Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 In You, O Lord, do I put my trust and seek refuge; let me never be put to shame or [have my hope in You] disappointed; deliver me in Your righteousness!
2 Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily! Be my Rock of refuge, a strong Fortress to save me!
3 Yes, You are my Rock and my Fortress; therefore for Your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
4 Draw me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for You are my Strength and my Stronghold.
5 Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth and faithfulness.(A)
6 [You and] I abhor those who pay regard to vain idols; but I trust in, rely on, and confidently lean on the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy and steadfast love, because You have seen my affliction, You have taken note of my life’s distresses,
8 And You have not given me into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a broad place.
9 Have mercy and be gracious unto me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; with grief my eye is weakened, also my inner self and my body.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and even my bones have wasted away.
11 To all my enemies I have become a reproach, but especially to my neighbors, and a dread to my acquaintances, who flee from me on the street.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, and out of mind; like a broken vessel am I.
13 For I have heard the slander of many; terror is on every side! While they schemed together against me, they plotted to take my life.
14 But I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord; I said, You are my God.
15 My times are in Your hands; deliver me from the hands of my foes and those who pursue me and persecute me.
16 Let Your face shine on Your servant; save me for Your mercy’s sake and in Your loving-kindness.
17 Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, or disappointed, for I am calling upon You; let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the place of the dead).
18 Let the lying lips be silenced, which speak insolently against the [consistently] righteous with pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear, revere, and worship You, goodness which You have wrought for those who trust and take refuge in You before the sons of men!
20 In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots of men; You keep them secretly in Your pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord! For He has shown me His marvelous loving favor when I was beset as in a besieged city.
22 As for me, I said in my haste and alarm, I am cut off from before Your eyes. But You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to You for aid.
23 O love the Lord, all you His saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, and plentifully pays back him who deals haughtily.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord!
Psalm 35
[A Psalm] of David.
1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help!
3 Draw out also the spear and javelin and close up the way of those who pursue and persecute me. Say to me, I am your deliverance!
4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek and require my life; let them be turned back and confounded who plan my hurt!
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind, with the [a]Angel of the Lord driving them on!
6 Let their way be through dark and slippery places, with the Angel of the Lord pursuing and afflicting them.
7 For without cause they hid for me their net; a pit of destruction without cause they dug for my life.
8 Let destruction befall [my foe] unawares; let the net he hid for me catch him; let him fall into that very destruction.
9 Then I shall be joyful in the Lord; I shall rejoice in His deliverance.
10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like You, You Who deliver the poor and the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who snatches away his goods?
11 Malicious and unrighteous witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I know not.
12 They reward me evil for good to my personal bereavement.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting, and I prayed with head bowed on my breast.
14 I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother; I bowed down in sorrow, as one who bewails his mother.
15 But in my stumbling and limping they rejoiced and gathered together [against me]; the smiters (slanderers and revilers) gathered against me, and I knew them not; they ceased not to slander and revile me.
16 Like profane mockers at feasts [making sport for the price of a cake] they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long will You look on [without action]? Rescue my life from their destructions, my dear and only life from the lions!
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among a mighty throng.
19 Let not those who are wrongfully my foes rejoice over me; neither let them wink with the eye who hate me without cause.(A)
20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against those who are quiet in the land.
21 Yes, they open their mouths wide against me; they say, Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen it!
22 You have seen this, O Lord; keep not silence! O Lord, be not far from me!
23 Arouse Yourself, awake to the justice due me, even to my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 Judge and vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness (Your rightness and justice); and let [my foes] not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, that is what we wanted! Let them not say, We have swallowed him up and utterly destroyed him.
26 Let them be put to shame and confusion together who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify and exalt themselves over me!
27 Let those who favor my righteous cause and have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.
28 And my tongue shall talk of Your righteousness, rightness, and justice, and of [my reasons for] Your praise all the day long.
