Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56[a]
For the music director, according to the yonath-elem-rekhoqim style;[b] a prayer[c] of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath.[d]
56 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me.[e]
All day long hostile enemies[f] are tormenting me.[g]
2 Those who anticipate my defeat[h] attack me all day long.
Indeed,[i] many are fighting against me, O Exalted One.[j]
3 When[k] I am afraid,
I trust in you.
4 In God—I boast in his promise[l]—
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can mere men[m] do to me?[n]
5 All day long they cause me trouble;[o]
they make a habit of plotting my demise.[p]
6 They stalk[q] and lurk;[r]
they watch my every step,[s]
as[t] they prepare to take my life.[u]
7 Because they are bent on violence, do not let them escape.[v]
In your anger[w] bring down the nations,[x] O God.
8 You keep track of my misery.[y]
Put my tears in your leather container.[z]
Are they not recorded in your scroll?[aa]
9 My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help;[ab]
I know that God is on my side.[ac]
10 In God—I boast in his promise[ad]—
in the Lord—I boast in his promise[ae]—
11 in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can mere men[af] do to me?[ag]
12 I am obligated to fulfill the vows I made to you, O God;[ah]
I will give you the thank offerings you deserve,[ai]
13 when you deliver[aj] my life from death.
You keep my feet from stumbling,[ak]
so that I might serve[al] God as I enjoy life.[am]
Psalm 57[an]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[ao] a prayer[ap] of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave.[aq]
57 Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me.
For in you I have taken shelter.[ar]
In the shadow of your wings[as] I take shelter
until trouble passes.
2 I cry out for help to God Most High,[at]
to the God who vindicates[au] me.
3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me[av]
from my enemies who hurl insults.[aw] (Selah)
May God send his loyal love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down[ax] among those who want to devour me,[ay]
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.[az]
5 Rise up[ba] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[bb]
6 They have prepared a net to trap me;[bc]
I am discouraged.[bd]
They have dug a pit for me.[be]
They will fall[bf] into it. (Selah)
7 I am determined,[bg] O God. I am determined.
I will sing and praise you.
8 Awake, my soul![bh]
Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!
I will wake up at dawn.[bi]
9 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.[bj]
10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,[bk]
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
11 Rise up[bl] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[bm]
Psalm 58[bn]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[bo] a prayer[bp] of David.
58 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?[bq]
Do you judge people[br] fairly?
2 No![bs] You plan how to do what is unjust;[bt]
you deal out violence in the earth.[bu]
3 The wicked turn aside from birth;[bv]
liars go astray as soon as they are born.[bw]
4 Their venom is like that of a snake,[bx]
like a deaf serpent[by] that does not hear,[bz]
5 that does not respond to[ca] the magicians,
or to a skilled snake charmer.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths!
Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord.
7 Let them disappear[cb] like water that flows away.[cc]
Let them wither like grass.[cd]
8 Let them be[ce] like a snail that melts away as it moves along.[cf]
Let them be like[cg] stillborn babies[ch] that never see the sun.
9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,[ci]
he[cj] will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.[ck]
10 The godly[cl] will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then[cm] observers[cn] will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded.[co]
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges[cp] in the earth.”
Psalm 64[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
64 Listen to me,[b] O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect[c] my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.[d]
2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers.[e]
3 They[f] sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim their arrows, a slanderous charge,[g]
4 in order to shoot down the innocent[h] in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.[i]
5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.[j]
They plan how to hide[k] snares,
and boast,[l] “Who will see them?”[m]
6 They devise[n] unjust schemes;
they disguise[o] a well-conceived plot.[p]
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.[q]
7 But God will shoot[r] at them;
suddenly they will be[s] wounded by an arrow.[t]
8 Their slander will bring about their demise.[u]
All who see them will shudder,[v]
9 and all people will fear.[w]
They will proclaim what God has done,[x]
and reflect on his deeds.
10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright[y] will boast.[z]
Psalm 65[aa]
For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
65 Praise awaits you,[ab] O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
2 You hear prayers;[ac]
all people approach you.[ad]
3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,[ae]
but you forgive[af] our acts of rebellion.
