
among them are young women
playing tambourines.(Y)
26 Bless God in the assemblies;
bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel.(Z)
27 There is Benjamin, the youngest, leading them,
the rulers of Judah in their assembly,[l]
the rulers of Zebulun, the rulers of Naphtali.(AA)
28 Your God has decreed your strength.
Show your strength, God,
you who have acted on our behalf.(AB)
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings will bring tribute to you.(AC)
30 Rebuke the beast in the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.(AD)
Trample underfoot those with bars of silver.[m]
Scatter the peoples who take pleasure in war.(AE)
31 Ambassadors will come[n] from Egypt;
Cush will stretch out its hands to God.(AF)
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
sing praise to the Lord,(AG)Selah
33 to him who rides in the ancient, highest heavens.(AH)
Look, he thunders with his powerful voice!(AI)
34 Ascribe power to God.
His majesty is over Israel;
his power is among the clouds.(AJ)
35 God, you are awe-inspiring in your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!(AK)
Israel Accused of Apostasy
2 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says:
I remember the loyalty of your youth,(A)
your love as a bride—
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,(B)
the firstfruits of his harvest.(C)
All who ate of it found themselves guilty;(D)
disaster came on them.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob
and all families of the house of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
What fault did your ancestors find in me(E)
that they went so far from me,
followed worthless idols,(F)
and became worthless themselves?(G)
6 They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord(H)
who brought us from the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,(I)
through a land of deserts and ravines,
through a land of drought and darkness,[a]
a land no one traveled through
and where no one lived?”
7 I brought you to a fertile land(J)
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but after you entered, you defiled my land;(K)
you made my inheritance(L) detestable.
8 The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law no longer knew me,(M)
and the rulers(N) rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by[b] Baal(O)
and followed useless idols.(P)
9 Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will bring a case against your children’s children.(Q)
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus[c](R) and take a look.
Send someone to Kedar(S) and consider carefully;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?(T)
(But they were not gods!(U))
Yet my people have exchanged their[d] Glory
for useless idols.(V)
12 Be appalled at this, heavens;(W)
be shocked and utterly desolated!
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Righteous Will Live by Faith
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,[a](A) because it is the power of God for salvation(B) to everyone who believes, first to the Jew,(C) and also to the Greek.(D) 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,[b](E) just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.[c][d](F)
The Guilt of the Gentile World
18 For God’s wrath(G) is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,(H) 19 since what can be known[e] about God is evident among them,(I) because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world,(J) being understood through what he has made.(K) As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.(L) 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools(M) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.(N)
24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts(O) to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,(P) and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever.(Q) Amen.
A Galilean Welcome
43 After two days he left there for Galilee.(A) 44 (Jesus himself had testified(B) that a prophet has no honor in his own country.(C)) 45 When(D) they entered Galilee, the Galileans(E) welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem(F) during the festival.(G) For they also had gone to the festival.
The Second Sign: Healing an Official’s Son
46 He went again to Cana(H) of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.(I) 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea(J) into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.
48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders,(K) you will not believe.”(L)
49 “Sir,”(M) the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what[a] Jesus said to him and departed.
51 While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. 52 He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon[b] the fever left him,” they answered. 53 The father(N) realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.
54 Now this was also the second sign(O) Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee.(P)
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