Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Silent Dove at a Distance.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man would crush me;
all day long he who battles oppresses me.
2 All day long my enemies would crush me,
for there are many who arrogantly battle against me.
3 In the day when I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God whose word I praise,
in God I have trusted; I will not fear.
What can mere flesh do to me?
5 Every day they twist my words;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
when they wait for my life.
7 Should there be deliverance for them on account of wickedness?
In Your anger cast down the peoples, O God.
8 You take account of my wandering;
put my tears in Your bottle;
are they not in Your book?
9 In the day I cry to You,
then my enemies will turn back;
this I know, that God is for me.
10 In God whose word I praise,
in the Lord whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust, I will not fear;
what can a man do to me?
12 Your vows are on me, O God;
I will complete them with thank offerings to You;
13 for You have delivered my soul from death,
even my feet from stumbling,
to walk before God
in the light of the living.
Psalm 57(A)
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David when he fled from Saul in the cave.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me!
For my soul seeks refuge in You;
in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
until the ruinous storm passes by.
2 I will cry to God Most High,
to God who vindicates me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me
from the taunt of the one who crushes me. Selah
God will send forth His mercy and His truth.
4 My soul is among lions,
and I lie among the sons of men who blaze like fire,
whose teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongue a sharp sword.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
may Your glory be above all the earth.
6 They have prepared a net for my steps;
my soul is bowed down;
they have dug a pit before me,
but they have fallen into it. Selah
7 My heart is fixed, O God,
my heart is fixed;
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, psaltery and harp!
I will awake the dawn.
9 I will thank You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
10 For Your mercy is great up to the heavens,
and Your truth extends to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
may Your glory be above all the earth.
Psalm 58
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David.
1 Do you truly speak righteousness, O heavenly gods?
Do you judge uprightly, O earthly men?
2 Indeed, in the heart you work wickedness;
you weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb onward;
those who speak lies go astray from birth.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
they are like the deaf adder that plugs its ear,
5 and will not listen to the voice of charmers,
even the best and wisest enchanter.
6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God;
break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
7 May they melt away as waters which run continually;
when he bends his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be trodden under.
8 May they become as a snail that melts as it goes,
like the untimely birth of a woman, may they not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns’ heat, green or burning,
may He sweep them away.
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
11 and people will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”
Psalm 64
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
guard my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked,
from the throng of the workers of iniquity;
3 they sharpen their tongue like a sword,
and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 that they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They harden themselves in an evil matter;
they talk privately of laying snares;
they say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise injustice,
saying “We have perfected a secret plot.”
Both the inward thought of man and the heart are deep.
7 But God will suddenly shoot them with an arrow;
they will be wounded.
8 They will bring ruin on themselves
by their own tongues;
all who see them will flee away.
9 All people will fear,
and declare the work of God;
they will wisely consider His deeds.
10 The righteous will be glad in the Lord,
and seek refuge in Him,
and all the upright in heart will glory.
Psalm 65
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion;
and to You a vow will be fulfilled.
2 O You who hears prayer,
to You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities are stronger than me;
as for our transgressions, You atone for them.
4 Blessed is the man You choose and allow to draw near;
he will dwell in Your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
even of Your holy temple.
5 In righteousness You will answer us gloriously,
O God of our salvation,
You, who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
and of those who are afar off on the sea;
6 who established the mountains by His strength,
being clothed with might;
7 who stills the noise of the seas,
the noise of their waves,
and the tumult of peoples.
8 Those who dwell in the uttermost parts
are in awe because of Your signs;
You make the going out of the morning and evening rejoice.
9 You visit the earth, and water it;
You enrich it
with the river of God, which is full of water;
You prepare their grain,
for thus You have established it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly;
You settle its ridges;
You soften it with showers;
You bless its sprouting.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
and Your paths drip abundance.
12 They drip on the pastures of the wilderness,
and the hills clothe themselves with rejoicing.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
the valleys also are covered with grain;
they shout for joy, they also sing.
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 Then he said, “Here, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; and then you may rise early and go on your way.”
They said, “No, we will stay in the open square all night.”
3 But he strongly insisted, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 They then called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may have relations with them.”
6 So Lot went out through the door to them and shut the door behind him. 7 Then he said, “Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have not been with a man. Please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
9 But they replied, “Stand back!” Also, they said, “This man came here as an alien, and he keeps acting like a judge. We will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against Lot, and came close to breaking down the door.
10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men that were at the door of the house, both small and great, with blindness so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, take them out of this place! 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has grown great before the presence of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Otherwise you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.”
16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his and his wife’s hands, along with the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 When they had brought them out, one of them said to them, “Escape for your lives! Do not look behind you or stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed.”
18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! 19 Your servant has found grace in your eyes, and you have shown your mercy, which you have shown to me by saving my life. However, I cannot escape to the mountain. Otherwise some evil will overtake me, and I will die. 20 Look, this city is close enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please, let me escape there (is it not a little one?), and my life will be saved.”
21 He said to him, “I have granted your request in this matter also. I will not overthrow this city of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was from the Lord out of heaven. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the valley, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he stood before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
Faith
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old obtained a good report.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was framed by the word of God, so that things that are seen were not made out of things which are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain offered. Through this he was approved as righteous, with God testifying concerning his gifts. He still speaks through his faith, though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken to heaven so that he would not see death. He was not found, because God took him away. For before he was taken, he had this commendation, that he pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to save his family, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he would later receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the promised land, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise, 10 for he was looking for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself also received the ability to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, who was as good as dead, sprang so many, a multitude as the stars of the sky and innumerable as the sand by the seashore.
27 Do not work for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they asked Him, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign do You show then, that we may see and believe You? What work will You perform? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[a]”
32 Then Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I told you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 All whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and he who comes to Me I will never cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who has sent Me, that of all whom He has given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.