Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56
A Call for God’s Protection
For the choir director: according to “A Silent Dove Far Away.”[a] A Davidic Miktam. When the Philistines seized him in Gath.(A)
1 Be gracious to me, God, for man tramples me;
he fights and oppresses me all day long.
2 My adversaries trample me all day,
for many arrogantly fight against me.[b](B)
3 When I am afraid,
I will trust in You.(C)
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?(D)
5 They twist my words all day long;
all their thoughts against me are evil.(E)
6 They stir up strife,[c] they lurk;
they watch my steps
while they wait to take my life.(F)
7 Will they escape in spite of such sin?
God, bring down the nations in wrath.(G)
8 You Yourself have recorded my wanderings.[d]
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your records?(H)
9 Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call.(I)
This I know: God is for me.(J)
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?(K)
12 I am obligated by vows[e] to You, God;
I will make my thank offerings to You.(L)
13 For You delivered me from death,
even my feet from stumbling,
to walk before God in the light of life.(M)
Psalm 57
Praise for God’s Protection
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.”[f] A Davidic Miktam. When he fled before Saul into the cave.(N)
1 Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for I take refuge in You.
I will seek refuge in the shadow of Your wings
until danger passes.(O)
2 I call to God Most High,
to God who fulfills His purpose for me.[g](P)
3 He reaches down from heaven and saves me,
challenging the one who tramples me.(Q)
God sends His faithful love and truth.(R)
4 I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down with those who devour men.
Their teeth are spears and arrows;
their tongues are sharp swords.(S)
5 God, be exalted above the heavens;
let Your glory be over the whole earth.(T)
6 They prepared a net for my steps;
I was despondent.
They dug a pit ahead of me,
but they fell into it!(U)
7 My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident.
I will sing; I will sing praises.(V)
8 Wake up, my soul![h]
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.(W)
9 I will praise You, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.(X)
10 For Your faithful love is as high as the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches the clouds.(Y)
11 God, be exalted above the heavens;(Z)
let Your glory be over the whole earth.(AA)
Psalm 58
A Cry against Injustice
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.”[i] A Davidic Miktam.
1 Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones?[j]
Do you judge people fairly?(AB)
2 No, you practice injustice in your hearts;
with your hands you weigh out violence in the land.(AC)
3 The wicked go astray from the womb;
liars err from birth.(AD)
4 They have venom like the venom of a snake,
like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears,(AE)
5 that does not listen to the sound of the charmers
who skillfully weave spells.(AF)
6 God, knock the teeth out of their mouths;
Lord, tear out the young lions’ fangs.(AG)
7 They will vanish like water that flows by;
they will aim their useless arrows.[k][l](AH)
8 Like a slug that moves along in slime,
like a woman’s miscarried child,
they will not see the sun.(AI)
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether green or burning—
He will sweep them away.[m](AJ)
10 The righteous one will rejoice
when he sees the retribution;(AK)
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.(AL)
11 Then people will say,
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
There is a God who judges on earth!”(AM)
Psalm 64
Protection from Evildoers
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 God, hear my voice when I complain.(A)
Protect my life from the terror of the enemy.(B)
2 Hide me from the scheming of wicked people,(C)
from the mob of evildoers,(D)
3 who sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim bitter words like arrows,(E)
4 shooting from concealed places at the innocent.
They shoot at him suddenly and are not afraid.(F)
5 They encourage each other in an evil plan;[a][b]
they talk about hiding traps and say,
“Who will see them?”[c](G)
6 They devise crimes and say,
“We have perfected a secret plan.”(H)
The inner man and the heart are mysterious.
7 But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly, they will be wounded.(I)
8 They will be made to stumble;
their own tongues work against them.
All who see them will shake their heads.(J)
9 Then everyone will fear
and will tell about God’s work,
for they will understand what He has done.(K)
10 The righteous one rejoices in the Lord
and takes refuge in Him;
all those who are upright in heart
will offer praise.(L)
Psalm 65
God’s Care for the Earth
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm. A song.
1 Praise is rightfully Yours,[d]
God, in Zion;
vows to You will be fulfilled.(M)
2 All humanity will come to You,
the One who hears prayer.(N)
3 Iniquities overwhelm me;
only You can atone for[e] our rebellions.(O)
4 How happy is the one You choose
and bring near to live in Your courts!
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple.[f](P)
5 You answer us in righteousness,
with awe-inspiring works,
God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the distant seas.(Q)
6 You establish the mountains by Your[g] power,
robed with strength.(R)
7 You silence the roar of the seas,
the roar of their waves,
and the tumult of the nations.(S)
8 Those who live far away are awed by Your signs;
You make east and west shout for joy.(T)
9 You visit the earth and water it abundantly,
enriching it greatly.
God’s stream is filled with water,
for You prepare the earth[h] in this way,
providing people with grain.(U)
10 You soften it with showers and bless its growth,
soaking its furrows and leveling its ridges.(V)
11 You crown the year with Your goodness;
Your ways overflow with plenty.[i](W)
12 The wilderness pastures overflow,
and the hills are robed with joy.(X)
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks
and the valleys covered with grain.(Y)
They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.(Z)
Returning to the Lord
30 “When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing[a] everything I am giving you today, 3 then He will restore your fortunes,[b] have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.(A) 4 Even if your exiles are at the ends of the earth,[c] He will gather you and bring you back from there.(B) 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it.(C) He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than He did your fathers. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart(D) and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands(E) with children,[d] the offspring of your livestock, and your land’s produce. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, 10 when you obey the Lord your God by keeping His commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to Him with all your heart and all your soul.
Paul’s Apostolic Authority
10 Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent. 2 I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving in an unspiritual way.[a](A) 3 For though we live in the body,[b] we do not wage war in an unspiritual way,[c] 4 since the weapons of our warfare(B) are not worldly,[d] but are powerful(C) through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge(D) of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience has been confirmed.
7 Look at what is obvious.[e] If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ,(E) he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we. 8 For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up(F) and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed. 9 I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters. 10 For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak, and his public speaking is despicable.” 11 Such a person should consider this: What we are in the words of our letters when absent, we will be in actions when present.
12 For we don’t dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend(G) themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves,(H) they lack understanding.(I) 13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned(J) to us, which reaches even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We are not bragging beyond measure about other people’s labors. But we have the hope(K) that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you,(L) not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.(M) 17 So the one who boasts must boast in the Lord.(N)[f] 18 For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.(O)
The Third Prediction of His Death
31 Then(A) He took the Twelve aside and told them, “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem.(B) Everything that is written(C) through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.(D) 32 For He will be handed over to the Gentiles,(E) and He will be mocked,(F) insulted, spit(G) on; 33 and after they flog Him, they will kill Him, and He will rise on the third day.”(H)
34 They understood none of these things.(I) This saying[a](J) was hidden(K) from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
A Blind Man Receives His Sight
35 As(L) He drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what this meant. 37 “Jesus the Nazarene(M) is passing by,” they told him.
38 So he called out,(N) “Jesus, Son of David,(O) have mercy(P) on me!” 39 Then those in front told him to keep quiet,[b] but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him. When he drew near, He asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”
42 “Receive your sight!”(Q) Jesus told him. “Your faith has healed you.”[c](R) 43 Instantly he could see, and he began to follow Him, glorifying God.(S) All the people,(T) when they saw it, gave praise to God.
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