Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by Your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;(C)
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.(E)
5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
You redeem[a] me, Lord, God of truth.(G)
6 I[b] hate those who are devoted to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.(H)
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithful love
because You have seen my affliction.
You have known the troubles of my life(I)
8 and have not handed me over to the enemy.(J)
You have set my feet in a spacious place.(K)
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;(L)
my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—
my whole being[c] as well.(M)
10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;(N)
my strength has failed
because of my sinfulness,[d]
and my bones waste away.(O)
11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.(P)
12 I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.(Q)
13 I have heard the gossip of many;
terror is on every side.(R)
When they conspired against me,
they plotted to take my life.(S)
14 But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”(T)
15 The course of my life is in Your power;(U)
deliver me from the power of my enemies
and from my persecutors.(V)
16 Show Your favor to Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.(W)
17 Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on You.(X)
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them be silent[e][f] in Sheol.(Y)
18 Let lying lips be quieted;(Z)
they speak arrogantly against the righteous
with pride and contempt.(AA)
19 How great is Your goodness
that You have stored up for those who fear You
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in You.(AB)
20 You hide them in the protection of Your presence;
You conceal them in a shelter[g]
from the schemes of men,
from quarrelsome tongues.(AC)
21 May the Lord be praised,
for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me
in a city under siege.[h](AD)
22 In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”(AE)
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.(AF)
Psalm 35
Prayer for Victory
Davidic.
1 Oppose my opponents, Lord;
fight those who fight me.(A)
2 Take Your shields—large and small—
and come to my aid.(B)
3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers,
and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”(C)
4 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who plan to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.(D)
5 Let them be like chaff in the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away.(E)
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(F)
7 They hid their net for me without cause;
they dug a pit for me without cause.(G)
8 Let ruin come on him unexpectedly,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his ruin.(H)
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will delight in His deliverance.(I)
10 My very bones will say,
“Lord, who is like You,(J)
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”(K)
11 Malicious witnesses come forward;
they question me about things I do not know.(L)
12 They repay me evil for good,
making me desolate.(M)
13 Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.[a](N)
14 I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning a mother.(O)
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
they gathered against me.
Assailants I did not know
tore at me and did not stop.(P)
16 With godless mockery[b]
they gnashed their teeth at me.(Q)
17 Lord, how long will You look on?(R)
Rescue my life from their ravages,
my only one from the young lions.(S)
18 I will praise You in the great congregation;
I will exalt You among many people.(T)
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me;
do not let those who hate me without cause(U)
look at me maliciously.(V)
20 For they do not speak in friendly ways,
but contrive deceitful schemes[c]
against those who live peacefully in the land.(W)
21 They open their mouths wide against me and say,
“Aha, aha! We saw it!”[d](X)
22 You saw it, Lord; do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me.(Y)
23 Wake up and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!(Z)
24 Vindicate me, Lord my God,
in keeping with Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.(AA)
25 Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! Just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say,
“We have swallowed him up!”(AB)
26 Let those who rejoice at my misfortune
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and reproach.(AC)
10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant[a]—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”[b](A)
11 Yahweh said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?(B) 12 Now go! I will help[c] you speak and I will teach you what to say.”(C)
13 Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”[d]
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, “Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15 You will speak with him and tell him what to say.(D) I will help[e] both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. 17 And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.”(E)
Moses’ Return to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.”
Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”
19 Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”(F) 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God’s staff(G) in his hand.
21 The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart[f](H) so that he won’t let the people go. 22 Then you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.(I) 23 I told you: Let My son go so that he may worship Me, but you refused to let him go. Now I will kill your firstborn son!”(J)
24 On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and sought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, and threw it at Moses’ feet.[g] Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!”(K) 26 So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.[h]
Reunion of Moses and Aaron
27 Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.(L) 28 Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. 30 Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. 31 The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention(M) to them and that He had seen their misery,(N) they bowed down and worshiped.
Prophecy: A Superior Gift
14 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in another language(A) is not speaking to men but to God, since no one understands him; however, he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.[a] 3 But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in another language builds himself up, but he who prophesies builds up the church. 5 I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.
6 But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in other languages, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation(B) or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even inanimate things that produce sounds—whether flute or harp(C)—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8 In fact, if the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?(D) 9 In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, and all have meaning.[b] 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner[c] to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 So also you—since you are zealous(E) for spiritual gifts,[d](F) seek to excel in building up the church.
13 Therefore the person who speaks in another language should pray that he can interpret. 14 For if I pray in another language, my spirit(G) prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.(H) 15 What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit,[e] how will the uninformed person[f] say “Amen”(I) at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank(J) God that I speak in other languages more than all of you; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words(K) with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than 10,000 words in another language.
The Second Prediction of His Death
30 Then(A) they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but He did not want anyone to know it.(B) 31 For He was teaching(C) His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man(D) is being betrayed[a] into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after He is killed, He will rise(E) three days later.”(F) 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.(G)
Who is the Greatest?
33 Then(H) they came to Capernaum.(I) When He was in the house,(J) He asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”(K) 34 But they were silent,(L) because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.(M) 35 Sitting down, He called the Twelve(N) and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”(O) 36 Then He took a child,(P) had him stand among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes[b] one little child such as this in My name(Q) welcomes Me. And whoever welcomes Me does not welcome Me, but Him who sent(R) Me.”(S)
In His Name
38 John(T) said to Him, “Teacher,(U) we saw someone[c] driving out demons(V) in Your name,(W) and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”(X)
39 “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle(Y) in My name who can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us.(Z) 41 And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink(AA) because of My name,[d] since you belong to the Messiah(AB)—I assure you:(AC) He will never lose his reward.(AD)
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