Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40
Thanksgiving and a Cry for Help
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.(A)
2 He brought me up from a desolate[a] pit,
out of the muddy clay,(B)
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.(C)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.(D)
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(E)
4 How happy is the man
who has put his trust in the Lord
and has not turned to the proud
or to those who run after lies!(F)
5 Lord my God, You have done many things—
Your wonderful works and Your plans for us;
none can compare with You.
If I were to report and speak of them,
they are more than can be told.(G)
6 You do not delight in sacrifice and offering;
You open my ears to listen.[b]
You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering.(H)
7 Then I said, “See, I have come;
it is written about me in the volume of the scroll.(I)
8 I delight to do Your will, my God;(J)
Your instruction lives within me.”[c](K)
9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
see, I do not keep my mouth closed[d]—
as You know, Lord.(L)
10 I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart;
I spoke about Your faithfulness and salvation;
I did not conceal Your constant love and truth
from the great assembly.(M)
11 Lord, do not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your constant love and truth will always guard me.(N)
12 For troubles without number have surrounded me;
my sins have overtaken me; I am unable to see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my courage leaves me.(O)
13 Lord, be pleased to deliver me;
hurry to help me, Lord.(P)
Psalm 54
Prayer for Deliverance
For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A Davidic Maskil. When the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding among us?”(A)
1 God, save me by Your name,
and vindicate me by Your might!(B)
2 God, hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my mouth.(C)
3 For strangers rise up against me,
and violent men seek my life.
They have no regard for God.[a](D)
Psalm 51
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.(A)
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to Your faithful love;
according to Your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.(B)
2 Wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.(C)
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.(D)
4 Against You—You alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in Your sight.(E)
So You are right when You pass sentence;
You are blameless when You judge.(F)
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.(G)
6 Surely You desire integrity in the inner self,
and You teach me wisdom deep within.(H)
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.(I)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones You have crushed rejoice.(J)
9 Turn Your face away[a] from my sins
and blot out all my guilt.(K)
10 God, create a clean heart for me
and renew a steadfast[b] spirit within me.(L)
11 Do not banish me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.(M)
12 Restore the joy of Your salvation to me,
and give me a willing spirit.[c](N)
13 Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways,
and sinners will return to You.(O)
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God,(P)
the God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.(Q)
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare Your praise.(R)
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
You are not pleased with a burnt offering.(S)
17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is[d] a broken spirit.
God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.(T)
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah[a] will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her.(A) I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed(B) and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!”[b]
19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[c] I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders,(C) and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”(D) 22 When He finished talking with him, God withdrew[d] from Abraham.(E)
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was 99 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his household—both slaves born in his house and those purchased with money from a foreigner—were circumcised with him.
11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.(A) 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.(B) 13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.(C) 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:
16 This is the covenant I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws on their hearts
and write them on their minds,
17 He adds:
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Exhortations to Godliness
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,(E) 20 by a new and living way He has opened for us through the curtain (that is, His flesh(F)), 21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God,(G) 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.(H) 23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.(I) 24 And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, 25 not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other,(J) and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
The Fourth Sign: Feeding 5,000
6 After(A) this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee(B) (or Tiberias(C)). 2 And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. 3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him,(D) He asked Philip,(E) “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him,(F) for He Himself knew what He was going to do.
7 Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii(G) worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew,(H) Simon(I) Peter’s(J) brother, said to Him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”
There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000.(K) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.(L)
12 When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”(M) 13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.
14 When the people saw the sign[a] He had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet(N) who was to come(O) into the world!”(P) 15 Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king,(Q) He withdrew again[b] to the mountain by Himself.
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