Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95[a]
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.[b]
2 Let us enter his presence[c] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.[d]
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to[e] all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,[f]
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship.[g]
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.
7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns.[h]
Today, if only you would obey him.[i]
8 He says,[j] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,[k]
like they were that day at Massah[l] in the wilderness,[m]
9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,[n]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was continually disgusted[o] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;[p]
they do not obey my commands.’[q]
11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”[r]
Psalm 69[a]
For the music director, according to the tune of “Lilies”;[b] by David.
69 Deliver me, O God,
for the water has reached my neck.[c]
2 I sink into the deep mire
where there is no solid ground;[d]
I am in[e] deep water,
and the current overpowers me.
3 I am exhausted from shouting for help.
My throat is sore;[f]
my eyes grow tired from looking for my God.[g]
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head.
Those who want to destroy me,
my enemies for no reason,[h]
outnumber me.[i]
They make me repay what I did not steal.[j]
5 O God, you are aware of my foolish sins;[k]
my guilt is not hidden from you.[l]
6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,
O Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[m]
Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 For I suffer[n] humiliation for your sake[o]
and am thoroughly disgraced.[p]
8 My own brothers treat me like a stranger;
they act as if I were a foreigner.[q]
9 Certainly[r] zeal for[s] your house[t] consumes me;
I endure the insults of those who insult you.[u]
10 I weep and refrain from eating food,[v]
which causes others to insult me.[w]
11 I wear sackcloth
and they ridicule me.[x]
12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;
drunkards mock me in their songs.[y]
13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me.[z]
O God, because of your great loyal love,
answer me with your faithful deliverance.[aa]
14 Rescue me from the mud. Don’t let me sink.
Deliver me[ab] from those who hate me,
from the deep water.
15 Don’t let the current overpower me.
Don’t let the deep swallow me up.
Don’t let the Pit[ac] devour me.[ad]
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good.[ae]
Because of your great compassion, turn toward me.
17 Do not ignore[af] your servant,
for I am in trouble. Answer me right away.[ag]
18 Come near me and redeem me.[ah]
Because of my enemies, rescue me.
19 You know how I am insulted, humiliated, and disgraced;
you can see all my enemies.[ai]
20 Their insults are painful[aj] and make me lose heart;[ak]
I look[al] for sympathy, but receive none,[am]
for comforters, but find none.
21 They put bitter poison[an] into my food,
and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink.[ao]
22 May their dining table become a trap before them.
May it be a snare for that group of friends.[ap]
23 May their eyes be blinded.[aq]
Make them shake violently.[ar]
24 Pour out your judgment[as] on them.
May your raging anger[at] overtake them.
25 May their camp become desolate,
their tents uninhabited.[au]
26 For they harass[av] the one whom you discipline;[aw]
they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish.[ax]
27 Hold them accountable for all their sins.[ay]
Do not vindicate them.[az]
28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living.[ba]
Do not let their names be listed with the godly.[bb]
29 I am oppressed and suffering.
O God, deliver and protect me.[bc]
30 I will sing praises to God’s name.[bd]
I will magnify him as I give him thanks.[be]
31 That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull
with horns and hooves.
32 The oppressed look on—let them rejoice.
You who seek God,[bf] may you be encouraged.[bg]
33 For the Lord listens to the needy;
he does not despise his captive people.[bh]
34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
along with the seas and everything that swims in them.
35 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his people[bi] will again live in them and possess Zion.[bj]
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who are loyal to him[bk] will live in it.[bl]
Book 3 (Psalms 73-89)
Psalm 73[a]
A psalm by Asaph.
73 Certainly God is good to Israel,[b]
and to those whose motives are pure.[c]
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my feet almost slid out from under me.[d]
3 For I envied those who are proud,
as I observed[e] the prosperity[f] of the wicked.
4 For they suffer no pain;[g]
their bodies[h] are strong and well fed.[i]
5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;
they do not suffer as other men do.[j]
6 Arrogance is their necklace,[k]
and violence covers them like clothing.[l]
7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong;[m]
their thoughts are sinful.[n]
8 They mock[o] and say evil things;[p]
they proudly threaten violence.[q]
9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,
and lay claim to the earth.[r]
10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,
and even suck up the water of the sea.[s]
11 They say, “How does God know what we do?
Is the Most High aware of what goes on?”[t]
12 Take a good look. This is what the wicked are like,[u]
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer.[v]
13 I concluded,[w] “Surely in vain I have kept my motives[x] pure
and maintained a pure lifestyle.[y]
14 I suffer all day long,
and am punished every morning.”
