Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 55[a]
A Lament over Betrayal
1 For the leader. On stringed instruments. A maskil of David.
I
2 Listen, God, to my prayer;(A)
do not hide from my pleading;
3 hear me and give answer.
I rock with grief; I groan
4 at the uproar of the enemy,
the clamor of the wicked.
They heap trouble upon me,
savagely accuse me.
5 My heart pounds within me;
death’s terrors fall upon me.
6 Fear and trembling overwhelm me;
shuddering sweeps over me.
7 I say, “If only I had wings like a dove
that I might fly away and find rest.(B)
8 Far away I would flee;
I would stay in the desert.(C)
Selah
9 “I would soon find a shelter
from the raging wind and storm.”
II
10 Lord, check and confuse their tongues.
For I see violence and strife in the city
11 making rounds on its walls day and night.
Within are mischief and trouble;
12 treachery is in its midst;
oppression and fraud never leave its streets.(D)
13 For it is not an enemy that reviled me—
that I could bear—
Not a foe who viewed me with contempt,
from that I could hide.
14 But it was you, my other self,
my comrade and friend,(E)
15 You, whose company I enjoyed,
at whose side I walked
in the house of God.
III
16 Let death take them;
let them go down alive to Sheol,(F)
for evil is in their homes and bellies.
17 But I will call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
18 At dusk, dawn, and noon
I will grieve and complain,
and my prayer will be heard.(G)
19 He will redeem my soul in peace
from those who war against me,
though there are many who oppose me.
20 God, who sits enthroned forever,(H)
will hear me and afflict them.
Selah
For they will not mend their ways;
they have no fear of God.
21 He stretched out his hand at his friends
and broke his covenant.
22 Softer than butter is his speech,
but war is in his heart.
Smoother than oil are his words,
but they are unsheathed swords.(I)
23 Cast your care upon the Lord,
who will give you support.
He will never allow
the righteous to stumble.(J)
24 But you, God, will bring them down
to the pit of destruction.(K)
These bloodthirsty liars
will not live half their days,
but I put my trust in you.(L)
Psalm 138[a]
Hymn of a Grateful Heart
1 Of David.
I
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;(A)
in the presence of the angels[b] to you I sing.
2 I bow low toward your holy temple;
I praise your name for your mercy and faithfulness.
For you have exalted over all
your name and your promise.
3 On the day I cried out, you answered;
you strengthened my spirit.
II
4 All the kings of earth will praise you, Lord,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 They will sing of the ways of the Lord:
“How great is the glory of the Lord!”
6 The Lord is on high, but cares for the lowly(B)
and knows the proud from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of dangers,
you guard my life when my enemies rage.
You stretch out your hand;
your right hand saves me.
8 The Lord is with me to the end.
Lord, your mercy endures forever.
Never forsake the work of your hands!
Psalm 139[c]
The All-knowing and Ever-present God
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
Lord, you have probed me, you know me:
2 you know when I sit and stand;[d](C)
you understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You sift through my travels and my rest;
with all my ways you are familiar.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
Lord, you know it all.
5 Behind and before you encircle me
and rest your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
far too lofty for me to reach.(D)
7 Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I flee?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.(E)
9 If I take the wings of dawn[e]
and dwell beyond the sea,
10 Even there your hand guides me,
your right hand holds me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light”[f]—
12 Darkness is not dark for you,
and night shines as the day.
Darkness and light are but one.(F)
II
13 You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.(G)
14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
15 My bones are not hidden from you,
When I was being made in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.[g]
16 Your eyes saw me unformed;
in your book all are written down;(H)
my days were shaped, before one came to be.
III
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God;
how vast the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sands;
when I complete them, still you are with me.(I)
19 When you would destroy the wicked, O God,
the bloodthirsty depart from me!(J)
20 Your foes who conspire a plot against you
are exalted in vain.
IV
21 Do I not hate, Lord, those who hate you?
Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?(K)
22 With fierce hatred I hate them,
enemies I count as my own.
23 Probe me, God, know my heart;
try me, know my thoughts.(L)
2 the great testings your own eyes have seen, and those great signs and wonders.(A) 3 But the Lord has not given you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear until this day.(B) 4 (C)I led you for forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes did not fall from you in tatters nor your sandals from your feet; 5 it was not bread that you ate, nor wine or beer that you drank—so that you might know that I, the Lord, am your God. 6 (D)When you came to this place, Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, came out to engage us in battle, but we defeated them 7 and took their land, and gave it as a heritage to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.(E) 8 Observe carefully the words of this covenant, therefore, in order that you may succeed in whatever you do.(F)
All Israel Bound by Covenant. 9 You are standing today, all of you, in the presence of the Lord, your God—your tribal heads, elders, and officials, all of the men of Israel, 10 your children, your wives, and the resident alien who lives in your camp, from those who cut wood to those who draw water for you— 11 to enter into the covenant of the Lord, your God, which the Lord, your God, is making with you today, with its curse, 12 so that he may establish you today as his people and he may be your God, as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 13 (G)But it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant, with its curse, 14 but with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord, our God, and with those who are not here with us[a] today.
Warning Against Idolatry. 15 You know that we lived in the land of Egypt and that we passed through the nations, that you too passed through
Chapter 9
God’s Indescribable Gift.[a] 1 Now about the service to the holy ones, it is superfluous for me to write to you, 2 for I know your eagerness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia[b] has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.(A) 3 Nonetheless, I sent the brothers[c] so that our boast about you might not prove empty in this case, so that you might be ready, as I said, 4 for fear that if any Macedonians come with me and find you not ready we might be put to shame (to say nothing of you) in this conviction. 5 So I thought it necessary to encourage the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for your promised gift, so that in this way it might be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an exaction.
6 Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.(B) 7 Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(C) 8 [d]Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”(D)
10 The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.(E)
11 [e]You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God, 12 for the administration of this public service is not only supplying the needs of the holy ones but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God. 13 Through the evidence of this service, you are glorifying God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution to them and to all others,(F) 14 while in prayer on your behalf they long for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!(G)
Saying on Children and the Kingdom. 15 [a]People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them,[b] and when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.(A) 16 Jesus, however, called the children to himself and said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”(B)
The Rich Official. 18 (C)An official asked him this question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”(D) 19 Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother.’”(E) 21 And he replied, “All of these I have observed from my youth.” 22 [c](F)When Jesus heard this he said to him, “There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard this he became quite sad, for he was very rich.
On Riches and Renunciation. 24 Jesus looked at him [now sad] and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 And he said, “What is impossible for human beings is possible for God.”(G) 28 Then Peter said, “We have given up our possessions and followed you.” 29 (H)He said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 who will not receive [back] an overabundant return in this present age and eternal life in the age to come.”
The Third Prediction of the Passion.(I)
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