Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
Prayer for Help and Praise to God
40 I waited expectantly[a] for the Lord,
and he took notice of me
and heard my cry.
2 He plucked me out of a pit of confusion,[b]
even out of the quicksand;
he placed my feet on a rock
and established my steps.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
praise to our God!
Many will watch and be in awe,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is that strong person
who places his trust in the Lord,
and who has not acknowledged the proud
nor resorted to lies.
5 Lord, my God,
You have done great things:
marvelous works and your thoughts toward us.
There is no one who compares to you!
I will try to recite your actions,[c]
even though there are too many to number.
6 You take no delight in sacrifices and offerings—
you have prepared my ears to listen—[d]
you require no burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin.
7 Then I said, “Here I am! I have come!
In the scroll of the book it is written about me.
8 I delight to do your will, my God.
Your Law is part of my inner being.”
9 In the great congregation I have proclaimed the righteous good news.
Behold, I did not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.
10 I have not ignored[e] your righteousness in my heart;
instead, I have proclaimed your faithfulness and deliverance.
I have not concealed your gracious love and truthfulness
from the great congregation.
11 Lord, do not withhold your mercy[f] from me,
for your gracious love and truthfulness will keep me safe continuously.
12 Innumerable evils have surrounded me;
my iniquities have overtaken me so that I cannot see.
They are more in number than the hair on my head,
and my courage[g] has forsaken me.
13 Be pleased, Lord, to deliver me;
Lord, hurry up and help me!
14 May those who seek to destroy my life be ashamed and confounded;
let them be driven backwards and humiliated,
particularly those who wish me evil.
15 Let shame be the reward for those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
16 Let all who seek you shout for joy and be glad in you.
May those who love your deliverance say,
“The Lord be magnified!” continuously.
17 But I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think about me.
You are my help and deliverer.
My God, do not tarry too long!
To the Director: With stringed instruments. A Davidic instruction,[a] when the Ziphites came and told Saul, “David is hiding among us, is he not?”
A Prayer in Times of Trouble
54 God, by your name deliver me,
and by your power vindicate me.
2 God, listen to my prayer,
and pay attention to the words of my mouth.
3 For the arrogant have arisen against me;
oppressors have sought to take my life.
They do not keep God in mind![b]
4 Look, God is my helper;
the Lord is with those who are guarding my life.
5 He will turn the evil upon those who lie in wait for me.
Cut them off with your truth.
6 With a free will offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, Lord,
because it is good,
7 for he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eyes have seen the end of[c] my enemies.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm. When the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
51 Have mercy, God, according to your gracious love,
according to your unlimited compassion,
erase my transgressions.
2 Wash me from my iniquity,
cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgression;
my sin remains continuously before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned,
and done what was evil in your sight.
As a result, you are just in your pronouncement
and clear in your judgment.
5 Indeed, in iniquity I was brought forth;
in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person,
and you will teach me wisdom in my[a] innermost parts.
7 Purge me with hyssop,
and I will be clean.
Wash me,
and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me know[b] joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your countenance from my sins
and erase the record of my iniquities.
10 God, create a pure heart in me,
and renew a right attitude within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence;
do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and let a willing attitude control me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors about your ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of shedding blood,[c]
God, God of my salvation.
Then my tongue will sing about your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 Indeed, you do not delight in sacrifices,
or I would give them,
nor do you desire burnt offerings.
17 True sacrifice to God[d] is a broken spirit.
A broken and chastened heart, God,
you will not despise.
18 Show favor to Zion in your good pleasure;
and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with right sacrifices,
with burnt offerings, and with whole burnt offerings.
Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
18 “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days, at the appointed time in the month Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “Everything firstborn[a] belongs to me: all the males of your herds, the firstborn of both cattle and sheep. 20 You are to redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a sheep, and if you don’t redeem it, you are to break its neck. You are to redeem every firstborn of your sons, and no one is to appear before me empty-handed.
21 “For six days you are to work, but on the seventh day you are to rest; even during plowing time and harvest you are to rest.
22 “You are to observe the Festival of Weeks, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Tabernacles[b] at the turn of the year. 23 Three times during the year all your males are to appear in the presence of the Lord God of Israel, 24 since I’m going to drive out nations before you, and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land, when you go up to appear in the presence of the Lord your God three times a year.
25 “You are not to offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, nor are you to allow the sacrifice of the Festival of Passover to remain until morning.
26 “You are to bring the best[c] of the first fruits of the ground to the house of the Lord your God.
“You are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then the Lord told Moses, “Write down these words, because I’m making a covenant with you and with Israel according to these words.”
28 While Moses[d] was there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, he did not eat or drink.[e] He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.
Moses’ Face Shines
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he had the two tablets in his hand,[f] and he did not know that the skin of his face was ablaze with light because he had been speaking with God.[g] 30 Aaron and all the Israelis saw Moses and immediately noticed that the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 When Moses called to them, Aaron and the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterwards all the Israelis came near and he gave them everything the Lord told him on Mount Sinai as commandments. 33 When Moses finished speaking with them he put a veil over his face, 34 and then whenever Moses would come in the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he left the Lord’s presence.[h] When he went out, he would tell the Israelis what he had been commanded. 35 The Israelis would see the face of Moses and that the skin of his face shone; then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with God.[i]
3 Therefore, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to remain alone in Athens 2 and send Timothy, our brother who works with us for God in the gospel of the Messiah,[a] to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions, for which you are aware that we were destined. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you ahead of time that we were going to suffer persecution. And as you know, that is what happened. 5 But when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy[b] to find out about your faith. I was afraid that the tempter had tempted you in some way, and that our work had been a waste of time.
Paul Rejoices about the Thessalonians
6 But Timothy has just now returned from visiting[c] you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you. 7 That’s why, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you by your faith. 8 For now we can go on living, as long as you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in God’s presence because of you? 10 We pray very hard night and day that we may see you again face to face, so that we may equip you with[d] whatever is lacking in your faith.
11 Now may our God and Father and our Lord Jesus provide a way for us to visit you. 12 May the Lord greatly increase your love[e] for each other and for all people, just as we love you.[f] 13 Then your hearts will be strong, blameless, and holy in the presence of God, who is our Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints.[g]
Teaching about Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You are not to commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I say to you, anyone who stares at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than to have your whole body thrown into hell.[b] 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than to have your whole body go into hell.”[c]
Teaching about Divorce(A)
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.’[d] 32 But I say to you, any man who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Teaching about Oaths
33 “Again, you have heard that it was told those who lived long ago, ‘You must not swear an oath falsely,’ but, ‘You must fulfill your oaths to the Lord.’[e] 34 But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God’s throne, 35 nor by the earth, because it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the Great King. 36 Nor should you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Instead, let your message be ‘Yes’ for ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ for ‘No.’ Anything more than that comes from the evil one.”
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