Book of Common Prayer
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
2 (B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3 (C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who [c]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [d]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 (F)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 (G)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(H)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (I)drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know (J)my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of [g]heaviness;
(K)I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for (L)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
(M)And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 (N)Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23 (O)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24 (P)Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 (Q)Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones (R)You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 (S)Add iniquity to their iniquity,
(T)And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them (U)be blotted out of the book of the living,
(V)And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 (W)I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 (X)This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 (Y)The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, (Z)your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise (AA)His prisoners.
BOOK THREE
Psalms 73–89
The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly (B)slipped.
3 (C)For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the (D)wicked.
4 For there are no [a]pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 (E)They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them (F)like a garment.
7 (G)Their [b]eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 (H)They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They (I)speak [c]loftily.
9 They set their mouth (J)against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here,
(K)And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, (L)“How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have [d]cleansed my heart in (M)vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was [e]too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (N)end.
18 Surely (O)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was [f]vexed in my mind.
22 (P)I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 (Q)You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
A Bride for Isaac
24 Now Abraham (A)was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord (B)had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said (C)to the oldest servant of his house, who (D)ruled over all that he had, “Please, (E)put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you (F)swear[a] by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that (G)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 (H)but you shall go (I)to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6 But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord God of heaven, who (J)took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, (K)‘To your [b]descendants I give this land,’ (L)He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then (M)you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, (N)for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to (O)the city of Nahor. 11 And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time (P)when women go out to draw water. 12 Then he (Q)said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please (R)give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here (S)I stand by the well of water, and (T)the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And (U)by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15 And it happened, (V)before he had finished speaking, that behold, (W)Rebekah,[c] who was born to Bethuel, son of (X)Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman (Y)was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
18 (Z)So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether (AA)the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden (AB)nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us [d]to lodge?”
24 So she said to him, (AC)“I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”
26 Then the man (AD)bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 27 And he said, (AE)“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken (AF)His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord (AG)led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”
The Discipline of God(A)
3 (B)For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, (C)lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 (D)You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
(E)“My son, do not despise the [a]chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For (F)whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 (G)If[b] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what (H)son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, (I)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to (J)the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, (K)that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no [c]chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields (L)the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve
7 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, (A)because the [a]Jews sought to kill Him. 2 (B)Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 (C)His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For (D)even His (E)brothers did not believe in Him.
6 Then Jesus said to them, (F)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 (G)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me (H)because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not [b]yet going up to this feast, (I)for My time has not yet fully come.” 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
The Heavenly Scholar
10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then (J)the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” 12 And (K)there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. (L)Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him (M)for fear of the Jews.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.