Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 30
Joy in the Morning
A psalm; a dedication song for the house. Davidic.
1 I will exalt You, Lord,
because You have lifted me up(A)
and have not allowed my enemies
to triumph over me.(B)
2 Lord my God,
I cried to You for help, and You healed me.(C)
3 Lord, You brought me up from Sheol;(D)
You spared me from among those
going down[a] to the Pit.(E)
4 Sing to Yahweh, you His faithful ones,
and praise His holy name.(F)
5 For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may spend the night,
but there is joy in the morning.(G)
6 When I was secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”(H)
7 Lord, when You showed Your favor,
You made me stand like a strong mountain;(I)
when You hid Your face, I was terrified.(J)
8 Lord, I called to You;
I sought favor from my Lord:(K)
9 “What gain is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise You?
Will it proclaim Your truth?(L)
10 Lord, listen and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”(M)
Psalm 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
Davidic. A Maskil.
1 How joyful is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered!(A)
2 How joyful is the man
the Lord does not charge with sin(B)
and in whose spirit is no deceit!(C)
3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
from my groaning all day long.(D)
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy on me;(E)
my strength was drained[a]
as in the summer’s heat.(F)
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You
and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said,
“I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and You took away the guilt of my sin.(G)
6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You
at a time that You may be found.[b](H)
When great floodwaters come,
they will not reach him.(I)
7 You are my hiding place;(J)
You protect me from trouble.(K)
You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.(A)
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”(C)
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:(D)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(E)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(F)
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(G)
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.(H)
8 The Lord will send His faithful love by day;(I)
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,(J)
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”(K)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”(L)
11 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(M)
Psalm 43[b]
1 Vindicate me, God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.(N)
2 For You are the God of my refuge.
Why have You rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?(O)
3 Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me.(P)
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
to Your dwelling place.(Q)
4 Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.(R)
I will praise You with the lyre,
God, my God.(S)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(T)
Saul’s Increasing Paranoia
22 So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam.(A) When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there. 2 In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him.(B)
3 From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” 4 So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.
5 Then the prophet Gad(C) said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
6 Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. At that time Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree(D) at the high place. His spear was in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. 7 Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin: Is Jesse’s son going to give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he’ll make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?(E) 8 That’s why all of you have conspired against me! Nobody tells me[a] when my own son makes a covenant with Jesse’s son.(F) None of you cares about me(G) or tells me[b] that my son has stirred up my own servant to wait in ambush for me, as is the case today.”
9 Then Doeg the Edomite,(H) who was in charge of Saul’s servants, answered: “I saw Jesse’s son come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.(I) 10 Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for him(J) and gave him provisions.(K) He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”(L)
Slaughter of the Priests
11 The king sent messengers to summon Ahimelech the priest, son of Ahitub, and his father’s whole family, who were priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. 12 Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub!”
“I’m at your service,(M) my lord,” he said.
13 Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son conspire against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him, so he could rise up against me and wait in ambush, as is the case today.”(N)
14 Ahimelech replied to the king: “Who among all your servants is as faithful as David?(O) He is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and honored in your house. 15 Was today the first time I inquired of God for him?(P) Of course not! Please don’t let the king make an accusation against your servant or any of my father’s household, for your servant didn’t have any idea[c] about all this.”
16 But the king said, “You will die, Ahimelech—you and your father’s whole family!”
17 Then the king ordered the guards standing by him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord(Q) because they sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they didn’t tell me.”[d] But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to execute the priests of the Lord.
18 So the king said to Doeg, “Go and execute the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite went and executed the priests himself. On that day, he killed 85 men(R) who wore linen ephods.(S) 19 He also struck down Nob, the city of the priests, with the sword—both men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.(T)
20 However, one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar,(U) and he fled to David.(V) 21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22 Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite(W) was there that day and that he was sure to report to Saul. I myself am responsible for[e] the lives of everyone in your father’s family. 23 Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, for the one who wants to take my life wants to take your life.(X) You will be safe with me.”
26 “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.(A) 27 For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words[a] by condemning Him.(B) 28 Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed.(C) 29 When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb.(D) 30 But God raised Him from the dead,(E) 31 and He appeared for many days to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.(F) 32 And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.(G) 33 God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:
34 Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings[d] made to David.(I)[e] 35 Therefore He also says in another passage, You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.(J)[f] 36 For David, after serving his own generation in God’s plan, fell asleep,(K) was buried with his fathers, and decayed.(L) 37 But the One God raised up did not decay. 38 Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you,(M) 39 and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.(N) 40 So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:
41 Look, you scoffers,
marvel and vanish away,
because I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will never believe,
even if someone were to explain it to you.”(O)[g]
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch
42 As they[h] were leaving, the people[i] begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath. 43 After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God.(P)
A House Divided
20 Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat.[b] 21 When His family(B) heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, “He’s out of His mind.”(C)
22 The scribes(D) who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul(E) in Him!” and, “He drives out(F) demons(G) by the ruler(H) of the demons!”(I)
23 So He summoned(J) them and spoke to them in parables:(K) “How can Satan(L) drive out Satan?(M) 24 If a kingdom(N) is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished![c]
27 “On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up(O) the strong man. Then he will rob his house. 28 I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins[d] and whatever blasphemies(P) they may blaspheme. 29 But whoever blasphemes(Q) against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,(R) but is guilty(S) of an eternal sin”[e](T)— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”(U)
True Relationships
31 Then(V) His mother(W) and His brothers(X) came, and standing outside, they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him and told Him, “Look, Your mother, Your brothers,(Y) and Your sisters[f] are outside asking for You.”
33 He replied to them, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!(Z) 35 Whoever does the will of God(AA) is My brother and sister and mother.”
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.