Book of Common Prayer
Supplication for Deliverance and Grateful Trust in God.
For the choir director; according to [a]Jonath elem rehokim. A [b]Mikhtam of David, [c]when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man has [d](A)trampled upon me;
[e]Fighting all day long he (B)oppresses me.
2 My foes have [f](C)trampled upon me all day long,
For [g]they are many who (D)fight proudly against me.
3 [h]When I am (E)afraid,
[i]I will (F)put my trust in You.
4 (G)In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
(H)What can mere [j]man do to me?
5 All day long they [k](I)distort my words;
All their [l](J)thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They [m](K)attack, they lurk,
They (L)watch my [n]steps,
As they have (M)waited to take my [o]life.
7 Because of wickedness, [p](N)cast them forth,
In anger (O)put down the peoples, O God!
8 You (P)have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my (Q)tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in (R)Your book?
9 Then my enemies will (S)turn back (T)in the day when I call;
This I know, [q]that (U)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my [r]trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your (V)vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
13 For You have (W)delivered my soul from death,
[s]Indeed (X)my feet from stumbling,
So that I may (Y)walk before God
In the (Z)light of the [t]living.
Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.
For the choir director; set to [u]Al-tashheth. A [v]Mikhtam of David, [w]when he fled from Saul in the cave.
57 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul (AA)takes refuge in You;
And in the (AB)shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
Until destruction (AC)passes by.
2 I will cry to God Most High,
To God who (AD)accomplishes all things for me.
3 He will (AE)send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who [x](AF)tramples upon me. [y]Selah.
God will send forth His (AG)lovingkindness and His [z]truth.
4 My soul is among (AH)lions;
I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,
Even the sons of men, whose (AI)teeth are spears and arrows
And their (AJ)tongue a sharp sword.
5 (AK)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 They have [aa]prepared a (AL)net for my steps;
My soul is (AM)bowed down;
They (AN)dug a pit before me;
They themselves have (AO)fallen into the midst of it. Selah.
7 (AP)My (AQ)heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
8 Awake, (AR)my glory!
Awake, (AS)harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (AT)I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the [ab]nations.
10 For Your (AU)lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your [ac]truth to the clouds.
11 (AV)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
For the choir director; set to [ad]Al-tashheth. A [ae]Mikhtam of David.
58 Do you indeed [af]speak righteousness, O [ag]gods?
Do you (AW)judge [ah]uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you (AX)work unrighteousness;
On earth you (AY)weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged (AZ)from the womb;
These who speak lies (BA)go astray from [ai]birth.
4 They have venom like the (BB)venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it (BC)does not hear the voice of [aj](BD)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, (BE)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them (BF)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [ak](BG)aims his arrows, let them be as [al]headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which [am]melts away as it goes along,
Like the (BH)miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
9 Before your (BI)pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will (BJ)sweep them away with a whirlwind, the [an]green and the burning alike.
Prayer for Deliverance from Secret Enemies.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in (A)my [a]complaint;
(B)Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the (C)secret counsel of evildoers,
From the tumult of (D)those who do iniquity,
3 Who (E)have sharpened their tongue like a sword.
They (F)aimed bitter speech as their arrow,
4 To (G)shoot [b]from concealment at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him, and (H)do not fear.
5 They [c]hold fast to themselves an evil purpose;
They [d]talk of (I)laying snares secretly;
They say, “(J)Who can see them?”
6 They [e]devise injustices, saying,
“We are [f]ready with a well-conceived plot”;
For the [g](K)inward thought and the heart of a man are [h]deep.
7 But (L)God [i]will shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly [j]they will be wounded.
8 So [k]they [l]will (M)make him stumble;
(N)Their own tongue is against them;
All who see them will (O)shake the head.
9 Then all men [m]will (P)fear,
And they [n]will (Q)declare the work of God,
And [o]will consider [p]what He has done.
10 The righteous man will be (R)glad in the Lord and will (S)take refuge in Him;
And all the upright in heart will glory.
God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 There will be silence [q]before You, and praise in Zion, O God,
And to You the (T)vow will be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
To You (U)all [r]men come.
3 [s](V)Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions, You [t](W)forgive them.
4 How (X)blessed is the one whom You (Y)choose and bring near to You
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be (Z)satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5 By (AA)awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O (AB)God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the (AC)ends of the earth and of the farthest [u](AD)sea;
6 Who (AE)establishes the mountains by His strength,
Being (AF)girded with might;
7 Who (AG)stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the (AH)tumult of the peoples.
8 They who dwell in the (AI)ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the [v]dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (AJ)cause it to overflow;
You greatly (AK)enrich it;
The [w](AL)stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their (AM)grain, for thus You prepare [x]the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You [y]settle its ridges,
You soften it (AN)with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You have crowned the year [z]with Your [aa](AO)bounty,
And Your [ab]paths (AP)drip with fatness.
12 (AQ)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the (AR)hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are (AS)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are (AT)covered with grain;
They (AU)shout for joy, yes, they sing.
The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot
11 The word of the Lord came to me saying, “What do you see, (A)Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an [a]almond tree.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for (B)I am [b]watching over My word to perform it.”
13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time saying, “(C)What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling (D)pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “(E)Out of the north the evil [c]will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, behold, I am calling (F)all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares the Lord; “and they will come and they will (G)set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the (H)cities of Judah. 16 I will [d]pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have (I)forsaken Me and have [e](J)offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the (K)works of their own hands. 17 Now, (L)gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. (M)Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. 18 Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for (N)I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.
The Gospel Exalted
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, [a](A)called as an apostle, (B)set apart for (C)the gospel of God, 2 which He (D)promised beforehand through His (E)prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born (F)of a [b]descendant of David (G)according to the flesh, 4 who was declared (H)the Son of God with power [c]by the resurrection from the dead, according to the [d]Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and (I)apostleship [e]to bring about the (J)obedience of faith among (K)all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, 6 among whom you also are the (L)called of Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are (M)beloved of God in Rome, called as [f](N)saints: (O)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, (P)I thank my God through Jesus Christ [g]for you all, because (Q)your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For (R)God, whom I (S)serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly (T)I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by (U)the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. 11 For (V)I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be [h]established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 (W)I do not want you to be unaware, (X)brethren, that often I (Y)have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some (Z)fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 (AA)I am [i]under obligation both to Greeks and to (AB)barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to (AC)preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
27 At this point His (A)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man (B)who told me all the things that I have done; (C)this is not [a]the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “(D)Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the (E)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to (F)do the will of Him who sent Me and to (G)accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white (H)for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving (I)wages and is gathering (J)fruit for (K)life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘(L)One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
The Samaritans
39 From (M)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “(N)He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed (O)the Savior of the world.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.