Book of Common Prayer
Supplication for Deliverance and Grateful Trust in God.
For the choir director; according to [a]Jonath elem rehokim. A [b]Mikhtam of David, [c]when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man has [d](A)trampled upon me;
[e]Fighting all day long he (B)oppresses me.
2 My foes have [f](C)trampled upon me all day long,
For [g]they are many who (D)fight proudly against me.
3 [h]When I am (E)afraid,
[i]I will (F)put my trust in You.
4 (G)In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
(H)What can mere [j]man do to me?
5 All day long they [k](I)distort my words;
All their [l](J)thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They [m](K)attack, they lurk,
They (L)watch my [n]steps,
As they have (M)waited to take my [o]life.
7 Because of wickedness, [p](N)cast them forth,
In anger (O)put down the peoples, O God!
8 You (P)have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my (Q)tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in (R)Your book?
9 Then my enemies will (S)turn back (T)in the day when I call;
This I know, [q]that (U)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my [r]trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your (V)vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
13 For You have (W)delivered my soul from death,
[s]Indeed (X)my feet from stumbling,
So that I may (Y)walk before God
In the (Z)light of the [t]living.
Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.
For the choir director; set to [u]Al-tashheth. A [v]Mikhtam of David, [w]when he fled from Saul in the cave.
57 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul (AA)takes refuge in You;
And in the (AB)shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
Until destruction (AC)passes by.
2 I will cry to God Most High,
To God who (AD)accomplishes all things for me.
3 He will (AE)send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who [x](AF)tramples upon me. [y]Selah.
God will send forth His (AG)lovingkindness and His [z]truth.
4 My soul is among (AH)lions;
I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,
Even the sons of men, whose (AI)teeth are spears and arrows
And their (AJ)tongue a sharp sword.
5 (AK)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 They have [aa]prepared a (AL)net for my steps;
My soul is (AM)bowed down;
They (AN)dug a pit before me;
They themselves have (AO)fallen into the midst of it. Selah.
7 (AP)My (AQ)heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
8 Awake, (AR)my glory!
Awake, (AS)harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (AT)I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the [ab]nations.
10 For Your (AU)lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your [ac]truth to the clouds.
11 (AV)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
For the choir director; set to [ad]Al-tashheth. A [ae]Mikhtam of David.
58 Do you indeed [af]speak righteousness, O [ag]gods?
Do you (AW)judge [ah]uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you (AX)work unrighteousness;
On earth you (AY)weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged (AZ)from the womb;
These who speak lies (BA)go astray from [ai]birth.
4 They have venom like the (BB)venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it (BC)does not hear the voice of [aj](BD)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, (BE)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them (BF)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [ak](BG)aims his arrows, let them be as [al]headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which [am]melts away as it goes along,
Like the (BH)miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
9 Before your (BI)pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will (BJ)sweep them away with a whirlwind, the [an]green and the burning alike.
Prayer for Deliverance from Secret Enemies.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in (A)my [a]complaint;
(B)Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the (C)secret counsel of evildoers,
From the tumult of (D)those who do iniquity,
3 Who (E)have sharpened their tongue like a sword.
They (F)aimed bitter speech as their arrow,
4 To (G)shoot [b]from concealment at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him, and (H)do not fear.
5 They [c]hold fast to themselves an evil purpose;
They [d]talk of (I)laying snares secretly;
They say, “(J)Who can see them?”
6 They [e]devise injustices, saying,
“We are [f]ready with a well-conceived plot”;
For the [g](K)inward thought and the heart of a man are [h]deep.
7 But (L)God [i]will shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly [j]they will be wounded.
8 So [k]they [l]will (M)make him stumble;
(N)Their own tongue is against them;
All who see them will (O)shake the head.
9 Then all men [m]will (P)fear,
And they [n]will (Q)declare the work of God,
And [o]will consider [p]what He has done.
10 The righteous man will be (R)glad in the Lord and will (S)take refuge in Him;
And all the upright in heart will glory.
God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 There will be silence [q]before You, and praise in Zion, O God,
And to You the (T)vow will be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
To You (U)all [r]men come.
3 [s](V)Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions, You [t](W)forgive them.
4 How (X)blessed is the one whom You (Y)choose and bring near to You
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be (Z)satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5 By (AA)awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O (AB)God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the (AC)ends of the earth and of the farthest [u](AD)sea;
6 Who (AE)establishes the mountains by His strength,
Being (AF)girded with might;
7 Who (AG)stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the (AH)tumult of the peoples.
8 They who dwell in the (AI)ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the [v]dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (AJ)cause it to overflow;
You greatly (AK)enrich it;
The [w](AL)stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their (AM)grain, for thus You prepare [x]the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You [y]settle its ridges,
You soften it (AN)with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You have crowned the year [z]with Your [aa](AO)bounty,
And Your [ab]paths (AP)drip with fatness.
12 (AQ)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the (AR)hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are (AS)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are (AT)covered with grain;
They (AU)shout for joy, yes, they sing.
Ahab Covets Naboth’s Vineyard
21 Now it came about after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in (A)Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “(B)Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if [a]you like, I will give you the price of [b]it in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid me (C)that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” 4 (D)So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no [c]food.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating [d]food?” 6 So he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7 Jezebel his wife said to him, “(E)Do you now [e]reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 (F)So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to (G)the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city. 9 Now she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; 10 and seat two (H)worthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘(I)You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and (J)stone him [f]to death.”
Jezebel’s Plot
11 So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent them. 12 They (K)proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people. 13 Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” (L)So they took him outside the city and stoned him [g]to death with stones. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
Appeal to Unity
1 Paul, (A)called as an apostle of Jesus Christ [a]by (B)the will of God, and (C)Sosthenes our (D)brother,
2 To (E)the church of God which is at (F)Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, [b]saints (G)by calling, with all who in every place (H)call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 (I)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 (J)I thank [c]my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were (K)enriched in Him, in all (L)speech and (M)all knowledge, 6 even as (N)the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed [d]in you, 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, (O)awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 (P)who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in (Q)the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 (R)God is faithful, through whom you were (S)called into (T)fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now (U)I exhort you, (V)brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [e]agree and that there be no [f](W)divisions among you, but that you be [g]made complete in (X)the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that (Y)each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of (Z)Apollos,” and “I of (AA)Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 [h]Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you (AB)baptized [i]in the name of Paul? 14 [j]I thank God that I (AC)baptized none of you except (AD)Crispus and (AE)Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized [k]in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the (AF)household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 (AG)For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, (AH)not in [l]cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
The Wisdom of God
18 For the word of the cross is (AI)foolishness to (AJ)those who [m]are perishing, but to us who [n]are being saved it is (AK)the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“(AL)I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
The Temptation of Jesus
4 (A)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness (B)to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had (C)fasted forty days and forty nights, He [a]then became hungry. 3 And (D)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the (E)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘(F)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil *took Him into (G)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘(H)He will command His angels concerning You’;
and
‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “[b]On the other hand, it is written, ‘(I)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 (J)Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “(K)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and [c]worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘(L)You shall worship the Lord your God, and [d]serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, (M)angels came and began to minister to Him.
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