15 If I had publicized these thoughts,[z]
I would have betrayed your people.[aa]
16 When I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling to me.[ab]
17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple,[ac]
and understood the destiny of the wicked.[ad]
18 Surely[ae] you put them in slippery places;
you bring them down[af] to ruin.
19 How desolate they become in a mere moment.
Terrifying judgments make their demise complete.[ag]
20 They are like a dream after one wakes up.[ah]
O Lord, when you awake[ai] you will despise them.[aj]
21 Yes,[ak] my spirit was bitter,[al]
and my insides felt sharp pain.[am]
22 I was ignorant[an] and lacked insight;[ao]
I was as senseless as an animal before you.[ap]
23 But I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide[aq] me by your wise advice,
and then you will lead me to a position of honor.[ar]
25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?
On earth there is no one I desire but you.[as]
26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak,[at]
but God always[au] protects my heart and gives me stability.[av]
27 Yes,[aw] look! Those far from you[ax] die;
you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you.[ay]
28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need.[az]
I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,
as[ba] I declare all the things you have done.
Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment
5 The Lord said,[a]
“Go up and down[b] through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and see for yourselves.
Search through its public squares.
See if any of you can find a single person
who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.[c]
If you can,[d] then I will not punish this city.[e]
2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord.[f]
But the fact is,[g] what they swear to is really a lie.”[h]
3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness.[i]
But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.[j]
Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.
They have become as hardheaded as a rock.[k]
They refuse to change their ways.[l]
4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.[m]
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.[n]
They do not know what their God requires of them.[o]
5 I will go to the leaders[p]
and speak with them.
Surely they know what the Lord demands.[q]
Surely they know what their God requires of them.”[r]
Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority
and refuse to submit to him.[s]
6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.
Like a wolf from the rift valley they will destroy them.
Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities
and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.[t]
For they have rebelled so much
and done so many unfaithful things.[u]
7 The Lord asked,[v]
“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem?[w]
Your people[x] have rejected me
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all.[y]
Even though I supplied all their needs,[z] they were like an unfaithful wife to me.[aa]
They went flocking[ab] to the houses of prostitutes.[ac]
8 They are like lusty, well-fed[ad] stallions.
Each of them lusts after[ae] his neighbor’s wife.
9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”[af]
25 For circumcision[a] has its value if you practice the law, but[b] if you break the law,[c] your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys[d] the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And the physically uncircumcised man,[e] by keeping the law, will judge you to be the transgressor of the law, even though[f] you have the letter[g] and circumcision! 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart[h] by the Spirit[i] and not by the letter.[j] This person’s[k] praise is not from people but from God.
3 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Actually, there are many advantages.[l] First of all,[m] the Jews[n] were entrusted with the oracles of God.[o] 3 What then? If some were unfaithful, their unfaithfulness will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? 4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being[p] shown up as a liar,[q] just as it is written: “so that you will be justified[r] in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”[s]
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates[t] the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)[u] 6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances[v] his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?—as some who slander us allege that we say.[w] (Their[x] condemnation is deserved!)
The Condemnation of the World
9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 10 just as it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one,
11 there is no one who understands,
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.”[y]
13 “Their throats are open graves,[z]
they deceive with their tongues,
the poison of asps is under their lips.”[aa]
14 “Their mouths are[ab] full of cursing and bitterness.”[ac]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”[ad]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[ae]
30 I can do nothing on my own initiative.[a] Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,[b] because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.[c]
More Testimony About Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another[d] who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. 33 You have sent to John,[e] and he has testified to the truth. 34 (I do not accept[f] human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining,[g] and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time[h] in his light.
36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds[i] that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds[j] I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people[k] have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,[l] 38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 39 You study the scriptures thoroughly[m] because you think in them you possess eternal life,[n] and it is these same scriptures[o] that testify about me, 40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept[p] praise[q] from people,[r] 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God[s] within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept[t] me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept[u] him. 44 How can you believe, if you accept praise[v] from one another and don’t seek the praise[w] that comes from the only God?[x]
45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.[y] 46 If[z] you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses[aa] wrote, how will you believe my words?”
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