Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 18
Praise for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.(A) He said:
1 I love You, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,(B)
my God, my mountain where I seek refuge,
my shield(C) and the horn of my salvation,(D)
my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,(E)
and I was saved from my enemies.(F)
4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.(G)
5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(H)
6 I called to the Lord in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From His temple He heard my voice,(I)
and my cry to Him reached His ears.(J)
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;(K)
they shook because He burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from His nostrils,
and consuming fire came from His mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.[a](L)
9 He parted the heavens and came down,(M)
a dark cloud beneath His feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.(N)
11 He made darkness His hiding place,
dark storm clouds His canopy around Him.(O)
12 From the radiance of His presence,(P)
His clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13 The Lord thundered from[b] heaven;
the Most High projected His voice.[c](Q)
14 He shot His arrows and scattered them;
He hurled[d] lightning bolts and routed them.(R)
15 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed,
at Your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.(S)
16 He reached down from heaven
and took hold of me;
He pulled me out of deep waters.(T)
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.(U)
18 They confronted me in the day of my distress,
but the Lord was my support.(V)
19 He brought me out to a spacious place;(W)
He rescued me because He delighted in me.(X)
Psalm 23
The Good Shepherd
A Davidic psalm.
1 The Lord is my shepherd;(A)
there is nothing I lack.(B)
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;(C)
He leads me beside quiet waters.(D)
3 He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths[a]
for His name’s sake.(E)
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,[b]
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;(F)
Your rod and Your staff[c]—they comfort me.(G)
Psalm 27
My Stronghold
Davidic.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?(A)
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom should I be afraid?(B)
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,(C)
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.(D)
3 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart is not afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
still I am confident.(E)
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,(F)
gazing on the beauty of the Lord(G)
and seeking Him in His temple.(H)
5 For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.(I)
6 Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;(J)
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.(K)
I will sing and make music to the Lord.(L)
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.(M)
8 My heart says this about You,
“You[a] are to seek My face.”
Lord, I will seek Your face.(N)
9 Do not hide Your face from me;(O)
do not turn Your servant away in anger.(P)
You have been my helper;(Q)
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.(R)
A Song of Praise
12 On that day you will say:
“I will praise You, Lord,
although You were angry with me.
Your anger has turned away,
and You have had compassion(A) on me.
2 Indeed, God is my salvation;
I will trust Him and not be afraid,
for Yah, the Lord,
is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.”(B)
3 You will joyfully draw water(C)
from the springs of salvation,
4 and on that day you will say:
“Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim His name!
Celebrate His works among the peoples.(D)
Declare that His name is exalted.
5 Sing to Yahweh, for He has done glorious things.(E)
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6 Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel(F) is among you
in His greatness.”
Prologue
1 The revelation of[a] Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves(A) what must quickly[b] take place.(B) He sent it and signified it[c] through His angel(C) to His slave John,(D) 2 who testified to God’s word and to the testimony[d] about Jesus Christ,(E) in all he saw.[e] 3 The one who reads this is blessed,(F) and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep[f] what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near!
4 John:
To the seven churches in Asia.
Grace and peace(G) to you from[g] the One who is, who was, and who is coming;(H) from the seven spirits[h](I) before His throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To Him who loves us and has set us free[i] from our sins by His blood, 6 and made us a kingdom,[j] priests[k](J) to His God and Father—the glory and dominion are His forever and ever. Amen.
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds,(K)
and every eye will see Him,
including those who pierced[l] Him.
And all the families of the earth[m](L)[n]
will mourn over Him.[o](M)[p]
This is certain. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”(N) says the Lord God, “the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”
The Promise of the Spirit
37 On the last and most important day of the festival,(A) Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me[a](B) and drink!(C) 38 The one who believes in Me,(D) as the Scripture(E) has said,[b] will have streams of living water(F) flow(G) from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit.(H) Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit,(I) for the Spirit[c] had not yet been received[d][e] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
The People Are Divided over Jesus
40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This really is the Prophet!”[f](J) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah!” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does He? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture(K) say that the Messiah comes from David’s(L) offspring[g] and from the town of Bethlehem,(M) where David once lived?” 43 So a division(N) occurred among the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him,(O) but no one laid hands on Him.
Debate over Jesus’ Claims
45 Then the temple police(P) came to the chief priests(Q) and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why haven’t you brought Him?”
46 The police answered, “No man ever spoke like this!”[h](R)
47 Then the Pharisees responded to them: “Are you fooled(S) too? 48 Have any of the rulers(T) or Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed!”
50 Nicodemus(U)—the one who came to Him previously, being one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”(V)
52 “You aren’t from Galilee(W) too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”[i](X)
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