Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50
God as Judge
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 Yahweh, the God of gods[a] speaks;
He summons the earth from east to west.[b](B)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God appears in radiance.[c](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)
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 accept 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,[d]
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 Sacrifice a thank offering 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 turn your back on My words.[e](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.[f](X)
Psalm 59
God Our Stronghold
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.”[a] A Davidic Miktam. When Saul sent agents to watch the house and kill him.(A)
1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God;(B)
protect me from those who rise up against me.(C)
2 Deliver me from those who practice sin,
and save me from men of bloodshed.(D)
3 Lord, look! 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 Hosts, You are the God of Israel,
rise up to punish all the nations;
do not show grace to any wicked traitors.(H)
6 They return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.(I)
7 Look, they spew from their mouths—
sharp words from[b] 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[c] strength,
because God is my stronghold.(M)
10 My faithful God[d] 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 rage;
consume them until they are gone.(R)
Then people will know throughout[e] the earth
that God rules over Jacob.(S)
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.”[f] A Davidic Miktam for teaching. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, killing 12,000.(Y)
1 God, You have rejected us;
You have broken out[g] against us;
You have been angry. Restore us
2 You have shaken the land and split it open.
Heal its fissures, for it shudders.(AA)
3 You have made Your people suffer hardship;
You have given us wine to drink
that made us stagger.(AB)
4 You have given a signal flag to those who fear You,
so that they can flee before the archers.[i](AC)
5 Save with Your right hand, and answer me,
so that those You love may be rescued.(AD)
6 God has spoken in His sanctuary:[j]
“I will triumph! I will divide up Shechem.(AE)
I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.(AF)
7 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine,
and Ephraim is My helmet;(AG)
Judah is My scepter.(AH)
8 Moab is My washbasin.(AI)
I throw My sandal on Edom;(AJ)
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”(AK)
Psalm 19
The Witness of Creation and Scripture
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky[a] proclaims the work of His hands.(A)
2 Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge.[b]
3 There is no speech; there are no words;
their voice is not heard.
4 Their message[c] has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.(B)
In the heavens[d] He has pitched a tent for the sun.(C)
5 It is like a groom coming from the[e] bridal chamber;
it rejoices like an athlete running a course.
6 It rises from one end of the heavens
and circles[f] to their other end;(D)
nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect,
renewing one’s life;(E)
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.(F)
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
making the heart glad;(G)
the command of the Lord is radiant,
making the eyes light up.(H)
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;(I)
the ordinances of the Lord are reliable
and altogether righteous.(J)
10 They are more desirable than gold—
than an abundance of pure gold;(K)
and sweeter than honey,
which comes from the honeycomb.(L)
11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them;
there is great reward in keeping them.(M)
12 Who perceives his unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.(N)
13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins;(O)
do not let them rule over me.(P)
Then I will be innocent
and cleansed from blatant rebellion.(Q)
14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to You,(R)
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.(S)
Psalm 46
God Our Refuge
For the choir director. A song of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.[a](A)
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.(B)
2 Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,(C)
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with its turmoil.(D)
4 There is a river—
its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.(E)
5 God is within her; she will not be toppled.
God will help her when the morning dawns.(F)
6 Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when He lifts His voice.(G)
7 The Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.(H)
8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who brings devastation on the earth.(I)
9 He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
He burns up the chariots.[b](J)
10 “Stop your fighting—and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”(K)
11 Yahweh of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.(L)
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
39 Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites(A) who had brought him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph,(B) and he became a successful man, serving[a] in the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful,(C) 4 Joseph found favor in his master’s sight(D) and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.[b] 5 From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph.(E) The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. 6 He left all that he owned under Joseph’s authority;[c] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.(F) 7 After some time[d] his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”
8 But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority.[e] 9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”(G)
10 Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused[f] to go to bed with her.[g] 11 Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there.[h] 12 She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, 14 she called the household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “my husband brought a Hebrew man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. 15 When he heard me screaming for help,[i] he left his garment with me and ran outside.”
16 She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, 18 but when I screamed for help,[j] he left his garment with me and ran outside.”
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious 20 and had him thrown into prison,(H) where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.
Joseph in Prison
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.(I) He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.(J) 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority,[k] and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority,[l] because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.(K)
14 But the unbeliever[a] does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated[b] spiritually. 15 The spiritual person, however, can evaluate[c] everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated[d] by anyone. 16 For
But we have the mind of Christ.(B)
The Problem of Immaturity
3 Brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.(C) 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 because you are still fleshly. For since there is envy(D) and strife[f](E) among you, are you not fleshly and living like unbelievers?[g] 4 For whenever someone says, “I’m with Paul,” and another, “I’m with Apollos,”(F) are you not unspiritual people?[h][i]
The Role of God’s Servants
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted,(G) Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers.[j] You are God’s field, God’s building.(H) 10 According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation(I) than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver,(J) costly stones,(K) wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious, for the day[k] will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire;(L) the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.(M) 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved;(N) yet it will be like an escape through fire.[l](O)
The Son of Man Forgives and Heals
2 When(A) He entered Capernaum(B) again after some days, it was reported that He was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message(C) to them. 3 Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic,(D) carried by four men. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to[a] Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
5 Seeing their faith,(E) Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins(F) are forgiven.”(G)
6 But some of the scribes(H) were sitting there, thinking(I) to themselves:[b] 7 “Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming!(J) Who can forgive(K) sins(L) but God alone?”(M)
8 Right away(N) Jesus understood in His spirit(O) that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?[c] 9 Which is easier:(P) to say to the paralytic,(Q) ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’?(R) 10 But so you may know that the Son of Man(S) has authority(T) on earth to forgive sins,”(U) He told the paralytic, 11 “I tell you: get up,(V) pick up your mat, and go home.”
12 Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded(W) and gave glory(X) to God,(Y) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”(Z)
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