Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[a] to the tune of[b] “A Silent Dove Far Away,” when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
A Prayer about Trust in God
56 Have mercy on me, God,
because men have harassed me.
Those who oppress me have fought against me all day long.
2 Those who watch me all day have harassed me,
for there are many who fight against me out of conceit.
3 On days when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I put my trust.
I will not fear what mortal man[c] can do to me.
5 All day long people[d] distort what I say;
all their schemes against me are for evil purposes.
6 They gather together
and hide in ambush.
They watch my every step
as they lie in wait for my life.
7 Cast them away because of their wickedness.
In wrath, God, cast down these[e] people!
8 You have kept count of my wanderings.
Put my tears in your bottle—
have not you recorded them in your book?
9 My enemies will retreat when I call on you.[f]
This has been my experience,
because God is with me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I will put my trust.
I will not fear what mortal man can do to me.
12 God, I have taken vows before you;[g]
therefore I will offer thanksgiving sacrifices to you.
13 For you have delivered me[h] from death
and my feet from stumbling,
so that I may walk before God in the light of the living!
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[i] to the tune of[j] “Do Not Destroy,” when he fled from Saul into a cave.
A Prayer for Deliverance
57 Have mercy on me, God, have mercy,
for in you I[k] have placed my trust.
Even in the shadow of your wings
will I find my refuge until this calamity passes.
2 I call upon the God Most High;
to the God who completes what he began[l] in me.
3 He will send help from heaven to deliver me
from those who harass and despise me.
God will send his gracious love and truth.
4 I am[m] surrounded by lions.
I lie down with those who burn with fire—
that is, with people whose teeth are like spears and arrows—
whose tongues are like sharp swords.
5 Be exalted above the heavens, God!
May your glory cover the earth!
6 They have set a snare for my feet,
which makes me[n] depressed.
They dug a pit in front of me,
but they are the ones who fell into it!
7 My heart is committed, God,
my heart is committed,
so I will sing and play music.
8 Wake up, my soul,[o]
wake up, lyre and harp!
I will awaken at dawn.
9 I will exalt you among the peoples, Lord.
I will play music among the nations.
10 For your gracious love is great,
extending even to the heavens,
and your truth even to the skies.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, God!
May your glory cover the earth!
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[p] to the tune of[q] “Do Not Destroy”.
A Prayer for Justice
58 How is it that by remaining silent you can speak righteously?
How can you judge people fairly?
2 As a matter of fact, in your heart you plan iniquities!
In the land your hands are violent!
3 The wicked go astray from the womb;
they go astray, telling lies even from birth.
4 Their venom is like a poisonous snake;
even like a deaf serpent that shuts its ears,
5 refusing to hear the voice of the snake charmer,
the cunning enchanter.
6 God, shatter their teeth in their mouths;
Lord, break the fangs of the young lions!
7 May they flow away like rain water that runs off,
may they become like someone who shoots broken arrows.
8 May they be like a snail that dries up as it crawls;
like a woman’s stillborn baby, who never saw the sun.
9 Before your clay pots are placed on a fire of burning[r] thorns—
whether green or ablaze—
wrath will sweep them away like a storm.
10 The righteous person will rejoice when he sees your[s] vengeance;
when he washes his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 A person will say,
“Certainly, the righteous are rewarded;
certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Protection
64 Hear, God, as I express my concern;
protect me[a] from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the mob of those who practice evil,
3 who sharpen their tongues like swords,
and aim their bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting at the innocent from concealment.
Suddenly they shoot, fearing nothing.
5 They concoct an evil scheme for themselves;
they enumerate their hidden snares;
they say, “Who will see them?”[b]
6 They devise wicked schemes, saying,
“We have completed our plans,
hiding them deep in our hearts.”
7 But God shot an arrow at them,
and they were wounded immediately.
8 They tripped over their own tongues,
and everyone who was watching ran away.
9 Everyone was gripped with fear
and acknowledged God’s deeds,
understanding what he had done.
10 The righteous rejoiced in the Lord,
because they had fled to him for refuge.
Let all the upright in heart exult.
To the Director: A song. Lyrics[c] by David.
A Song of Praise to God
65 In Zion, God, praise silently awaits you,
and vows will be paid to you.
2 Since you hear prayer,
everybody will come to you.
3 My acts of iniquity—they overwhelm me!
Our transgressions—you blot them out!
4 How blessed is the one you choose,
the one you cause to live in your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
yes, even with the holiness of your Temple.
5 With awesome deeds of justice[d]
you will answer us, God our Deliverer;
you are[e] the confidence for everyone at the ends of the earth,
even for those far away overseas.
