Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95[a]
A Call To Praise and Obey God
1 [b]Come, let us sing with jubilation to the Lord;
let us cry out to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with our songs.
3 [c]For the Lord is the great God,
the King who surpasses all other gods.[d]
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,
and the peaks of the mountains are his.
5 To him belongs the sea, for he created it,
and also the dry land[e] that his hands have molded.
6 Come forth! Let us bow down to worship him;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.[f]
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds,[g]
the flock he protects.
If only you would listen to his voice today:
8 “Harden not your hearts as you did at Meribah,[h]
as on the day of Massah in the wilderness.
9 It was there that your ancestors sought to tempt me;
they put me to the test
even though they had witnessed my works.[i]
10 “For forty years[j] I loathed that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not know my ways.’
11 Therefore, in my anger I swore,
‘They will never enter my rest.’ ”[k]
Psalm 69[a]
Cry of Anguish in Distress
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” Of David.
2 [c]Save me, my God,
for the waters have risen to my neck.
3 I am sinking in muddy depths
and can find no foothold.
I have fallen into deep waters,
and the floods[d] overwhelm me.
4 I am exhausted from crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes have been worn out
searching for my God.
5 More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me for no reason.[e]
Many are those who seek to destroy me,
and they are treacherous.
How can I restore
what I have not stolen?
6 O God, you know how foolish I am;
my guilty deeds are not hidden from you.[f]
7 Do not allow those who hope in you
to be put to shame because of me,
O Lord of hosts.
Do not let those who seek you
suffer disgrace because of me,
O God of Israel.
8 It is for your sake that I endure reproach
and that shame covers my face.
9 I have become alienated from my brothers,[g]
a stranger to my mother’s sons.
10 Zeal for your house[h] consumes me,
and the insults directed at you fall on me.
11 When I mortified myself with fasting,
I exposed myself to scorn.
12 When I clothed myself in sackcloth,
I became a laughingstock.
13 Those who sit at the gate taunt me,
and drunkards make me the target of their ditties.
14 But I lift up my prayer to you, O Lord,
in the time of your favor.[i]
In your great kindness, O God,
respond to me with your certain help.
15 Draw me out of the mire,
and do not let me plunge any deeper.
Deliver me from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
16 Do not let the flood waters sweep over me,
or the depths swallow me up,
or the pit close its jaws around me.
17 Answer me, O Lord, for your kindness[j] is wonderful;
in your great compassion turn toward me.
18 Do not hide your face[k] from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in distress.
19 Draw near to me and redeem me;
deliver me from my enemies.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
all my oppressors are in your sight.
21 Insults have so broken my heart
that I am near the end of my strength.
I looked for compassion, but in vain,
for some consolers, but I found none.[l]
22 They put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar[m] to drink.
23 [n]Let their table become a trap for them;
let their well-being become a snare.[o]
24 Let their eyes dim so that they cannot see,
and let their limbs tremble constantly.
25 Vent your wrath on them,
and let your burning anger take hold of them.
26 Let their camp be left desolate;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.[p]
27 For they pursue the one you struck down
and tell of the pain of the one you hurt.
28 Charge them with crime after crime;
let them not share in your salvation.
29 Blot them out from the book of the living;[q]
do not number them among the upright.
30 But I am filled with pain and suffering;
may your saving power, O God, raise me up.
31 [r]I will praise the name of God with a song
and glorify him with a hymn of thanksgiving.
32 This will gratify the Lord more than an ox
or a young bull with horns and hoofs:[s]
33 “Let the poor[t] see this and rejoice;
let those who seek God take heart.
34 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not turn his back on captives.
35 Let the heavens and the earth offer praise,
the seas and everything that moves therein.”
36 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
His people will live there and possess it;
37 his servants’ children will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell there.
Book III—Psalms 73–89[a]
Psalm 73[b]
False Happiness of the Wicked
1 A psalm of Asaph.[c]
God is truly good to the upright,[d]
to those who are pure in heart.
2 [e]But as for me, I nearly lost my balance;[f]
I was almost at the point of stumbling.
3 For I was filled with envy of the arrogant
when I perceived how the wicked prosper.
4 [g]They endure no painful suffering;
their bodies are healthy and well fed.
5 They are not plagued with burdens common to all;
the troubles of life do not afflict them.
6 So they wear arrogance like a necklace
and don violence like a robe.
7 Their callous hearts overflow with malice,
and their minds are completely taken up with evil plans.
8 They mock and pour forth their malevolence;
in their haughtiness they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths rage against the heavens
while their tongues are never stilled on the earth.
10 [h]So the people blindly follow them
and find nothing offensive in their words.[i]
11 They say: “How does God know?
Does the Most High notice anything?”
12 Such are the wicked,
as they pile up wealth, without any concerns.
13 [j]Is it in vain that I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence?
14 For I am stricken day after day
and punished every morning.
15 If I had decided, “I will speak like them,”
I would not have been true to your children.[k]
16 [l]When I tried to understand all this,
I found it too difficult for me,
17 until I entered the sanctuary of God[m]
and realized what their final end would be.
18 [n]Indeed, you set them on a slippery slope
and cast them headlong into utter ruin.
