Book of Common Prayer
33 He (A)turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the watersprings into dry ground;
34 A (B)fruitful land into [a]barrenness,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 (C)He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into watersprings.
36 There He makes the hungry dwell,
That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
37 And sow fields and plant vineyards,
That they may yield a fruitful harvest.
38 (D)He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle (E)decrease.
39 When they are (F)diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
40 (G)He pours contempt on princes,
And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
41 (H)Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction,
And (I)makes their families like a flock.
42 (J)The righteous see it and rejoice,
And all (K)iniquity stops its mouth.
43 (L)Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Assurance of God’s Victory over Enemies(M)
A Song. A Psalm of David.
108 O (N)God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
2 (O)Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
3 I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your mercy is great above the [b]heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
5 (P)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth;
6 (Q)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and [c]hear me.
7 God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the [d]helmet for My head;
(R)Judah is My lawgiver.
9 Moab is My washpot;
Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
Over Philistia I will triumph.”
10 (S)Who will bring me into the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
12 Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
13 (T)Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History
33 Rejoice (A)in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
[a]Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 (B)By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the (C)host of them (D)by the breath of His mouth.
7 (E)He gathers the waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For (F)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 (G)The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 (H)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (I)chosen as His own inheritance.
13 (J)The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
(K)He [c]considers all their works.
16 (L)No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 (M)A horse is a [d]vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 (N)Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And (O)to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.
False Prophets and Empty Oracles
9 My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
(A)All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
And like a man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord,
And because of His holy words.
10 For (B)the land is full of adulterers;
For (C)because of a curse the land mourns.
(D)The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.
11 “For (E)both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, (F)in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
12 “Therefore(G) their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I (H)will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
13 “And I have seen [a]folly in the prophets of Samaria:
(I)They prophesied by Baal
And (J)caused My people Israel to err.
14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
(K)They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They also (L)strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one turns back from his wickedness.
All of them are like (M)Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
Israel’s Rejection of Christ
9 I (A)tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 (B)that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For (C)I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my [a]countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, (D)to whom pertain the adoption, (E)the glory, (F)the covenants, (G)the giving of the law, (H)the service of God, and (I)the promises; 5 (J)of whom are the fathers and from (K)whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, (L)who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
Israel’s Rejection and God’s Purpose(M)
6 (N)But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For (O)they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 (P)nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, (Q)“In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but (R)the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: (S)“At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
10 And not only this, but when (T)Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of (U)Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, (V)“The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, (W)“Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice
14 What shall we say then? (X)Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, (Y)“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For (Z)the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, (AA)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He (AB)hardens.
Many Disciples Turn Away
60 (A)Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a [a]hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples [b]complained about this, He said to them, “Does this [c]offend you? 62 (B)What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 (C)It is the Spirit who gives life; the (D)flesh profits nothing. The (E)words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But (F)there are some of you who do not believe.” For (G)Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore (H)I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66 (I)From that time many of His disciples went [d]back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (J)the words of eternal life. 69 (K)Also we have come to believe and know that You are the [e]Christ, the Son of the living God.”
70 Jesus answered them, (L)“Did I not choose you, the twelve, (M)and one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of (N)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would (O)betray Him, being one of the twelve.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.