6 The One who established the mountains by his strength
is clothed with omnipotence.
7 He calmed the roar of seas,
the roaring of the waves,
and the turmoil of the peoples.
8 Those living at the furthest ends of the earth[f] are seized by fear because of your miraculous deeds.
You make the going forth of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
9 You take care of the earth,
you water it,
and you enrich it greatly with the river of God that overflows with water.
You provide grain for them,
for you have ordained it this way.
10 You fill the furrows of the field with water
so that their ridges overflow.
You soften them with rain showers;
their sprouts you have blessed.
11 You crown the year with your goodness;
your footsteps drop prosperity behind them.
12 The wilderness pastures drip with dew,[g]
and the hills wrap themselves with joy.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout for joy;
yes, they burst out in song!
The Naboth Vineyard Incident
21 Meanwhile, there was a man named Naboth from Jezreel who owned a vineyard that was located contiguous to King Ahab’s palace in Samaria. 2 Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, “I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you’d rather have cash, I’ll buy it for its full value.”
3 But Naboth replied to Ahab, “No way! The Lord prohibits the sale to you of the inheritance of my ancestors!”
4 Ahab went back to his palace, sullen and in a foul mood, because Naboth the Jezreelite had turned down Ahab’s offer by saying, “I will not transfer my ancestors’ inheritance to you!” He laid down on his bed, curled up with his face to the wall, and refused to eat.
5 But his wife Jezebel went to him and asked him, “How is it that you’re so sullen and refusing to eat?”
6 “I asked Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard for cash, or if you want, I’ll give you a better one in its place.’ But he refused. He told me, ‘I won’t give you my vineyard!’”
7 “Aren’t you the reigning king of Israel?” his wife Jezebel replied. “Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I’ll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns.” 8 So she wrote some memos in Ahab’s name, set his personal seal to them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 In the memos, she wrote the following directives: “Proclaim a public fast and seat Naboth in the front row. 10 Seat two wicked men in front of him, and make them testify against him. Tell them to claim, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”
11 So the leading men of the city, along with the elders and nobles who lived there, did precisely what Jezebel had directed them to do. They followed the instructions that she had set forth in the memos: 12 They proclaimed a public fast and seated Naboth in the front row. 13 Two wicked men came in, sat down in front of them, and testified against Naboth in public, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.[a]
14 Afterwards, they sent a message[b] to Jezebel that said, “Naboth has been stoned. He’s dead.”
15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she told Ahab, “Get up and confiscate Naboth’s vineyard that he refused to sell you for cash. Naboth the Jezreelite isn’t alive anymore. He’s dead!” 16 So once he heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up, went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, and confiscated it.
Paul Greets the Church in Corinth
1 From:[a] Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah[b] Jesus[c] by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.
2 To: God’s church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah[d] Jesus and called to be holy,[e] together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah[f]—their Lord[g] and ours.
3 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[h] be yours!
You are Rich
4 I always thank my[i] God for you because of the grace of God given you by the Messiah[j] Jesus. 5 For by him you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 while our testimony about the Messiah[k] has been confirmed among you. 7 Therefore, you don’t lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah[l] to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the Day of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.[m] 9 Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah,[n] our Lord.
Divisions in the Church
10 Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah,[o] I urge all of you to be in agreement[p] and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions. 11 My brothers, some members of Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. 12 This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,”[q] or “I belong to the Messiah.”[r]
13 Is the Messiah[s] divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? You weren’t baptized in Paul’s name, were you? 14 I thank God[t] that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanas. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For the Messiah[u] did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiah[v] won’t be emptied of its power.
The Messiah is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject.”[w]
Jesus is Tempted by Satan(A)
4 After this, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he finally became hungry.
3 Then the tempter came. “Since[a] you are the Son of God,” he said, “tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written,
‘One must not live on bread alone,
but on every word coming
out of the mouth of God.’”[b]
5 Then the Devil took him to the Holy City[c] and had him stand on the highest point of the Temple. 6 He told Jesus,[d] “Since[e] you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, because it is written,
‘God[f] will put his angels in charge of you,’
and,
‘With their hands they will hold you up,
so that you will never hit your foot against a rock.’”[g]
7 Jesus responded to him, “It is also written, ‘You must not tempt the Lord[h] your God.’”[i]
8 Once more the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, along with their splendor. 9 He told Jesus,[j] “I will give you all these things if you will bow down and worship me!”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away,[k] Satan! Because it is written,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”[l]
11 So the Devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to him.
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