Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50
God as Judge
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 The Mighty One, God,[a] the Lord, speaks;
he summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(B)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God appears in radiance.[b](C)
3 Our God is coming; he will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
and a storm rages around him.(D)
4 On high, he summons heaven and earth
in order to judge his people:(E)
5 “Gather my faithful ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”(F)
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,(G)
for God is the Judge.(H)Selah
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.(I)
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings,
which are continually before me.(J)
9 I will not take a bull from your household
or male goats from your pens,(K)
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.(L)
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is mine.(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?(N)
14 Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to God,(O)
and pay your vows to the Most High.(P)
15 Call on me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”(Q)
16 But God says to the wicked:
“What right do you have to recite my statutes
and to take my covenant on your lips?(R)
17 You hate instruction
and fling my words behind you.(S)
18 When you see a thief,
you make friends with him,
and you associate with adulterers.(T)
19 You unleash your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue for deceit.(U)
20 You sit, maligning your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.(V)
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.(W)
But I will rebuke you
and lay out the case before you.[c](X)
Psalm 59
God Our Stronghold
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. When Saul sent agents to watch the house and kill him.(A)
1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;(B)
protect me from those who rise up against me.(C)
2 Rescue me from evildoers,
and save me from men of bloodshed.(D)
3 Because look, Lord, they set an ambush for me.(E)
Powerful men attack me,
but not because of any sin or rebellion of mine.(F)
4 For no fault of mine,
they run and take up a position.
Awake to help me, and take notice.(G)
5 Lord God of Armies, you are the God of Israel.
Rise up to punish all the nations;
do not show favor to any wicked traitors.(H)Selah
6 They return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.(I)
7 Look, they spew from their mouths—
sharp words from[a] their lips.(J)
“For who,” they say, “will hear?” (K)
8 But you laugh at them, Lord;
you ridicule all the nations.(L)
9 I will keep watch for you, my[b] strength,
because God is my stronghold.(M)
10 My faithful God[c] will come to meet me;
God will let me look down on my adversaries.(N)
11 Do not kill them; otherwise, my people will forget.
By your power, make them homeless wanderers(O)
and bring them down,
Lord, our shield.(P)
12 For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride.
They utter curses and lies.(Q)
13 Consume them in fury;
consume them until they are gone.(R)
Then people will know throughout[d] the earth
that God rules over Jacob.(S)Selah
14 And they return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.(T)
15 They scavenge for food;
they growl if they are not satisfied.(U)
16 But I will sing of your strength
and will joyfully proclaim
your faithful love in the morning.(V)
For you have been a stronghold for me,
a refuge in my day of trouble.(W)
17 To you, my strength, I sing praises,
because God is my stronghold—
my faithful God.(X)
Psalm 60
Prayer in Difficult Times
For the choir director: according to “The Lily of Testimony.”(Y) A Miktam of David for teaching. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in Salt Valley, killing twelve thousand.(Z)
1 God, you have rejected us;
you have broken us down;
you have been angry. Restore us
2 You have shaken the land and split it open.
Heal its fissures, for it shudders.(AB)
3 You have made your people suffer hardship;
you have given us wine to drink
that made us stagger.(AC)
4 You have given a signal flag to those who fear you,
so that they can flee before the archers.[f](AD)Selah
5 Save with your right hand, and answer me,
so that those you love may be rescued.(AE)
6 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[g]
“I will celebrate!
I will divide up Shechem.(AF)
I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.(AG)
7 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine,
and Ephraim is my helmet;(AH)
Judah is my scepter.(AI)
8 Moab is my washbasin.(AJ)
I throw my sandal on Edom;(AK)
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”(AL)
Psalm 118
Thanksgiving for Victory
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(B)
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(C)
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”(D)
5 I called to the Lord in distress;(E)
the Lord answered me
and put me in a spacious place.[a](F)
6 The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?(G)
7 The Lord is my helper;
therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.(H)
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humanity.(I)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in nobles.(J)
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.(K)
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.(L)
12 They surrounded me like bees;(M)
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.(N)
13 They[b] pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.(O)
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.(P)
15 There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!(Q)
16 The Lord’s right hand is raised.
The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!” (R)
17 I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the Lord has done.(S)
18 The Lord disciplined me severely
but did not give me over to death.(T)
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.(U)
20 This is the Lord’s gate;
the righteous will enter through it.(V)
21 I will give thanks to you
because you have answered me
and have become my salvation.(W)
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(X)
23 This came from the Lord;
it is wondrous in our sight.(Y)
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
let’s rejoice and be glad in it.(Z)
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, please grant us success!(AA)
26 He who comes in the name
of the Lord is blessed.(AB)
From the house of the Lord we bless you.(AC)
27 The Lord is God and has given us light.
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.(AD)
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God; I will exalt you.(AE)
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.(AF)
15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
Covenant Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty.(A) Live[a] in my presence and be blameless.(B) 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram;[b] your name will be Abraham,[c] for I will make you the father of many nations.(C) 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant(D) to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.(E) 8 And to you and your future offspring[d](F) I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession,(G) and I will be their God.”
9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.[e](H) 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised(I) at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
The Perfect Sacrifice
10 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things(A) to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. 2 Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:
You did not desire sacrifice and offering,
but you prepared a body for me.
6 You did not delight
in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “See—
it is written about me
in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, God.”[a](B)
8 After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law(C)), 9 he then says, See, I have come to do your will.[b] He takes away the first to establish the second. 10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.(D)
30 “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment(A) is just,(B) because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.(C)
Witnesses to Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.(D) 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.(E) 34 I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 John[a](F) was a burning and shining lamp,(G) and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.(H)
36 “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.(I) These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent(J) me. 37 The Father who sent me has himself testified(K) about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.(L) 38 You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. 39 You pore over the Scriptures(M) because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.(N) 40 But you are not willing(O) to come to me(P) so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept glory(Q) from people, 42 but I know you—that you have no love for God(R) within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name,(S) and yet you don’t accept me.(T) If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only(U) God?(V) 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,(W) on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what he wrote,(X) how will you believe my words?”(Y)
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