Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5
The Refuge of the Righteous
For the choir director: with the flutes. A Davidic psalm.
1 Listen to my words, Lord;
consider my sighing.(A)
2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry,(B)
my King and my God,(C)
for I pray to You.
3 At daybreak,(D) Lord, You hear my voice;
at daybreak I plead my case to You(E) and watch expectantly.
4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot dwell with You.(F)
5 The boastful cannot stand in Your presence;(G)
You hate all evildoers.(H)
6 You destroy those who tell lies;(I)
the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and treachery.(J)
7 But I enter Your house
by the abundance of Your faithful love;(K)
I bow down toward Your holy temple
in reverential awe of You.(L)
8 Lord, lead me in Your righteousness(M)
because of my adversaries;[a]
make Your way straight before me.(N)
9 For there is nothing reliable in what they say;[b](O)
destruction is within them;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongues.(P)
10 Punish them, God;
let them fall by their own schemes.(Q)
Drive them out(R) because of their many crimes,
for they rebel against You.(S)
11 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;(T)
let them shout for joy forever.
May You shelter them,(U)
and may those who love Your name boast about You.(V)
12 For You, Lord, bless the righteous one;
You surround him with favor like a shield.(W)
Psalm 6
A Prayer for Mercy
For the choir director: with stringed instruments, according to Sheminith.(X) A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger;
do not discipline me in Your wrath.(Y)
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak;[c](Z)
heal me,(AA) Lord, for my bones are shaking;(AB)
3 my whole being is shaken with terror.(AC)
And You, Lord—how long?(AD)
4 Turn, Lord! Rescue me;
save me because of Your faithful love.(AE)
5 For there is no remembrance of You in death;
who can thank You in Sheol?(AF)
Psalm 10
1 Lord,[a][b] why do You stand so far away?(A)
Why do You hide in times of trouble?(B)
2 In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.(C)
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;(D)
the one who is greedy curses[c] and despises the Lord.(E)
4 In all his scheming,
the wicked arrogantly thinks:[d]
“There is no accountability,
since God does not exist.”(F)
5 His ways are always secure;[e]
Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight;
he scoffs at all his adversaries.(G)
6 He says to himself, “I will never be moved—
from generation to generation without calamity.”(H)
7 Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.(I)
8 He waits in ambush near the villages;(J)
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;(K)
9 he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize the afflicted;
he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.
10 So he is oppressed and beaten down;
the helpless fall because of his strength.(L)
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face and will never see.”(M)
12 Rise up, Lord God! Lift up Your hand.(N)
Do not forget the afflicted.(O)
13 Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”(P)
14 But You Yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands.(Q)
The helpless entrusts himself to You;
You are a helper of the fatherless.(R)
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;(S)
call his wickedness into account
until nothing remains of it.[f](T)
16 The Lord is King forever and ever;(U)
the nations will perish from His land.(V)
17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;[g]
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,(W)
18 doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.(X)
Psalm 11
Refuge in the Lord
For the choir director. Davidic.
1 I have taken refuge in the Lord.(Y)
How can you say to me,
“Escape to the mountain like a bird
2 For look, the wicked string the bow;
they put the[i] arrow on the bowstring
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.(AA)
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”(AB)
4 The Lord is in His holy temple;(AC)
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.(AD)
His eyes watch; He examines[j] everyone.
5 The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked.
He hates the lover of violence.(AE)
6 He will rain burning coals[k] and sulfur on the wicked;
a scorching wind will be their portion.[l](AF)
7 For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.
The upright will see His face.(AG)
Jeremiah Dictates Another Scroll
27 After the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation,[a] the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll, and once again write on it the very words that were on the original scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. 29 You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it:(A) The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast?’ 30 Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.(B) 31 I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation[b] all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim,(C) Judah’s king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Jerusalem’s Last Days
37 Zedekiah son of Josiah(D) reigned as king in the land of Judah(E) in place of Jehoiachin[c](F) son of Jehoiakim, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made him king. 2 He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the Lord(G) that He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
Prophecy: A Superior Gift
14 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in another language(A) is not speaking to men but to God, since no one understands him; however, he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.[a] 3 But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in another language builds himself up, but he who prophesies builds up the church. 5 I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.
6 But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in other languages, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation(B) or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even inanimate things that produce sounds—whether flute or harp(C)—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8 In fact, if the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?(D) 9 In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, and all have meaning.[b] 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner[c] to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 So also you—since you are zealous(E) for spiritual gifts,[d](F) seek to excel in building up the church.
Persecutions Predicted
16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves.(A) 17 Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins[a] and flog you in their synagogues,(B) beware of them. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations.(C) 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak.(D) For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because you are not speaking, but the Spirit(E) of your Father is speaking through you.(F)
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.(G) 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name.(H) But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.[b](I) 23 When they persecute you in one town, escape to another.(J) For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
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