Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 69
A Plea for Rescue
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”[a] Davidic.
1 Save me, God,
for the water has risen to my neck.(A)
2 I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing;
I have come into deep waters,
and a flood sweeps over me.(B)
3 I am weary from my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for my God.(C)
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my deceitful enemies, who would destroy me,
are powerful.(D)
Though I did not steal, I must repay.(E)
5 God, You know my foolishness,
and my guilty acts are not hidden from You.(F)
6 Do not let those who put their hope in You
be disgraced because of me,
Lord God of Hosts;
do not let those who seek You
be humiliated because of me,
God of Israel.(G)
7 For I have endured insults because of You,
and shame has covered my face.(H)
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers
and a foreigner to my mother’s sons(I)
9 because zeal for Your house has consumed me,(J)
and the insults of those who insult You
have fallen on me.(K)
10 I mourned and fasted,
but it brought me insults.(L)
11 I wore sackcloth as my clothing,
and I was a joke to them.
12 Those who sit at the city gate talk about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.(M)
13 But as for me, Lord,
my prayer to You is for a time of favor.
In Your abundant, faithful love, God,
answer me with Your sure salvation.(N)
14 Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink.
Let me be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep waters.(O)
15 Don’t let the floodwaters sweep over me
or the deep swallow me up;
don’t let the Pit close its mouth over me.(P)
16 Answer me, Lord,
for Your faithful love is good;
in keeping with Your great compassion,
turn to me.(Q)
17 Don’t hide Your face from Your servant,
for I am in distress.
Answer me quickly!(R)
18 Draw near to me and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.(S)
19 You know the insults I endure—
my shame and disgrace.
You are aware of all my adversaries.(T)
20 Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I waited for sympathy,
but there was none;
for comforters, but found no one.(U)
21 Instead, they gave me gall[b] for my food,
and for my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink.(V)
22 Let their table set before them be a snare,
and let it be a trap for their allies.(W)
23 Let their eyes grow too dim to see,
and let their loins continually shake.(X)
24 Pour out Your rage on them,
and let Your burning anger overtake them.(Y)
25 Make their fortification desolate;
may no one live in their tents.(Z)
26 For they persecute the one You struck
and talk about the pain of those You wounded.(AA)
27 Add guilt to their guilt;
do not let them share in Your righteousness.(AB)
28 Let them be erased from the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.(AC)
29 But as for me—poor and in pain—
let Your salvation protect me, God.(AD)
30 I will praise God’s name with song
and exalt Him with thanksgiving.(AE)
31 That will please Yahweh more than an ox,
more than a bull with horns and hooves.(AF)
32 The humble will see it and rejoice.
You who seek God, take heart!(AG)
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and does not despise
His own who are prisoners.(AH)
BOOK III
(Psalms 73–89)
Psalm 73
God’s Ways Vindicated
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God is indeed good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.(B)
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my steps nearly went astray.(C)
3 For I envied the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(D)
4 They have an easy time until they die,[a]
and their bodies are well fed.[b](E)
5 They are not in trouble like others;
they are not afflicted like most people.(F)
6 Therefore, pride is their necklace,
and violence covers them like a garment.(G)
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness;
the imaginations of their hearts run wild.(H)
8 They mock, and they speak maliciously;
they arrogantly threaten oppression.(I)
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues strut across the earth.(J)
10 Therefore His people turn to them[c]
and drink in their overflowing words.[d](K)
11 The wicked say, “How can God know?
Does the Most High know everything?”(L)
12 Look at them—the wicked!
They are always at ease,
and they increase their wealth.(M)
13 Did I purify my heart
and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?(N)
14 For I am afflicted all day long
and punished every morning.(O)
15 If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed Your people.[e](P)
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it seemed hopeless[f](Q)
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary.
Then I understood their destiny.(R)
18 Indeed, You put them in slippery places;
You make them fall into ruin.(S)
19 How suddenly they become a desolation!
They come to an end, swept away by terrors.(T)
20 Like one waking from a dream,
Lord, when arising, You will despise their image.(U)
21 When I became embittered
and my innermost being[g] was wounded,(V)
22 I was stupid and didn’t understand;
I was an unthinking animal toward You.(W)
23 Yet I am always with You;
You hold my right hand.(X)
24 You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me up in glory.[h](Y)
25 Who do I have in heaven but You?
And I desire nothing on earth but You.(Z)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[i] of my heart,
my portion forever.(AA)
27 Those far from You will certainly perish;
You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.(AB)
28 But as for me, God’s presence is my good.
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
so I can tell about all You do.(AC)
A Wife for Isaac
24 Abraham was now old, getting on in years,[a](A) and the Lord had blessed him in everything. 2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,(B) 3 and I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,(C) 4 but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?”
6 Abraham answered him, “Make sure that you don’t take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven,(D) who took me from my father’s house and from my native land,(E) who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your offspring’(F)—He will send His angel before you,(G) and you can take a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me,(H) but don’t let my son go back there.” 9 So the servant placed his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 The servant took 10 of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of his master’s goods in hand. Then he set out for Nahor’s town Aram-naharaim. 11 He made the camels kneel beside a well of water outside the town at evening. This was the time when the women went out to draw water.
12 “Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “give me success today,(I) and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 I am standing here(J) at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah,(K) the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—coming with a jug on her shoulder. 16 Now the girl was very beautiful,(L) a young woman who had not known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jug.”
18 She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.”[b] 20 She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and hurried to the well again to draw water. She drew water for all his camels 21 while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the Lord had made his journey a success.
22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold. 23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 She also said to him, “We have plenty of straw and feed and a place to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down, worshiped the Lord,(M) 27 and said, “Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master.(N) As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
Fatherly Discipline
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart.(A) 4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or faint when you are reproved by Him,
6 for the Lord disciplines the one He loves
and punishes every son He receives.(B)[a]
7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline—which all[b] receive[c]—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.(C) 9 Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?(D) 10 For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.(E) 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace(F) and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.(G)
The Unbelief of Jesus’ Brothers
7 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee,(A) since He did not want to travel in Judea(B) because the Jews(C) were trying to kill Him.(D) 2 The Jewish Festival of Tabernacles[a][b](E) was near, 3 so His brothers(F) said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works(G) that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even His brothers believed in Him.)
6 Jesus told them, “My time(H) has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. 7 The world cannot hate(I) you, but it does hate Me because I testify about it—that its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to the festival yet,[c] because My time has not yet fully come.” 9 After He had said these things, He stayed in Galilee.
Jesus at the Festival of Tabernacles
10 After His brothers had gone up to the festival, then He also went up, not openly but secretly. 11 The Jews were looking for Him at the festival and saying, “Where is He?” 12 And there was a lot of discussion about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good(J) man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He’s deceiving(K) the people.” 13 Still, nobody was talking publicly about Him because they feared the Jews.
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