Book of Common Prayer
God’s Faithfulness and Deliverance
For the music director. Of David. A psalm.[a]
40 I waited patiently for Yahweh,
And he inclined to me
and heard my cry for help.
2 And so he brought me up from the roaring pit,[b]
from the miry clay.
And he put my feet upon a rock;
he made my steps steady.
3 Then he put a new song in my mouth,
a praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and will trust Yahweh.
4 Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust
and does not turn to the proud and to those who fall away to a lie.[c]
5 Many things, O Yahweh my God, you have done—
your wonderful deeds and your thoughts toward us.
There is none to compare with you.
If I tried to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be too numerous to count.
6 A sacrifice and offering you do not desire.
My ears you have opened.[d]
Burnt offering and sin offering you have not demanded.
7 Then I said, “Look, I come.
In the scroll of the book
it is written concerning me:
8 ‘I delight to do your will, O my God,
and your law is deep within me.’”[e]
9 I have brought good tidings of righteousness in the great congregation.
Look, I have not shut my lips.
O Yahweh, you surely know that.[f]
10 Your righteousness I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loyal love or your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Yahweh, do not withhold your mercies from me.
Let your loyal love and your faithfulness
continually preserve me.
12 For evils without number have encompassed me.
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me.
O Yahweh, hurry to help me.
14 Let them be shamed and abashed altogether
who seek to take away my life.[g]
Let them be repulsed and humiliated
who desire my harm.
15 Let them be appalled because of their shame,
those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
16 Let them rejoice and be glad in you,
all those who seek you.
Let them say continually, “Yahweh is great!”
—those who love your salvation.
17 But I am poor and needy.
Let my Lord consider me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries
For the music director, with stringed instruments.
A maskil of David,
when the Ziphites went and said to Saul,
“Is not David hiding himself among us?”[a]
54 O God, by your name save me,
and by your power vindicate me.
2 O God, hear my prayer;
heed the words of my mouth.
3 For foreigners have risen against me,
and ruthless men seek my life.
They have not set God before them. Selah
4 See, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who sustain my life.[b]
5 He will repay[c] my enemies for their[d] evil;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will freely sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name,
O Yahweh, because it is good.
7 Because he has delivered me from all trouble,
and my eye has looked with satisfaction on my enemies.
A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy
For the music director. A psalm of David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[a]
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love.
According to your abundant mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I myself know[b] my transgressions,[c]
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, only you, I have sinned
and have done this evil[d] in your eyes,
so that you are correct when you speak,
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Behold, in iniquity I was born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities blot out.
10 Create a clean heart for me, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[e]
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and with a willing spirit sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.
With a burnt offering you are not pleased.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good in your favor toward Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
burnt offering and whole burnt offering.
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
8 And the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Judge with trustworthy justice, and show[a] steadfast love and compassion to one another.[b] 10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart against one another.’[c] 11 But they refused to listen, and turned[d] a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from listening.[e] 12 They made their hearts adamant[f] in order not to hear the law[g] and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through[h] the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts. 13 ‘Thus, just as I[i] called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,’ says Yahweh of hosts. 14 ‘And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them— no one crossing through it or returning—and they made the desirable land[j] a desolation.’”
Yahweh’s Promise to Jerusalem
8 And the word of Yahweh of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion;[k] I am jealous for it with great wrath.’ 3 Thus says Yahweh: ‘I have returned to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be called the faithful city,[l] and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called the holy mountain.’ 4 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand[m] because of great age.[n] 5 And the public squares of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its public squares.’ 6 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Even if it seems impossible[o] to the remnant[p] of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible[q] to me?’[r] declares[s] Yahweh of hosts. 7 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Look! I am going to save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the west, 8 and I will bring them and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their God in faithfulness[t] and in righteousness.’
6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as though slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the scroll[a] from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one of whom had a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they were singing a new song, saying,
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slaughtered,
and bought people for God by your blood
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders, and their number was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands times thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea and everything in them saying,
“To the one who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power[b]
forever and ever[c].”
14 And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
The Parable of the Talents
14 For it is like a man going on a journey. He summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his own ability, and he went on a journey immediately. 16 The one who had received the five talents went out and[a] traded with them and gained five more. 17 In the same way the one who had the two gained two more. 18 But the one who had received the one went away and[b] dug up the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 And the one who had received the five talents came up and[c] brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 22 And the one who had the two talents also came up and[d] said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’ 24 And the one who had received the one talent came up also and[e] said, ‘Master, because I[f] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter seed.[g] 25 And because I[h] was afraid, I went away and[i] hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours!’ 26 But his master answered and[j] said to him, ‘Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter seed.[k] 27 Then you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and when I[l] returned I would have gotten back what was mine with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it[m] to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness—in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’
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