Book of Common Prayer
The Lord a Fortress in Adversity
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
31 In (A)You, O Lord, I [a]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
2 (B)Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of [b]refuge,
A [c]fortress of defense to save me.
3 (C)For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, (D)for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
5 (E)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of (F)truth.
6 I have hated those (G)who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have (H)known my soul in [d]adversities,
8 And have not (I)shut[e] me up into the hand of the enemy;
(J)You have set my feet in a wide place.
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
(K)My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my [f]body!
10 For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11 (L)I am a [g]reproach among all my enemies,
But (M)especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
(N)Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 (O)I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a [h]broken vessel.
13 (P)For I hear the slander of many;
(Q)Fear is on every side;
While they (R)take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your (S)hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
16 (T)Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
17 (U)Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
(V)Let them be silent in the grave.
18 (W)Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which (X)speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19 (Y)Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20 (Z)You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
(AA)You shall keep them secretly in a [i]pavilion
From the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
For (AB)He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a [j]strong city!
22 For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.
23 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 (AC)Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.
The Lord the Avenger of His People
A Psalm of David.
35 Plead[a] my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and [b]buckler,
And stand up for my help.
3 Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4 (A)Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be (B)turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
5 (C)Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the [c]angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be (D)dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have (E)hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
8 [d]Let (F)destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 (G)All my bones shall say,
“Lord, (H)who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
11 Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 (I)They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, (J)when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own [e]heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down [f]heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
15 But in my [g]adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long will You (K)look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among [h]many people.
19 (L)Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”
22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be (M)clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.
27 (N)Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.
19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped (A)in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And (B)those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: (C)“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, saying, (D)‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on (E)dry land’; 23 for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, (F)which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, 24 (G)that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is (H)mighty, that you may (I)fear the Lord your God [a]forever.”
The Second Generation Circumcised
5 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites (J)who were by the sea, (K)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until [b]we had crossed over, that [c]their heart melted; (L)and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover (A)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and [a]parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then (B)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
The Commander of the Army of the Lord
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, (C)a Man stood opposite him (D)with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
And Joshua (E)fell on his face to the earth and (F)worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, (G)“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Behave Like a Christian
9 (A)Let love be without hypocrisy. (B)Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 (C)Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, (D)in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 (E)rejoicing in hope, (F)patient[a] in tribulation, (G)continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 (H)distributing to the needs of the saints, (I)given[b] to hospitality.
14 (J)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 (K)Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 (L)Be of the same mind toward one another. (M)Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 (N)Repay no one evil for evil. (O)Have[c] regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, (P)live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, (Q)do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, (R)“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore
(S)“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but (T)overcome evil with good.
Jesus Celebrates Passover with His Disciples(A)
17 (B)Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”
18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, (C)“My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ”
19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
20 (D)When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will (E)betray Me.”
22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”
23 He answered and said, (F)“He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man indeed goes just (G)as it is written of Him, but (H)woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! (I)It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”
He said to him, “You have said it.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.