Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
70 (A)O God, hasten to deliver me;
O Lord, hasten to my help!
2 (B)Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my [a]life;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [b]in my hurt.
3 (C)Let those be [c]turned back because of their shame
Who say, “Aha, aha!”
4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified.”
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.
71 (F)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (G)In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
(H)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given (K)commandment to save me,
For You are (L)my [d]rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [e]grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
O Lord [f]God, You are my (O)confidence from my youth.
6 [g]By You I have been (P)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [h]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the (W)time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [i]against me;
And those who (X)watch for my [j]life (Y)have consulted together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has forsaken him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to deliver.”
12 O God, (AB)do not be far from me;
O my God, (AC)hasten to my help!
13 Let those who are adversaries of my soul be (AD)ashamed and consumed;
Let them be (AE)covered with reproach and dishonor, who (AF)seek [k]to injure me.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)hope continually,
And will [l](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the [m]sum of them.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of the Lord [n]God;
I will (AM)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 O God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [o]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19 [p]For Your (AR)righteousness, O God, reaches to the [q]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
O God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You who have (AU)shown [r]me many troubles and distresses
Will (AV)revive [s]me again,
And will bring [t]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [u](AZ)a harp,
Even Your [v]truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the (BA)lyre,
O (BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek [w]my hurt.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Turn Your footsteps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own [d]standards (L)for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His [e](M)axe in a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now [g]all its (N)carved work
They smash with hatchet and [h]hammers.
7 They have [i](O)burned Your sanctuary [j]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [k]completely [l]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)revile,
And the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 [m]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[n]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [o]in the waters.
14 [p]You crushed the heads of [q](AC)Leviathan;
[r]You gave him as food for the [s]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [t]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[u]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[v]You have (AG)prepared the [w]light and the sun.
17 [x]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[y]You have [z]made (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [aa]O Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)reviled,
And a (AK)foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
Defeat and Death of Ahab
29 So (A)the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. 30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “(B)I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 31 Now (C)the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.” 32 So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel,” and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
34 Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel [a]in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn [b]around and take me out of the [c]fight; (D)for I am severely wounded.” 35 The battle [d]raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. 36 (E)Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his [e]country.”
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), (F)according to the word of the Lord which He spoke. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and (G)the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
The New Rulers
41 (H)Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 (I)He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. (J)However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. 44 (K)Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might which he showed and how he warred, are they not written (L)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
14 But [a]a (A)natural man (B)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (C)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually [b]appraised. 15 But he who is (D)spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For (E)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But (F)we have the mind of Christ.
Foundations for Living
3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to (G)spiritual men, but as to (H)men of flesh, as to (I)infants in Christ. 2 I gave you (J)milk to drink, not solid food; for you (K)were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is (L)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking [c](M)like mere men? 4 For when (N)one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere (O)men?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? (P)Servants through whom you believed, even (Q)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 (R)I planted, (S)Apollos watered, but (T)God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will (U)receive his own [d]reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s (V)fellow workers; you are God’s [e](W)field, God’s (X)building.
10 According to (Y)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder (Z)I laid a foundation, and (AA)another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a (AB)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, [f]precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 (AC)each man’s work will become evident; for (AD)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test [g]the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will (AE)receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet (AF)so as through fire.
The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
5 (A)When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on (B)the [a]mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 (C)He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
3 “[b](D)Blessed are the [c]poor in spirit, for (E)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are (F)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are (G)the [d]gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are (H)those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are (I)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are (J)the pure in heart, for (K)they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for (L)they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been (M)persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for (N)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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