Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 55
To the Chief Musician; with stringed instruments. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David.
1 Listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplication!
2 Attend to me and answer me; I am restless and distraught in my complaint and must moan
3 [And I am distracted] at the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression and threats of the wicked; for they would cast trouble upon me, and in wrath they persecute me.
4 My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling have come upon me; horror and fright have overwhelmed me.
6 And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7 Yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
8 I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest.
9 Destroy [their schemes], O Lord, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about on its walls; iniquity and mischief are in its midst.
11 Violence and ruin are within it; fraud and guile do not depart from its streets and marketplaces.
12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me—then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me—then I might hide from him.
13 But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend.
14 We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company.
15 Let desolations and death come suddenly upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol (the place of the dead), for evils are in their habitations, in their hearts, and their inmost part.
16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice.
18 He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me [so that none came near me], for they were many who strove with me.
19 God will hear and humble them, even He Who abides of old—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—because in them there has been no change [of heart], and they do not fear, revere, and worship God.
20 [My companion] has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has broken and profaned his agreement [of friendship and loyalty].
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than cream or butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).(A)
23 But You, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in, lean on, and confidently rely on You.
Psalm 138
[A Psalm] of David.
1 I will confess and praise You [O God] with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praises to You.
2 I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!
3 In the day when I called, You answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self.
4 All the kings of the land shall give You credit and praise You, O Lord, for they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].
5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord and joyfully celebrate His mighty acts, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, yet has He respect to the lowly [bringing them into fellowship with Him]; but the proud and haughty He knows and recognizes [only] at a distance.(A)
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.(B)
8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever—forsake not the works of Your own hands.(C)
Psalm 139
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
2 You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off.(D)
3 You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue [still unuttered], but, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.(E)
5 You have beset me and shut me in—behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me.
6 Your [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it.
7 Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there.(F)
9 If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be [the only] light about me,
12 Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.(G)
13 For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!(H)
18 If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.
19 If You would [only] slay the wicked, O God, and the men of blood depart from me—(I)
20 Who speak against You wickedly, Your enemies who take Your name in vain!(J)
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And am I not grieved and do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; they have become my enemies.
23 Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
18 Moses set up the tabernacle, laid its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and erected its pillars.
19 [Moses] spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded him.
20 He took the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] and put it into the ark, and set the poles [in the rings] on the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.
21 [Moses] brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen and screened the ark of the Testimony, as the Lord had commanded him.
22 Moses put the table [of showbread] in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the veil;
23 He set the bread [of the Presence] in order on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him.(A)
24 And he put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle.
25 Moses set up and lighted the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.
26 He put the golden altar [of incense] in the Tent of Meeting before the veil;
27 He burned sweet incense [symbol of prayer] upon it, as the Lord commanded him.(B)
28 And he set up the hanging or screen at the door of the tabernacle.
29 [Moses] put the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting and offered on it the burnt offering and the cereal offering, as the Lord commanded him.
30 And Moses set the laver between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing.
31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet there.
32 When they went into the Tent of Meeting or came near the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses.
33 And he erected the court round about the tabernacle and the altar and set up the hanging or screen at the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
34 Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle!(C)
35 And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites went onward;
37 But if the cloud was not taken up, they did not journey on till the day that it was taken up.
38 For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
4 Furthermore, [a]brethren, we beg and admonish you in [virtue of our union with] the Lord Jesus, that [you follow the instructions which] you learned from us about how you ought to walk so as to please and gratify God, as indeed you are doing, [and] that you do so even more and more abundantly [attaining yet greater perfection in living this life].
2 For you know what charges and precepts we gave you [[b]on the authority and by the inspiration of] the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, that you should be consecrated (separated and set apart for pure and holy living): that you should abstain and shrink from all sexual vice,
4 That each one of you should know how to [c]possess (control, manage) his own [d]body in consecration (purity, separated from things profane) and honor,
5 Not [to be used] in the passion of lust like the heathen, who are ignorant of the true God and have no knowledge of His will,
6 That no man transgress and overreach his brother and defraud him in this matter or defraud his brother in business. For the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we have already warned you solemnly and [e]told you plainly.
7 For God has not called us to impurity but to consecration [to dedicate ourselves to the most thorough purity].
8 Therefore whoever disregards (sets aside and rejects this) disregards not man but God, Whose [very] Spirit [Whom] He gives to you is holy (chaste, pure).
9 But concerning brotherly love [for all other Christians], you have no need to have anyone write you, for you yourselves have been [personally] taught by God to love one another.
10 And indeed you already are [extending and displaying your love] to all the brethren throughout Macedonia. But we beseech and earnestly exhort you, brethren, that you [f]excel [in this matter] more and more,
11 To make it your ambition and definitely endeavor to live quietly and peacefully, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you,
12 So that you may bear yourselves becomingly and be correct and honorable and command the respect of the outside world, being dependent on nobody [self-supporting] and having need of nothing.
38 You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.(A)
39 But I say to you, Do not resist the evil man [who injures you]; but if anyone strikes you on the right jaw or cheek, turn to him the other one too.
40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your undershirt (tunic), let him have your coat also.
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two [miles].
42 Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow [[a]at interest] from you.(B)
43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy;(C)
44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,(D)
45 [b]To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?
47 And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that?
48 You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete [c]maturity of godliness in mind and character, [d]having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.(E)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation