Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by Your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;(C)
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.(E)
5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
You redeem[a] me, Lord, God of truth.(G)
6 I[b] hate those who are devoted to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.(H)
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithful love
because You have seen my affliction.
You have known the troubles of my life(I)
8 and have not handed me over to the enemy.(J)
You have set my feet in a spacious place.(K)
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;(L)
my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—
my whole being[c] as well.(M)
10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;(N)
my strength has failed
because of my sinfulness,[d]
and my bones waste away.(O)
11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.(P)
12 I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.(Q)
13 I have heard the gossip of many;
terror is on every side.(R)
When they conspired against me,
they plotted to take my life.(S)
14 But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”(T)
15 The course of my life is in Your power;(U)
deliver me from the power of my enemies
and from my persecutors.(V)
16 Show Your favor to Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.(W)
17 Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on You.(X)
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them be silent[e][f] in Sheol.(Y)
18 Let lying lips be quieted;(Z)
they speak arrogantly against the righteous
with pride and contempt.(AA)
19 How great is Your goodness
that You have stored up for those who fear You
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in You.(AB)
20 You hide them in the protection of Your presence;
You conceal them in a shelter[g]
from the schemes of men,
from quarrelsome tongues.(AC)
21 May the Lord be praised,
for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me
in a city under siege.[h](AD)
22 In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”(AE)
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.(AF)
Psalm 35
Prayer for Victory
Davidic.
1 Oppose my opponents, Lord;
fight those who fight me.(A)
2 Take Your shields—large and small—
and come to my aid.(B)
3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers,
and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”(C)
4 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who plan to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.(D)
5 Let them be like chaff in the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away.(E)
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(F)
7 They hid their net for me without cause;
they dug a pit for me without cause.(G)
8 Let ruin come on him unexpectedly,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his ruin.(H)
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will delight in His deliverance.(I)
10 My very bones will say,
“Lord, who is like You,(J)
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”(K)
11 Malicious witnesses come forward;
they question me about things I do not know.(L)
12 They repay me evil for good,
making me desolate.(M)
13 Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.[a](N)
14 I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning a mother.(O)
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
they gathered against me.
Assailants I did not know
tore at me and did not stop.(P)
16 With godless mockery[b]
they gnashed their teeth at me.(Q)
17 Lord, how long will You look on?(R)
Rescue my life from their ravages,
my only one from the young lions.(S)
18 I will praise You in the great congregation;
I will exalt You among many people.(T)
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me;
do not let those who hate me without cause(U)
look at me maliciously.(V)
20 For they do not speak in friendly ways,
but contrive deceitful schemes[c]
against those who live peacefully in the land.(W)
21 They open their mouths wide against me and say,
“Aha, aha! We saw it!”[d](X)
22 You saw it, Lord; do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me.(Y)
23 Wake up and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!(Z)
24 Vindicate me, Lord my God,
in keeping with Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.(AA)
25 Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! Just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say,
“We have swallowed him up!”(AB)
26 Let those who rejoice at my misfortune
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and reproach.(AC)
David Flees to Nob
21 David went to Ahimelech(A) the priest at Nob.(B) Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?”
2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.’ I have stationed my young men at a certain place. 3 Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”
4 The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread,(C) but the young men may eat it[a] only if they have kept themselves from women.”(D)
5 David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle.(E) The young men’s bodies[b] are consecrated(F) even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,(G) for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence(H) that had been removed from the presence of the Lord. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.
7 One of Saul’s servants, detained before the Lord, was there that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite,(I) chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8 David said to Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t even bring my sword or my weapons since the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine,(J) whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there isn’t another one here.”
“There’s none like it!” David said. “Give it to me.”
David Flees to Gath
10 David fled that day from Saul’s presence and went to King Achish of Gath.(K) 11 But Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Don’t they sing about him during their dances:
Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands?”(L)
12 David took this to heart[c] and became very afraid of King Achish of Gath, 13 so he pretended to be insane in their presence.(M) He acted like a madman around them,[d] scribbling[e] on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 “Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me? 15 Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?”(N)
Paul’s Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem.(A) 14 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.(B) 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”(C)
16 Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!(D) 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty[a] arm.(E) 18 And for about 40 years He put up with them[b] in the wilderness;(F) 19 then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,(G) He gave their land to them as an inheritance. 20 This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.(H) 21 Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.(I) 22 After removing him,(J) He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me,(K)[c] who will carry out all My will.’
23 “From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus,[d] to Israel.(L) 24 Before He came to public attention,[e] John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.(M) 25 Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’(N)
Ministering to the Multitude
7 Jesus(A) departed with His disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee,(B) Judea,(C) 8 Jerusalem,(D) Idumea, beyond the Jordan,(E) and around Tyre(F) and Sidon.(G) The large crowd came to Him because they heard about everything He was doing. 9 Then He told His disciples to have a small boat(H) ready for Him, so the crowd would not crush Him. 10 Since He had healed(I) many, all who had diseases were pressing toward Him to touch(J) Him. 11 Whenever the unclean(K) spirits(L) saw Him, those possessed fell down(M) before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”(N) 12 And He would strongly warn(O) them not to make Him known.(P)
The 12 Apostles
13 Then(Q) He went up the mountain(R) and summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him. 14 He also appointed 12—He also named them apostles[a](S)—to be with Him, to send them out to preach,(T) 15 and to have authority to[b] drive out demons.
16 He appointed the Twelve:[c](U)
To Simon,(V) He gave the name Peter;(W)
17 and to James(X) the son of Zebedee,(Y)
and to his brother John,(Z)
He gave the name “Boanerges”
(that is, “Sons of Thunder”(AA));
18 Andrew;(AB)
Philip(AC) and Bartholomew;
Matthew(AD) and Thomas;(AE)
James the son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot,[d]
19 and Judas Iscariot,[e](AF)
who also betrayed Him.
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