Book of Common Prayer
God the Sovereign Savior(A)
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David (B)the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of (C)this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
18 I (D)will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my [a]strength, (E)in whom I will trust;
My shield and the [b]horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, (F)who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 (G)The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of [c]ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7 (H)Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 (I)He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10 (J)And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
(K)He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
(L)His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12 (M)From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered (N)His voice,
[d]Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 (O)He sent out His arrows and scattered [e]the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 (P)He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
19 (Q)He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20 (R)The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless [f]before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 (S)Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 (T)With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And (U)with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down (V)haughty looks.
28 (W)For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can [g]run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, (X)His way is perfect;
(Y)The word of the Lord is [h]proven;
He is a shield (Z)to all who trust in Him.
31 (AA)For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32 It is God who (AB)arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33 (AC)He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And (AD)sets me on my high places.
34 (AE)He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You enlarged my path under me,
(AF)So my feet did not slip.
37 I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38 I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have [i]subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save;
(AG)Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I (AH)cast them out like dirt in the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;
(AI)You have made me the head of the [j]nations;
(AJ)A people I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners [k]submit to me.
45 (AK)The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
46 The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me,
(AL)And subdues the peoples under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
(AM)You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 (AN)Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the [l]Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord (A)appeared in the cloud.
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 (B)“I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, (C)‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and (D)in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13 So it was that (E)quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning (F)the dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was (G)a small round (H)substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
And Moses said to them, (I)“This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it (J)according to each one’s need, one (K)omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”
17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, (L)he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. 19 And Moses said, “Let no one (M)leave any of it till morning.” 20 Notwithstanding they did not [a]heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
Living Before the World
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts (A)which war against the soul, 12 (B)having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, (C)they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submission to Government(D)
13 (E)Therefore submit yourselves to every [a]ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 (F)as free, yet not (G)using liberty as a cloak for [b]vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear (H)God. Honor the king.
Submission to Masters(I)
18 (J)Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. 19 For this is (K)commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For (L)what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For (M)to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for [c]us, (N)leaving [d]us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “Who(O) committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23 (P)who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but (Q)committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 (R)who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, (S)that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—(T)by whose [e]stripes you were healed. 25 For (U)you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned (V)to the Shepherd and [f]Overseer of your souls.
12 (A)This is My (B)commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 (C)Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 (D)You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, (E)for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 (F)You did not choose Me, but I chose you and (G)appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father (H)in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
The World’s Hatred
18 (I)“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 (J)If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet (K)because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, (L)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. (M)If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But (N)all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 (O)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, (P)but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 (Q)He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them (R)the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have (S)seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, (T)‘They hated Me without a cause.’
The Coming Rejection
26 (U)“But when the [a]Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, (V)He will testify of Me. 27 And (W)you also will bear witness, because (X)you have been with Me from the beginning.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.