4 How blessed[ag] is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts.[ah]
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house—
your holy palace.[ai]
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior.[aj]
All the ends of the earth trust in you,[ak]
as well as those living across the wide seas.[al]
6 You created the mountains by your power,[am]
and demonstrated your strength.[an]
7 You calmed the raging seas[ao]
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations.[ap]
8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts;[aq]
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you.[ar]
9 You visit the earth and give it rain;[as]
you make it rich and fertile.[at]
God’s streams are full of water;[au]
you provide grain for the people of the earth,[av]
for you have prepared the earth in this way.[aw]
10 You saturate[ax] its furrows,
and soak[ay] its plowed ground.[az]
With rain showers you soften its soil,[ba]
and make its crops grow.[bb]
11 You crown the year with your good blessings,[bc]
and you leave abundance in your wake.[bd]
12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,[be]
and the hills are clothed with joy.[bf]
13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
19 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while[a] Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway.[b] When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.
2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night[c] and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.”[d] “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.”[e]
3 But he urged[f] them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they could lie down to sleep,[g] all the men—both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom—surrounded the house.[h] 5 They shouted to Lot,[i] “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can take carnal knowledge of[j] them!”
6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly![k] 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never been intimate with[l] a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please.[m] Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection[n] of my roof.”[o]
9 “Out of our way!”[p] they cried, “This man came to live here as a foreigner,[q] and now he dares to judge us![r] We’ll do more harm[s] to you than to them!” They kept pressing in on Lot[t] until they were close enough[u] to break down the door.
10 So the men inside[v] reached out[w] and pulled Lot back into the house[x] as they shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest,[y] with blindness. The men outside[z] wore themselves out trying to find the door. 12 Then the two visitors[aa] said to Lot, “Who else do you have here?[ab] Do you have[ac] any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city?[ad] Get them out of this[ae] place 13 because we are about to destroy[af] it. The outcry against this place[ag] is so great before the Lord that he[ah] has sent us to destroy it.”
14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters.[ai] He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy[aj] the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.[ak]
15 At dawn[al] the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here,[am] or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!”[an] 16 When Lot[ao] hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them.[ap] They led them away and placed them[aq] outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, they[ar] said, “Run[as] for your lives! Don’t look[at] behind you or stop anywhere in the valley![au] Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord![av] 19 Your[aw] servant has found favor with you,[ax] and you have shown me great[ay] kindness[az] by sparing[ba] my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because[bb] this disaster will overtake[bc] me and I’ll die.[bd] 20 Look, this town[be] over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one.[bf] Let me go there.[bg] It’s just a little place, isn’t it?[bh] Then I’ll survive.”[bi]
21 “Very well,” he replied,[bj] “I will grant this request too[bk] and will not overthrow[bl] the town you mentioned. 22 Run there quickly,[bm] for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)[bn]
23 The sun had just risen[bo] over the land as Lot reached Zoar.[bp] 24 Then the Lord rained down[bq] sulfur and fire[br] on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.[bs] 25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region,[bt] including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground.[bu] 26 But Lot’s[bv] wife looked back longingly[bw] and was turned into a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went[bx] to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked out toward[by] Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region.[bz] As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.[ca]
29 So when God destroyed[cb] the cities of the region,[cc] God honored[cd] Abraham’s request. He removed Lot[ce] from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed[cf] the cities Lot had lived in.
People Commended for Their Faith
11 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 2 For by it the people of old[a] received God’s commendation.[b] 3 By faith we understand that the worlds[c] were set in order at God’s command,[d] so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.[e] 4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith[f] he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith[g] he still speaks, though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard[h] constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner[i] in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs[j] of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,[k] whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,[l] he received the ability to procreate,[m] because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 12 So in fact children[n] were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand[o] on the seashore.[p]
27 Do not work for the food that disappears,[a] but for the food that remains to eternal life—the food[b] which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”[c]
28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds[d] God requires?”[e] 29 Jesus replied,[f] “This is the deed[g] God requires[h]—to believe in the one whom he[i] sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors[j] ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”[k]
32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth,[l] it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who[m] comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 So they said to him, “Sir,[n] give us this bread all the time!”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.[o] 36 But I told you[p] that you have seen me[q] and still do not believe. 37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.[r] 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me—that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up[s] at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father—for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up[t] at the last day.”[u]
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