Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Faith in Time of Distress
To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. (A)On [a]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (B)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
O Lord, (C)heal me, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly (D)troubled;
But You, O Lord—how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver me!
Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
5 (E)For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?
Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy
To the Chief Musician. (A)On [a]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
12 Help,[b] Lord, for the godly man (B)ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 (C)They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and [c]a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord [d]cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks [e]proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are (D)pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
God the Refuge of the Righteous
94 O Lord God, (A)to whom vengeance belongs—
O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O (B)Judge of the earth;
[a]Render punishment to the proud.
3 Lord, (C)how long will the wicked,
How long will the wicked triumph?
4 They (D)utter speech, and speak insolent things;
All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.
5 They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,
And afflict Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger,
And murder the fatherless.
7 (E)Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob [b]understand.”
8 Understand, you senseless among the people;
And you fools, when will you be wise?
9 (F)He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He who [c]instructs the [d]nations, shall He not correct,
He who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord (G)knows the thoughts of man,
That they are futile.
12 Blessed is the man whom You (H)instruct, O Lord,
And teach out of Your law,
13 That You may give him [e]rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not [f]cast off His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
15 But judgment will return to righteousness,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.
18 If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.
19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall (I)the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,
Have fellowship with You?
21 They gather together against the life of the righteous,
And condemn (J)innocent blood.
22 But the Lord has been my defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He has brought on them their own iniquity,
And shall [g]cut them off in their own wickedness;
The Lord our God shall cut them off.
Jeremiah’s Dejection
10 (A)Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole [a]earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
11 The Lord said:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause (B)the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as (C)plunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will [b]make you cross over with your enemies
(D)Into a land which you do not know;
For a (E)fire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, (F)You know;
Remember me and [c]visit me,
And (G)take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
Know that (H)for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I (I)ate them,
And (J)Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
17 (K)I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my (L)pain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Which refuses to be healed?
Will You surely be to me (M)like an unreliable stream,
As waters that [d]fail?
The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(N)“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall (O)stand before Me;
If you (P)take out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze (Q)wall;
And they will fight against you,
But (R)they shall not prevail against you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”
15 Therefore let us, as many as are (A)mature, (B)have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, (C)God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already [a]attained, (D)let us walk (E)by the same [b]rule, let us be of the same mind.
Our Citizenship in Heaven
17 Brethren, (F)join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as (G)you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are (H)the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 (I)whose end is destruction, (J)whose god is their belly, and (K)whose glory is in their shame—(L)who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For (M)our citizenship is in heaven, (N)from which we also (O)eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 (P)who will transform our lowly body that it may be (Q)conformed to His glorious body, (R)according to the working by which He is able even to (S)subdue all things to Himself.
The Fruitful Grain of Wheat
20 Now there (A)were certain Greeks among those (B)who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, (C)who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, (D)“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, (E)unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much [a]grain. 25 (F)He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him (G)follow Me; and (H)where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.