Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
A Call for Deliverance
For the choir director. Davidic. To bring remembrance.(A)
1 God, deliver me.
Hurry to help me, Lord!(B)
2 Let those who seek my life
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be driven back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!”
retreat because of their shame.(C)
4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
let those who love Your salvation
continually say, “God is great!”(D)
5 I am afflicted and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.(E)
Psalm 71
God’s Help in Old Age
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(F)
2 In Your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.(G)
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for You are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.(I)
5 For You are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.(J)
6 I have leaned on You from birth;
You took me from my mother’s womb.(K)
My praise is always about You.(L)
7 I have become an ominous sign to many,
but You are my strong refuge.(M)
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to You all day long.(N)
9 Don’t discard me in my old age;
as my strength fails, do not abandon me.(O)
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,(P)
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”(Q)
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.(R)
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who seek my harm
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.(S)
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise You more and more.(T)
15 My mouth will tell about Your righteousness
and Your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.(U)
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone.(V)
17 God, You have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim Your wonderful works.(W)
18 Even when I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me.(X)
Then I will[a] proclaim Your power
to another generation,
Your strength to all who are to come.(Y)
19 Your righteousness reaches heaven, God,
You who have done great things;
God, who is like You?(Z)
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,(AA)
but You will revive me again.(AB)
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.(AC)
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.(AD)
22 Therefore, I will praise You with a harp
for Your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to You with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.(AE)
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to You
because You have redeemed me.(AF)
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
Your righteousness all day long,
for those who seek my harm
will be disgraced and confounded.(AG)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have You rejected us forever, God?
Why does Your anger burn
against the sheep of Your pasture?(B)
2 Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for Your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where You dwell.(D)
3 Make Your way[a] to the everlasting ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where You met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set Your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of Your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let us oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned down every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult Your name forever?(L)
11 Why do You hold back Your hand?
Stretch out[e] Your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters;(O)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.(P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is Yours, also the night;
You established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked Yahweh,
and a foolish people has insulted Your name.(U)
19 Do not give the life of Your dove to beasts;[f]
do not forget the lives of Your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise Your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, defend Your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against You all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of Your adversaries,
the tumult of Your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
9 “On that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
10 I said, “Oh no, Lord God, You have certainly deceived(A) this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’(B) while a sword is at[a] our throats.”
Jeremiah’s Lament
19 My anguish, my anguish![a] I writhe in agony!
Oh, the pain in[b] my heart!(A)
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—
the shout of battle.
20 Disaster after disaster(B) is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
21 How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22 “For My people are fools;
they do not know Me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.(C)
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”(D)
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.(E)
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.(F)
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;(G)
all the hills shook.
25 I looked, and no man was left;(H)
all the birds of the sky had fled.(I)
26 I looked, and the fertile field(J) was a wilderness.(K)
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and His burning anger.(L)
27 For this is what the Lord says:
12 All those who sinned without the law(A) will also perish without the law, and all those who sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For the hearers of the law(B) are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.[a] 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively(C) do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law[b] is written on their hearts.(D) Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them[c] 16 on the day when God judges(E) what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.(F)
Jewish Violation of the Law
17 Now if[d] you call yourself a Jew, and rest in the law,(G) boast in God, 18 know His will, and approve the things that are superior,(H) being instructed from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the full expression[e] of knowledge and truth(I) in the law— 21 you then, who teach another,(J) don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal? 22 You who say, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob their temples?(K) 23 You who boast in the law,(L) do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.(M)[f]
19 Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[a] does, the Son also does these things in the same way.(A) 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works(B) than these so that you will be amazed. 21 And just as the Father raises(C) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to anyone He wants to.(D) 22 The Father,(E) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.(F) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.(G)
Life and Judgment
24 “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life(H) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
25 “I assure you: An hour is coming, and is now here,(I) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(J) 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted to the Son(K) to have life in Himself. 27 And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment,(L) because He is the Son of Man.(M) 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of judgment.
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