10 Moreover, the Lord spoke again to King Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask for yourself a sign (a token or proof) of the Lord your God [one that will convince you that God has spoken and will keep His word]; ask it either in the depth below or in the height above [let it be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven].
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
13 And [Isaiah] said, Hear then, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary and try the patience of men, but will you weary and try the patience of my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].(A)
15 Butter and curds and wild honey shall he eat when he knows [enough] to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know [enough] to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land [Canaan] whose two kings you abhor and of whom you are in sickening dread shall be forsaken [both Ephraim and Syria].(B)
17 The Lord shall bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim [the ten northern tribes] departed from Judah—even the king of [a]Assyria.
18 And in that day the Lord shall whistle for the fly [the numerous and troublesome foe] that is in the whole extent of the canal country of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And these [enemies like flies and bees] shall come and shall rest all of them in the desolate and rugged valleys and deep ravines and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes and on all the pastures.
20 In the same day [will the people of Judah be utterly stripped of belongings], the Lord will shave with the razor that is hired from the parts beyond the River [Euphrates]—even with the king of Assyria—[that razor will shave] the head and the hair of the legs, and it shall also consume the beard [leaving Judah with open shame and scorn].(C)
21 And [because of the desolation brought on by the invaders] in that day, a man will [be so poor that he will] keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep.
22 And because of the abundance of milk that they will give, he will eat butter and curds, for [only] butter and curds and [wild] honey [no vegetables] shall everyone eat who is left in the land [these products provided from the extensive pastures and the plentiful wild flowers upon which the bees depend].
23 And in that day, in every place where there used to be a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and with bows shall a man come [to hunt] there, because all the land will be briers and thorns.
25 And as for all the hills that were formerly cultivated with mattock and hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where oxen are let loose to pasture and where sheep tread.
13 But we, brethren beloved by the Lord, ought and are obligated [as those who are in debt] to give thanks always to God for you, because God chose you from the beginning [a]as His firstfruits (first converts) for salvation through the sanctifying work of the [Holy] Spirit and [your] belief in (adherence to, trust in, and reliance on) the Truth.
14 [It was] to this end that He called you through our Gospel, so that you may obtain and share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions and instructions which you were taught by us, whether by our word of mouth or by letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor),
17 Comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word.
3 Furthermore, brethren, do pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed on (spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified (extolled) and triumph, even as [it has done] with you,
2 And that we may be delivered from perverse (improper, unrighteous) and wicked (actively malicious) men, for not everybody has faith and is held by it.
3 Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen [you] and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one].
4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do the things which we suggest and with which we charge you.
5 May the Lord direct your hearts into [realizing and showing] the love of God and into the steadfastness and patience of Christ and [b]in waiting for His return.
14 And when the hour came, [Jesus] reclined at table, and the apostles with Him.
15 And He said to them, I have earnestly and intensely desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
16 For I say to you, I shall eat it no more until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
17 And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He said, Take this and divide and distribute it among yourselves;
18 For I say to you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine at all until the kingdom of God comes.
19 Then He took a loaf [of bread], and when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and gave it to them saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
20 And in like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you.
21 But, behold, the hand of him who [a]is now engaged in betraying Me is with Me on the table.(A)
22 For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined and appointed, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed and delivered up!
23 And they began to inquire among themselves which of them it was who was about to do this.(B)
24 Now [b]an eager contention arose among them [as to] which of them was considered and reputed to be the greatest.
25 But Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles [c]are deified by them and exercise lordship [[d]ruling as emperor-gods] over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors and well-doers.
26 But this is not to be so with you; on the contrary, let him who is the greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who is the chief and leader like one who serves.
27 For who is the greater, the one who reclines at table (the master), or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am in your midst as One Who serves.
28 And you are those who have remained [throughout] and persevered with Me in My trials;
29 And as My Father has appointed a kingdom and conferred it on Me, so do I confer on you [the privilege and decree],
30 That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation