Book of Common Prayer
God the Righteous Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The (A)Mighty One, God the Lord,
Has spoken and called the earth
From the rising of the sun to its going down.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
(B)God will shine forth.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
(C)A fire shall devour before Him,
And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
4 (D)He shall call to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
5 “Gather (E)My saints together to Me,
(F)Those who have [a]made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 Let the (G)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (H)God Himself is Judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
(I)I am God, your God!
8 (J)I will not [b]rebuke you (K)for your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
9 (L)I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
(M)For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13 (N)Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 (O)Offer to God thanksgiving,
And (P)pay your vows to the Most High.
15 (Q)Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17 (R)Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you (S)consented[c] with him,
And have been a (T)partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth to evil,
And (U)your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent;
(V)You thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And (W)set them in order before your eyes.
The Assured Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David (A)when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.
59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[b]Defend me from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.
3 For look, they lie in wait for my life;
(B)The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.
4 They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
(C)Awake to help me, and behold!
5 You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the [c]nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 (D)At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
7 Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
(E)Swords are in their lips;
For they say, (F)“Who hears?”
8 But (G)You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the [d]nations in derision.
9 I will wait for You, O You [e]his Strength;
(H)For God is my [f]defense.
10 [g]My God of mercy shall (I)come to meet me;
God shall let (J)me see my desire on my enemies.
11 Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12 (K)For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.
13 (L)Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And (M)let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah
14 And (N)at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15 They (O)wander up and down for food,
And [h]howl if they are not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
17 To You, (P)O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.
Urgent Prayer for the Restored Favor of God(Q)
To the Chief Musician. (R)Set to [i]“Lily of the Testimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching. (S)When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (T)You have cast us off;
You have broken us down;
You have been displeased;
Oh, restore us again!
2 You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it;
(U)Heal its breaches, for it is shaking.
3 (V)You have shown Your people hard things;
(W)You have made us drink the wine of [j]confusion.
4 (X)You have given a banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 (Y)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me.
6 God has (Z)spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will (AA)divide (AB)Shechem
And measure out (AC)the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
(AD)Ephraim also is the [k]helmet for My head;
(AE)Judah is My lawgiver.
8 (AF)Moab is My washpot;
(AG)Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
(AH)Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not You, O God, (AI)who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did (AJ)not go out with our armies?
11 Give us help from trouble,
(AK)For the help of man is useless.
12 Through God (AL)we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
The Eternal Reign of the Lord
93 The (A)Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord is clothed,
(B)He has girded Himself with strength.
Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be [a]moved.
2 (C)Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
3 The floods have [b]lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their waves.
4 (D)The Lord on high is mightier
Than the noise of many waters,
Than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Your testimonies are very sure;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, [c]forever.
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment(A)
96 Oh, (B)sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the [a]nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For (C)the Lord is great and (D)greatly to be praised;
(E)He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For (F)all the gods of the peoples are idols,
(G)But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and (H)beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 (I)Give[b] to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [c]Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the Lord (J)in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the [d]nations, (K)“The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be [e]moved;
(L)He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 (M)Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
(N)Let the sea roar, and [f]all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
(O)He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
Elijah’s Message to Ahab
18 And it came to pass after (A)many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and (B)I will send rain on the earth.”
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. 3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was [a]in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. 4 For so it was, while Jezebel [b]massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” 6 So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he (C)recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”
8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”
9 So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that (D)the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, (E)“Is that you, O (F)troubler of Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, (G)in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on (H)Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, (I)and the four hundred prophets of [c]Asherah, who [d]eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Light Bearers
12 Therefore, my beloved, (A)as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, (B)work out your own salvation with (C)fear and trembling; 13 for (D)it is God who works in you both to will and to do (E)for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things (F)without [a]complaining and (G)disputing,[b] 15 that you may become blameless and [c]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as (H)lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that (I)I may rejoice in the day of Christ that (J)I have not run in vain or labored in (K)vain.
17 Yes, and if (L)I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice (M)and service of your faith, (N)I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
Timothy Commended
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send (O)Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your [d]state. 20 For I have no one (P)like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, (Q)that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.
Epaphroditus Praised
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you (R)Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and (S)fellow soldier, (T)but your messenger and (U)the one who ministered to my need; 26 (V)since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, [e]not regarding his life, (W)to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
The Flight into Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, (A)“Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Massacre of the Innocents
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 “A (B)voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”
The Home in Nazareth(C)
19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 (D)saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who (E)sought the young Child’s life are dead.” 21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a (F)dream, he turned aside (G)into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called (H)Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled (I)which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.