19 How suddenly they are destroyed,
completely wiped out by terrors!
20 When you arise, O Lord,
you will dismiss them
as one discards a dream on awakening.
21 [o]When my heart was embittered
and my soul was deeply tormented,
22 I was stupid and unable to comprehend—
like a brute beast in your presence.
23 [p]Yet I am always with you;
you grasp me by the right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me into glory.[q]
25 Whom do I have in heaven except you?
And besides you there is nothing else I desire on earth.
26 Even should my heart and my flesh[r] fail,
God is the rock of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 [s]But all those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy those who are unfaithful to you.
28 As for me, my happiness is to be near God,
and I have made the Lord God my refuge;
I will proclaim all your works[t]
at the gates of the Daughter of Zion.
Chapter 5[a]
Evil Everywhere
1 Roam through the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and take careful note;
search through the public squares.
If you can find even one person
who acts justly and seeks the truth,
I will pardon this city.
2 Even though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
they are in fact swearing falsely.
3 Do your eyes not search for truth, O Lord?
When you struck them, they felt no anguish;
when you brought them down, they refused correction.
They have made their faces harder than stone
and refused to repent.
4 Then I thought, “These are only the poor;
they tend to act foolishly.
For they do not know the way of the Lord
or the ordinances of their God.
5 Therefore, I will go to their leaders
and speak to them.
Surely they will know the way of the Lord
and their responsibilities to their God.”
But those, too, had broken the yoke
and torn away from their bonds.
6 Therefore, lions from the forest will tear them to pieces,
and wolves from the desert will ravage them.
Leopards will be on the prowl around their cities;
all those who depart from them
will be torn to pieces
because of their many crimes
and their apostasies
without number.
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me to swear by gods
that are not gods in any way.
When I gave them everything they needed,
they committed adultery
and hastened to the houses of prostitutes.
8 They are well-fed and lusty stallions,
each one neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?
asks the Lord.
Shall I not take vengeance on a nation such as this?
25 Circumcision and the Heart.[a] Circumcision has value if you obey the Law. However, if you break the Law, you have become as if you had never been circumcised. 26 In the same way, if one who is not circumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then the man who is not physically circumcised but nevertheless observes the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the Law.
28 A man is not a Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is true circumcision external and physical. 29 Rather, the Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart—spiritual, not literal. He receives his praise not from human beings but from God.
Chapter 3
The Value of Judaism. 1 Is there any advantage, therefore, in being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 A great deal in every respect. In the first place, they were entrusted with the words of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their lack of faith nullify the fidelity of God? 4 By no means! God must be true even if every human being is a liar,[b] as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
and vindicated when you are judged.”
5 But if our wickedness serves to confirm the righteousness of God, what are we to say? Is God unjust (I speak of him in human terms) to bring retribution upon us? 6 Of course not! For that would imply that God could not judge the world. 7 But if, as a result of my falsehood, God demonstrates his truthfulness, to his greater glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not say, as some people slanderously accuse us of proposing, “Let us do evil so that good may result”? Such people deserve their condemnation.
The Whole World Guilty before God.[c] 9 Well, then, are we any better?[d] No, not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written,
“There is no one who is righteous,
not even one.
11 There is no one who has understanding,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away;
together they have become worthless.
There is no one who shows kindness,
not even one.
13 Their throats are open graves;
they use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of vipers is on their lips;
14 their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
15 Their feet hasten to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their paths.
17 The way of peace they do not know;
18 there is no fear of God before their eyes.”
30 “I can do nothing on my own.
As I hear, I judge,
and my judgment is just,
because I seek to do
not my own will
but the will of him who sent me.
A Witness to Jesus
31 [a]“If I were to testify about myself,
my testimony would not be true.
32 However, there is another who testifies about me,
and I know that his testimony is true,
the testimony he bore concerning me.
33 You sent messengers to John,
and he has testified to the truth.
34 Not that I accept such human testimony,
but I say these things
so that you may be saved.
35 “John was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a time you were willing
to exult in his light.
36 But I have testimony that is greater than John’s.
The works that my Father
has given me to accomplish,
the very works that I am doing,
testify about me,
that the Father has sent me.
37 “And the Father who sent me
has himself testified about me.
You have not heard his voice
or seen his form,
38 and you do not have his word
abiding in you,
because you do not believe
him whom he has sent.
39 “Search the Scriptures carefully
because you believe that through them
you will gain eternal life.
Even they testify on my behalf.
40 Yet you refuse to come to me
to receive that life.
Unbelief of Jesus’ Hearers
41 “I do not accept the praise of men.
42 Moreover, I know that you do not have
the love of God in your hearts.
43 I have come in the name of my Father,
yet you do not accept me.
But if another should come in his own name,
you will accept him.
44 How can you believe
when you accept praise from one another,
yet you do not seek
the praise that comes from
the only God?
45 “Do not think that I will accuse you
before the Father.
You have placed your hope in Moses,
and he is the one who will accuse you.
46 If you truly believed Moses,
you would have believed in me,
for it is about me that he wrote.
47 But since you do not believe what he wrote,
how will you believe what I say?”
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