Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, is the Lord;
He has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined.
3 Our God will come, and will not keep silent;
a fire consumes before Him,
and a strong tempest is around Him.
4 He calls to the heavens above,
and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
5 “Gather My faithful ones together to Me,
those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens will declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
I am God, even your God.
8 I will not reprove you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings that are continually before Me.
9 I will take no young bull out of your house,
nor male goats out of your folds.
10 For every wild animal of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and the creatures that move in the field are Mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and pay your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will 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 You hate instruction,
and cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you are pleased,
and have a share in those who commit adultery.
19 You let loose your mouth to evil,
and your tongue is bound to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you accuse your own mother’s son.
21 These things have you done, and I kept silent;
you thought that I was indeed like you;
but I will reprove you
and make a case before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23 Whoever sacrifices a thank offering
glorifies Me and makes a way;
I will show him the salvation of God.”
Psalm 59
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men, and they watched the house to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
give me refuge from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
and save me from bloodthirsty people.
3 For they lie in wait for my life;
the mighty are gathered against me,
not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.
4 For no guilt of mine, they run and prepare themselves.
Arise to help me, and take notice.
5 You, O Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel,
awake to punish all the nations;
do not be gracious to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 They return at evening,
they growl like a dog,
and go around the city.
7 Indeed, they burst out with their mouth;
swords are in their lips;
for who listens?
8 But You, O Lord, will laugh at them;
You will have all the nations in derision.
9 O my strength, I will wait on You;
for God is my refuge.
10 The God of lovingkindness will go before me;
God will cause me to look in triumph 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 For the sin of their mouth
and the words of their lips,
may they be snared by their pride,
and because of curses and lies that they speak.
13 Consume them in wrath,
consume them so they no longer exist;
and let them know that God rules in Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 At evening they return,
and growl like a dog,
and go around the city.
15 They roam about to eat,
and if they are not satisfied, they complain.
16 But I will sing of Your power;
I will sing aloud of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
for You have been my refuge
and escape in the day of my trouble.
17 To You, O my strength, I will sing,
for God is my refuge, and the God of my lovingkindness.
Psalm 60(A)
For the Music Director. A Miktam of David to teach. To the melody of “Lily of the Testimony,” when he struggled with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah and when Joab returned from striking down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, You have rejected us, You have scattered us;
You have been displeased; take us back.
2 You have made the earth tremble; You have split it open;
heal its breaches, for it shook.
3 You have shown Your people hard times;
You have made us drink wine, causing us to stagger.
4 You have given a banner to those who fear You,
that they may flee to it from the bow.[a] Selah
5 That Your beloved ones may be delivered,
save with Your right hand and answer us.
6 God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
and measure out the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is My helmet;
Judah is My scepter;
8 Moab is My wash basin;
over Edom I will cast My shoe;
shout the alarm, O Philistia, because of Me.”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me into Edom?
10 You, O God, have You not cast us off?
And You, O God, did not go out with our armies.
11 Give us help from trouble,
for the help of man is worthless.
12 Through God we will do valiantly,
for He will tread down our enemies.
Psalm 19
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
and night unto night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech and there are no words;
their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them has He set a tent for the sun,
5 which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
it rejoices as a strong man to run a race.
6 Its going forth is from one end of the heavens,
and its circuit extends to the other end,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the statutes of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
yes, than much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is Your servant warned,
and by keeping them comes great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be upright
and innocent from great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Psalm 46
For the Music Director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a well-proven help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she will not be moved;
God will help her in the early dawn.
6 The nations roared; the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice; the earth melted.
7 The Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who makes desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts off the spear;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39 Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so that he became a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper. 4 Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. So he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put under his charge. 5 From the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph. So the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and he had no concerns regarding anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome and well-built. 7 After a time, his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “My master does not concern himself with anything concerning me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my charge. 9 There is none greater in this house than I. He has kept nothing back from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 She spoke to Joseph every day, but he did not listen to her about lying with her or being with her.
11 But it happened one day that Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was there. 12 She caught him by his clothing, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his clothing in her hand and fled and got outside.
13 When she saw that he had left his clothing in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew among us to humiliate us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his clothing with me, fled, and got outside.”
16 She laid up his clothing next to her until his master came home. 17 She spoke to him using these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me. 18 When I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his clothing with me and fled outside.”
19 When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” he became enraged. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
So he was there in the prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 The keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners that were in the prison to the charge of Joseph. So whatever they did there, he was the one responsible for it. 23 The keeper of the prison did not concern himself with anything that was under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things. Yet he himself is not judged by anyone. 16 For
“who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct Him?”[a]
But we have the mind of Christ.
Fellow Servants of God
3 Brothers, I could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to worldly, even as to babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk and not with solid food. For to this day you were not able to endure it. Nor are you able now, 3 for you are still worldly. Since there is envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not worldly and behaving as mere men? 4 For while one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not worldly?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he who plants nor he who waters anything, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are laborers together with God: You are God’s vineyard; you are God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, but another builds on it. Now let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay another foundation than that which was laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, 13 each one’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on the foundation endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, still going through the fire.
The Healing of a Paralytic(A)
2 Again, He entered Capernaum after some days. And it was reported that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no room to receive them, not even at the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 They came to Him bringing one sick with paralysis, who was carried by four men. 4 When they could not come near Him due to the crowding, they uncovered the roof where He was. When they had broken it open, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 But some of the scribes were sitting there, reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you contemplate these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier to say to the paralytic: ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, rise, and take up your bed, and go your way to your house.” 12 Immediately he rose, picked up the bed, and went out in front of them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.