Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A prayer of David.
70 God, hurry and save me.
Lord, come quickly and help me.
2 Let those who are trying to kill me be put to shame.
Let them not be honored.
Let all those who want to destroy me
be turned back in shame.
3 Some people make fun of me.
Let them be turned back when their plans fail.
4 But let all those who seek you
be joyful and glad because of what you have done.
Let those who want you to save them always say,
“The Lord is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy.
God, come quickly to me.
You are the God who helps me and saves me.
Lord, please don’t wait any longer.
71 Lord, I have gone to you for safety.
Let me never be put to shame.
2 You do what is right, so save me and help me.
Pay attention to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of safety
that I can always go to.
Give the command to save me.
You are my rock and my fort.
4 My God, save me from the power of sinners.
Save me from the hands of those who are mean and evil.
5 You are the King and the Lord. You have always been my hope.
I have trusted in you ever since I was young.
6 From the time I was born I have depended on you.
You brought me out of my mother’s body.
I will praise you forever.
7 To many people I am an example of how much you care.
You are my strong place of safety.
8 My mouth is filled with praise for you.
All day long I will talk about your glory.
9 Don’t push me away when I’m old.
Don’t desert me when my strength is gone.
10 My enemies speak against me.
Those who want to kill me get together and make evil plans.
11 They say, “God has deserted him.
Go after him and grab him.
No one will save him.”
12 God, don’t be far away from me.
My God, come quickly and help me.
13 May those who bring charges against me die in shame.
May those who want to harm me
be covered with shame and dishonor.
14 But I will always have hope.
I will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell other people about all the good things you have done.
All day long I will talk about how you have saved your people.
But there’s no way I could say how many times you’ve done this.
16 Lord and King, I will come and announce your mighty acts.
I will announce all the good things that you alone do.
17 God, ever since I was young you have taught me.
To this very day I tell about your wonderful acts.
18 God, don’t leave me
even when I’m old and have gray hair.
Let me live to tell my children about your power.
Let me tell all of them about your mighty acts.
19 God, your saving acts reach to the skies.
You have done great things.
God, who is like you?
20 You have sent many bitter troubles my way.
But you will give me new life.
Even if I’m almost in the grave,
you will bring me back.
21 You will honor me more and more.
You will comfort me once again.
22 My God, I will use the harp to praise you
because you are always faithful.
Holy One of Israel,
I will use the lyre to sing praise to you.
23 My lips will shout with joy
when I sing praise to you.
You have saved me.
24 All day long my tongue will say
that you have done what is right.
Those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame.
They have not been honored.
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you turned your back on us for so long?
Why are you so angry with us? We are your very own sheep.
2 Remember the nation that you chose as your own so long ago.
Remember that you set us free from slavery to be your very own people.
Remember Mount Zion, where you lived.
3 Walk through this place that has been torn down beyond repair.
See how completely your enemies have destroyed the temple!
4 In the place where you used to meet with us,
your enemies have shouted, “We’ve won the battle!”
They have set up their flags to show they have beaten us.
5 They acted like people cutting down a forest with axes.
6 They smashed all the beautiful wooden walls
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your temple to the ground.
They polluted the place where your Name is.
8 They had said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”
They burned every place where you were worshiped in the land.
9 We don’t get signs from God anymore.
There aren’t any prophets left.
None of us knows how long that will last.
10 God, how long will your enemies make fun of you?
Will they attack you with their words forever?
11 Why don’t you help us? Why do you hold back your power?
Use your strong power to destroy your enemies!
12 God, you have been my king for a long time.
You are the only God who can save anyone on earth.
13 You parted the waters of the Red Sea by your power.
You broke the heads of that sea monster in Egypt.
14 You crushed the heads of the sea monster Leviathan.
You fed it to the creatures of the desert.
15 You opened up streams and springs.
You dried up rivers that flow all year long.
16 You rule over the day and the night.
You created the sun and the moon.
17 You decided where the borders of the earth would be.
You made both summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember how your enemies have made fun of you.
Remember how foolish people have attacked you with their words.
19 Don’t hand over Israel, your dove, to those wild animals.
Don’t forget your suffering people forever.
20 Honor the covenant you made with us.
Horrible things are happening in every dark corner of the land.
21 Don’t let your suffering people be put to shame.
May those who are poor and needy praise you.
22 God, rise up. Stand up for your cause.
Remember how foolish people make fun of you all day long.
23 Pay close attention to the shouts of your enemies.
The trouble they cause never stops.
29 They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him everything that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man who is the governor of the land spoke to us in a mean way. He treated us as if we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We’re honest men. We aren’t spies. 32 We were 12 brothers. All of us were the sons of one father. But now one brother is gone. And our youngest brother is with our father in Canaan.’
33 “Then the man who is the governor of the land spoke to us. He said, ‘Here’s how I will know whether you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me. Take food for your hungry families and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me. Then I’ll know that you are honest men and not spies. I’ll give your brother back to you. And you will be free to trade in the land.’ ”
35 They began emptying their sacks. There in each man’s sack was his bag of money! When they and their father saw the money bags, they were scared to death. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have taken my children away from me. Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father. He said, “You can put both of my sons to death if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. Trust me to take care of him. I’ll bring him back.”
38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you. His brother is dead. He’s the only one left here with me. Suppose he’s harmed on the journey you are taking. Then I would die as a sad old man.”
Sexual Sins
12 Some of you say, “I have the right to do anything.” But not everything is helpful. Again some of you say, “I have the right to do anything.” But I will not be controlled by anything. 13 Some of you say, “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food. And God will destroy both of them.” But the body is not meant for sexual sins. The body is meant for the Lord. And the Lord is meant for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead. He will also raise us up. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies belong to the body of Christ? Should I take what belongs to Christ and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16 When you join yourself to a prostitute, you become one with her in body. Don’t you know this? Scripture says, “The two will become one.” (Genesis 2:24) 17 But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one with him in spirit.
18 Keep far away from sexual sins. All the other sins a person commits are outside the body. But sexual sins are sins against their own body. 19 Don’t you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is in you, and you have received the Spirit from God. You do not belong to yourselves. 20 Christ has paid the price for you. So use your bodies in a way that honors God.
A Lamp on a Stand
21 Jesus said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a large bowl or a bed? Don’t you put it on its stand? 22 What is hidden is meant to be seen. And what is put out of sight is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 Whoever has ears should listen.”
24 “Think carefully about what you hear,” he said. “As you give, so you will receive. In fact, you will receive even more. 25 Whoever has something will be given more. Whoever has nothing, even what they have will be taken away from them.”
The Story of the Growing Seed
26 Jesus also said, “Here is what God’s kingdom is like. A farmer scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day the seed comes up and grows. It happens whether the farmer sleeps or gets up. He doesn’t know how it happens. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain. First the stalk comes up. Then the head appears. Finally, the full grain appears in the head. 29 Before long the grain ripens. So the farmer cuts it down, because the harvest is ready.”
The Story of the Mustard Seed
30 Again Jesus said, “What can we say God’s kingdom is like? What story can we use to explain it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 But when you plant the seed, it grows. It becomes the largest of all garden plants. Its branches are so big that birds can rest in its shade.”
33 Using many stories like these, Jesus spoke the word to them. He told them as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a story. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything.
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