Book of Common Prayer
Assurance of God’s Protection
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
61 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to thee,
when my heart is faint.
Lead thou me
to the rock that is higher than I;
3 for thou art my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me dwell in thy tent for ever!
Oh to be safe under the shelter of thy wings!Selah
5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows,
thou hast given me the heritage of those who fear thy name.
6 Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned for ever before God;
bid steadfast love and faithfulness watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to thy name,
as I pay my vows day after day.
Song of Trust in God Alone
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
62 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly moved.
3 How long will you set upon a man
to shatter him, all of you,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his eminence.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.Selah
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.Selah
9 Men of low estate are but a breath,
men of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no confidence in extortion,
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God;
12 and that to thee, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For thou dost requite a man
according to his work.
Praise and Thanksgiving
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68 [a]Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered;
let those who hate him flee before him!
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
let the wicked perish before God!
3 But let the righteous be joyful;
let them exult before God;
let them be jubilant with joy!
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds;[b]
his name is the Lord, exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God gives the desolate a home to dwell in;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity;
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, when thou didst go forth before thy people,
when thou didst march through the wilderness,Selah
8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
at the presence of God;
yon Sinai quaked at the presence of God,
the God of Israel.
9 Rain in abundance, O God, thou didst shed abroad;
thou didst restore thy heritage as it languished;
10 thy flock found a dwelling in it;
in thy goodness, O God, thou didst provide for the needy.
11 The Lord gives the command;
great is the host of those who bore the tidings:
12 “The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil,
13 though they stay among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with green gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings there,
snow fell on Zalmon.
15 O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why look you with envy, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount which God desired for his abode,
yea, where the Lord will dwell for ever?
17 With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands,
the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.[c]
18 Thou didst ascend the high mount,
leading captives in thy train,
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation;
and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 that you may bathe[d] your feet in blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
24 Thy solemn processions are seen,[e] O God,
the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25 the singers in front, the minstrels last,
between them maidens playing timbrels:
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zeb′ulun, the princes of Naph′tali.
28 Summon thy might, O God;
show thy strength, O God, thou who hast wrought for us.
29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem
kings bear gifts to thee.
30 Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample[f] under foot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.[g]
31 Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
let Ethiopia hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
sing praises to the Lord,Selah
33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
lo, he sends forth his voice, his mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and his power is in the skies.
35 Terrible is God in his[h] sanctuary,
the God of Israel,
he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live, and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might befall him. 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers, and knew them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them; and he said to them, “You are spies, you have come to see the weakness of the land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but to buy food have your servants come. 11 We are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants are not spies.” 12 He said to them, “No, it is the weakness of the land that you have come to see.” 13 And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain in prison, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in prison for three days.
Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church
5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife.[a] 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
3 For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan[b] for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.[c]
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Jesus and Beelzebul
Then he went home; 20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his friends heard it, they went out to seize him, for they said, “He is beside himself.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Be-el′zebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
The True Kindred of Jesus
31 And his mother and his brethren[a] came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brethren[b] are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brethren?” 34 And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brethren! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.