Book of Common Prayer
BOOK 1
The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.
1 How blessed is the man who (A)does not walk in the (B)counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the [a](C)path of sinners,
Nor (D)sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his (E)delight is (F)in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates (G)day and (H)night.
3 He will be like (I)a tree firmly planted by [b]streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its [c]leaf does not wither;
And [d]in whatever he does, (J)he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like (K)chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore (L)the wicked will not stand in the (M)judgment,
Nor sinners in (N)the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord [e](O)knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of (P)the wicked will perish.
The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.
2 Why are (Q)the [f]nations in an uproar
And the peoples (R)devising a vain thing?
2 The (S)kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
(T)Against the Lord and against His [g](U)Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us (V)tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”
4 He who [h]sits in the heavens (W)laughs,
The Lord (X)scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His (Y)anger
And (Z)terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have [i]installed (AA)My King
Upon Zion, (AB)My holy mountain.”
7 “I will surely tell of the [j]decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are (AC)My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and (AD)I will surely give (AE)the [k]nations as Your inheritance,
And the very (AF)ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall [l](AG)break them with a [m]rod of iron,
You shall (AH)shatter them like [n]earthenware.’”
10 Now therefore, O kings, (AI)show discernment;
Take warning, O [o]judges of the earth.
11 [p]Worship the Lord with [q](AJ)reverence
And rejoice with (AK)trembling.
12 [r]Do homage to (AL)the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For (AM)His wrath may [s]soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who (AN)take refuge in Him!
Morning Prayer of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David, when [t]he fled from Absalom his son.
3 O Lord, how (AO)my adversaries have increased!
Many are rising up against me.
2 Many are saying [u]of my soul,
“There is no [v](AP)deliverance for him in God.” [w]Selah.
3 But You, O Lord, are (AQ)a shield about me,
My (AR)glory, and the One who (AS)lifts my head.
4 I was crying to the Lord with my voice,
And He (AT)answered me from (AU)His holy [x]mountain. Selah.
5 [y]I (AV)lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.
6 I will (AW)not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have (AX)set themselves against me round about.
7 (AY)Arise, O Lord; (AZ)save me, O my God!
For You [z]have (BA)smitten all my enemies on the [aa]cheek;
You [ab]have (BB)shattered the teeth of the wicked.
8 [ac](BC)Salvation belongs to the Lord;
Your (BD)blessing [ad]be upon Your people! Selah.
Evening Prayer of Trust in God.
[ae]For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
4 (BE)Answer me when (BF)I call, O God [af]of my righteousness!
You have [ag](BG)relieved me in my distress;
Be (BH)gracious to me and (BI)hear my prayer.
2 O sons of men, how long will (BJ)my [ah]honor become (BK)a reproach?
How long will you love (BL)what is worthless and aim at (BM)deception? [ai]Selah.
3 But know that the Lord has [aj](BN)set apart the (BO)godly man for Himself;
The Lord (BP)hears when I call to Him.
4 [ak](BQ)Tremble, [al](BR)and do not sin;
[am](BS)Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer [an]the (BT)sacrifices of righteousness,
And (BU)trust in the Lord.
6 Many are saying, “(BV)Who will show us any good?”
(BW)Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord!
7 You have put (BX)gladness in my heart,
More than when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will [ao]both (BY)lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me to (BZ)dwell in safety.
The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.
A [a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord [b]concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
7 O Lord my God, (A)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and (B)deliver me,
2 Or he will tear [c]my soul (C)like a lion,
[d]Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is (D)injustice in my hands,
4 If I have (E)rewarded evil to [e]my friend,
Or have (F)plundered [f]him who without cause was my adversary,
5 Let the enemy pursue [g]my soul and overtake [h]it;
And let him trample my life down to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. [i]Selah.
6 (G)Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
(H)Lift up Yourself against (I)the rage of my adversaries,
And (J)arouse Yourself [j]for me; You have appointed judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the (K)peoples encompass You,
And over [k]them return on high.
8 The Lord (L)judges the peoples;
[l](M)Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 O let (N)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but (O)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God (P)tries the hearts and [m]minds.
10 My (Q)shield is [n]with God,
Who (R)saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a (S)righteous judge,
And a God who has (T)indignation every day.
12 If [o]a man (U)does not repent, He will (V)sharpen His sword;
He has (W)bent His bow and [p]made it ready.
13 He has also prepared [q]for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His (X)arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, he travails with wickedness,
And he (Y)conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has (Z)fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His (AA)mischief will return upon his own head,
And his (AB)violence will descend upon [r]his own pate.
Saul’s Disobedience
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “(A)The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the [a]words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will [b]punish Amalek (B)for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and (C)utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but (D)put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
7 So (A)Saul [a]defeated the Amalekites, from (B)Havilah as you go to (C)Shur, which is [b]east of Egypt. 8 He captured (D)Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and (E)utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people (F)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Samuel Rebukes Saul
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “(G)I regret that I have made Saul king, for (H)he has turned back from [c]following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and (I)cried out to the Lord all night. 12 Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to (J)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on [d]down to (K)Gilgal.” 13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “(L)Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “(M)What then is this [e]bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the [f]lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for (N)the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait, and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”
17 Samuel said, “Is it not true, (O)though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a [g]mission, and said, ‘(P)Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, (Q)but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “(R)I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the [h]mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But (S)the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22 Samuel said,
“(T)Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, (U)to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 “For rebellion is as the sin of (V)divination,
And insubordination is as (W)iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
(X)He has also rejected you from being king.”
19 and he took food and was strengthened.
Saul Begins to Preach Christ
Now (A)for several days he was with (B)the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus (C)in the synagogues, [a]saying, “He is (D)the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem (E)destroyed those who (F)called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the [b]Christ.
23 When (G)many days had elapsed, (H)the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but (I)their plot became known to Saul. (J)They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.
26 (K)When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; [c]but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27 But (L)Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had (M)seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how (N)at Damascus he had (O)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them, [d]moving about freely in Jerusalem, (P)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he was talking and arguing with the [e](Q)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. 30 But when (R)the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to (S)Caesarea and (T)sent him away to (U)Tarsus.
31 So (V)the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria [f]enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
44 (A)It was now about [a](B)the sixth hour, and darkness [b]fell over the whole land until [c]the ninth hour, 45 [d]because the sun was obscured; and (C)the veil of the temple was torn [e]in two. 46 And Jesus, (D)crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, (E)into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. 47 (F)Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began (G)praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was [f]innocent.” 48 And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, [g](H)beating their breasts. 49 (I)And all His acquaintances and (J)the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.
Jesus Is Buried
50 (K)And a man named Joseph, who was a (L)member of the Council, a good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was (M)waiting for the kingdom of God; 52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. 54 It was (N)the [h]preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to [i]begin. 55 Now (O)the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they returned and (P)prepared spices and perfumes.
And (Q)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.