Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of destruction, out of the [b]miry clay,
And (D)He set my feet upon a rock (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not [c]turned to the proud, nor to those who (J)lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 [d](N)Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have [e]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is [f]written of me.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, O my God;
(P)Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
O Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[g]Your (V)lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [h]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make (AB)haste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [i]life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [j]in my hurt.
15 Let those (AE)be [k]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation (AH)say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 Since (AI)I am afflicted and needy,
[l](AJ)Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54 Save me, O God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, O God;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. [e]Selah.
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And [e]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [f]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [g]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[h]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [i]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [j]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [k]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [l]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [m](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Saul and His Sons Slain
31 (A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain (B)on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines [a]killed (C)Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. 3 (D)The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers [b]hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 (E)Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise (F)these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. (G)So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
7 When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 It came about on the [c]next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them [d]throughout the land of the Philistines, (H)to carry the good news (I)to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his weapons in the [e]temple of (J)Ashtaroth, and (K)they fastened his body to the wall of (L)Beth-shan. 11 Now when (M)the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard [f]what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (N)all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and (O)burned them there. 13 They took their bones and (P)buried them under (Q)the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and (R)fasted seven days.
12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were (A)relating what (B)signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
James’s Judgment
13 After they had stopped speaking, [a](C)James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. 14 (D)Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 With this the words of (E)the Prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 ‘(F)After these things (G)I will return,
And I will rebuild the [b]tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 (H)So that the rest of [c]mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles [d](I)who are called by My name,’
18 (J)Says the Lord, who [e](K)makes these things known from long ago.
19 Therefore it is (L)my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from [f](M)things contaminated by idols and from (N)fornication and from (O)what is strangled and from blood. 21 For (P)Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since [g]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
Miracles and Healing
21 (A)When Jesus had crossed over again in (B)the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He [a]stayed (C)by the seashore. 22 (D)One of (E)the synagogue [b]officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet 23 and *implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and (F)lay Your hands on her, so that she will [c]get well and live.” 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.
25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His [d]cloak. 28 For she [e]thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will [f]get well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her (G)affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that (H)the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, (I)your faith has [g]made you well; (J)go in peace and be healed of your (K)affliction.”
35 While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the (L)synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the (M)synagogue official, “(N)Do not be afraid any longer, only [h]believe.” 37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except (O)Peter and [i]James and John the brother of [j]James. 38 They *came to the house of the (P)synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And entering in, He *said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. 41 Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, (Q)I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. 43 And He (R)gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.
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