Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: With stringed instruments. A Davidic instruction.[a]
Betrayal by a Friend
55 Pay attention to my prayer, God,
and do not hide yourself from my appeal.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
I moan and groan in my thoughts,
3 because of the voice of the enemy,
and because of the oppression of the wicked.
They bring down evil upon me,
and in anger they hate me.
4 My heart is trembling within me,
and the terrors of death have assaulted me.
5 Fear and trembling have overwhelmed me,
and horror has covered me.
6 I said, “O, who will give me the wings of a dove,
so that I could fly away and live somewhere else?
7 Look, I want to flee far away;
I want to settle down in the wilderness.
8 I want to deliver myself quickly
from this windstorm and tempest.”
9 Confound them, Lord,
and confuse their speech,
because I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl around its walls;
evil and iniquity are within it.
11 Wickedness is at the center of it;
fraud and lies never leave its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who insults me—
I could have handled that—
nor is it someone who hates me and who now arises against me—
I could have hidden myself from him—
13 but it is you—
a man whom I treated as my equal—
my personal confidant,
my close friend!
14 We had good fellowship together;
and we even walked together in the house of God!
15 Let death seize them!
May they be plunged alive into the afterlife,[b]
for wicked things are in their homes
and among them.
16 I call upon God,
and the Lord will deliver me.
17 Morning, noon, and night,
I mulled over these things
and cried out in my distress,
and he heard my voice.
18 He calmly ransomed my soul from the war waged against me,
for there was a vast crowd who stood against me.
19 God, who is enthroned from long ago,
will hear me and humble them.
Because they do not repent,
they do not fear God.
20 Each of my friends[c] raises his hand against his allies;
each of my friends[d] breaks his word.[e]
21 His mouth is as smooth as butter,
while war is in his heart.
His words were as smooth as olive oil,
while his sword is drawn.
22 Cast on the Lord whatever he sends your way,
and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
23 But you, God, bring them down to the Pit of corruption;[f]
bloodthirsty and deceitful people will not live out half their days.
But I put my full confidence in you.
Thanksgiving to God
138 Lord,[a] I thank[b] you with all of my heart;
because you heard the words that I spoke,[c]
I will sing your praise before the heavenly beings.[d]
2 I will bow down in worship toward your holy Temple
and give thanks to your name for your gracious love and truth,
for you have done great things
to carry out your word
consistent with your name.
3 When[e] I called out, you answered me;
you strengthened me.
4 Lord, all the kings of the earth will give you thanks,
for they have heard what you have spoken.[f]
5 They will sing about the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord!
6 Though the Lord is highly exalted,
yet he pays attention to those who are lowly regarded,
but he is aware of the arrogant from afar.
7 Though I walk straight into trouble,
you preserve my life,
stretching out your hand
to fight the vehemence of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will complete what his purpose is for me.
Lord, your gracious love is eternal;
do not abandon your personal work in me.[g]
To the Music Director: A Davidic Song
God’s Knowledge and Presence
139 Lord, you have examined me;
you have known me.
2 You know when I rest[h]
and when I am active.[i]
You understand what I am thinking
when I am distant from you.[j]
3 You scrutinize my life and my rest;[k]
you are familiar with all of my ways.
4 Even before I have formed a word with my tongue,
you, Lord, know it completely!
5 You encircle me from back to front,
placing your hand upon me.
6 Knowledge like this is too amazing for me.
It is beyond my reach,
and I cannot fathom it.
The Magnitude of God
7 Where can I flee from your spirit?
Or where will I run from your presence?
8 If I rise to heaven, there you are!
If I lay down with the dead,[l] there you are!
9 If I take wings with the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon[m]
10 your hand will guide me there, too,
while your right hand keeps a firm grip on me.
11 If I say, “Darkness will surely conceal me,
and the light around me will become night,”[n]
12 even darkness isn’t dark to you,
darkness and light are the same to you.[o]
13 It was you who formed my internal organs,[p]
fashioning me within my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you,
because you are fearful and wondrous![q]
Your work is wonderful,
and I am fully aware of it.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
while I was being crafted in a hidden place,
knit together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes looked upon my embryo,
and everything was recorded in your book.
The days scheduled[r] for my formation were inscribed,
even though not one of them had come yet.[s]
17 How deep[t] are your thoughts, God!
How great is their number!
18 Were I to count them,
they would number more than the sand.
When I awake, I will be with you.
19 God, if only you would execute the wicked,
so that[u] the men guilty of bloodshed would get away from me,
20 who speak against you with evil motives,
your enemies who are acting in vain.
21 I hate those who hate you, Lord, do I not?
I loathe those who rebel against you, do I not ?
22 With consummate hatred I hate them;
I consider them my enemies.
23 Examine me, God, and know my mind,
test me, and know my thoughts.
18 Moses set up the tent. He installed its sockets and set its boards in place. He inserted its bars and set up its pillars. 19 He spread the tent over the tent and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord had commanded him.[a] 20 Then he took the Testimony, put it into the ark, and placed the poles on the ark. He then put the Mercy Seat on top of the ark. 21 He brought the ark into the tent, set up the curtain, and screened off the Ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him.[b] 22 He put the table in the Tent of Meeting, on the north side of the tent, outside the curtain, 23 and properly arranged the bread on it in the Lord’s presence, just as the Lord had commanded him.[c]
24 Then he put the lamp stand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tent, 25 and set up the lamps in the Lord’s presence, just as the Lord had commanded him.[d] 26 He put the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting in front of the curtain 27 and burned aromatic incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
28 He set up the screen for the doorway of the tent. 29 He put the altar for burnt offerings at the doorway of the tent of the Tent of Meeting, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.[e] 30 He put the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing. 31 Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and feet from it. 32 When they entered the Tent of Meeting and approached the altar, they washed, just as the Lord had commanded him.[f] 33 He set up the court all around the tent and the altar, and hung up the screen for the gate of the court. And so Moses finished the work.
The Glory of the Lord Fills the Completed Tent
34 The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. 35 Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. 36 Whenever the cloud was lifted up from the tent, the Israelis would set out on their journey, 37 but if the cloud was not lifted up, they would not set out until[g] it was lifted up, 38 since the cloud of the Lord was over the tent by day, and the fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel in all their journeys.
Instructions on the Way Christians Should Live
4 Now then, brothers, you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, as in fact you are doing. We ask and encourage you in the Lord to do so even more. 2 You know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For it is God’s will that you be sanctified: You must abstain from sexual immorality. 4 Each of you must know how to control his own body[a] in a holy and honorable manner, 5 not with passion and lust like the gentiles who do not know God. 6 Furthermore, you must never take advantage of or exploit a brother in this regard, because the Lord avenges all these things, just as we already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to be holy. 8 Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction[b] is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9 Now you do not need anyone to write to you about brotherly love, since you have been taught by God to love each other. 10 In fact, you are showing love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia, but we urge you, brothers, to keep on doing this even more. 11 Also, make it your goal to live quietly, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may win the respect of outsiders, and have need of nothing.
Teaching about Retaliation(A)
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you not to resist an evildoer. On the contrary, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile,[b] go two with him. 42 Give to the person who asks you for something, and do not turn away from the person who wants to borrow something from you.”
Teaching about Love for Enemies(B)
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You must love your neighbor’[c] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you will become children of your Father in heaven, because he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? 47 And if you greet only your relatives, that’s no great thing you’re doing, is it? Even the unbelievers[d] do the same, don’t they? 48 So be perfect,[e] as your heavenly Father is perfect.”[f]
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