Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16[a]
God the Supreme Good
I
Keep me safe, O God;
in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord,
you are my Lord,
you are my only good.
3 As for the holy ones who are in the land,
they are noble,
in whom is all my delight.
4 [c]They multiply their sorrows
who court other gods.
Blood libations to them I will not pour out,
nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5 Lord, my allotted portion and my cup,
you have made my destiny secure.(B)
6 [d]Pleasant places were measured out for me;
fair to me indeed is my inheritance.
II
7 I bless the Lord who counsels me;
even at night my heart exhorts me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
with him at my right hand, I shall never be shaken.(C)
9 Therefore my heart is glad, my soul rejoices;
my body also dwells secure,
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
nor let your devout one see the pit.[e](D)
11 You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
Psalm 17[f]
Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors
1 A prayer of David.
I
Hear, Lord, my plea for justice;
pay heed to my cry;
Listen to my prayer
from lips without guile.
2 From you let my vindication come;
your eyes see what is right.
3 You have tested my heart,
searched it in the night.(E)
You have tried me by fire,
but find no malice in me.
My mouth has not transgressed
4 as others often do.
As your lips have instructed me,
I have kept from the way of the lawless.
5 My steps have kept to your paths;
my feet have not faltered.(F)
II
6 I call upon you; answer me, O God.
Turn your ear to me; hear my speech.
7 Show your wonderful mercy,
you who deliver with your right arm
those who seek refuge from their foes.
8 [g]Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who despoil me.(G)
III
My ravenous enemies press upon me;(H)
10 [h]they close their hearts,
they fill their mouths with proud roaring.
11 Their steps even now encircle me;
they watch closely, keeping low to the ground,
12 Like lions eager for prey,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.
13 Rise, O Lord, confront and cast them down;
rescue my soul from the wicked.
14 Slay them with your sword;
with your hand, Lord, slay them;
snatch them from the world in their prime.
Their bellies are being filled with your friends;
their children are satisfied too,
for they share what is left with their young.
15 I am just—let me see your face;
when I awake, let me be filled with your presence.(I)
Psalm 22[a]
The Prayer of an Innocent Person
1 For the leader; according to “The deer of the dawn.”[b] A psalm of David.
I
2 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why so far from my call for help,
from my cries of anguish?(A)
3 My God, I call by day, but you do not answer;
by night, but I have no relief.(B)
4 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the glory of Israel.(C)
5 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted and you rescued them.
6 To you they cried out and they escaped;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.(D)
7 [c]But I am a worm, not a man,
scorned by men, despised by the people.(E)
8 All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me:(F)
9 “He relied on the Lord—let him deliver him;
if he loves him, let him rescue him.”(G)
10 For you drew me forth from the womb,
made me safe at my mother’s breasts.
11 Upon you I was thrust from the womb;
since my mother bore me you are my God.(H)
12 Do not stay far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.(I)
II
13 Many bulls[d] surround me;
fierce bulls of Bashan encircle me.
14 They open their mouths against me,
lions that rend and roar.(J)
15 Like water my life drains away;
all my bones are disjointed.
My heart has become like wax,
it melts away within me.
16 As dry as a potsherd is my throat;
my tongue cleaves to my palate;
you lay me in the dust of death.[e]
17 Dogs surround me;
a pack of evildoers closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet
18 I can count all my bones.(K)
They stare at me and gloat;
19 they divide my garments among them;
for my clothing they cast lots.(L)
20 But you, Lord, do not stay far off;
my strength, come quickly to help me.
21 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of the dog.
22 Save me from the lion’s mouth,
my poor life from the horns of wild bulls.(M)
III
23 Then I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the assembly I will praise you:[f](N)
24 “You who fear the Lord, give praise!
All descendants of Jacob, give honor;
show reverence, all descendants of Israel!
25 For he has not spurned or disdained
the misery of this poor wretch,
Did not turn away[g] from me,
but heard me when I cried out.
26 I will offer praise in the great assembly;
my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.
27 The poor[h] will eat their fill;
those who seek the Lord will offer praise.
May your hearts enjoy life forever!”(O)
IV
28 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord;
All the families of nations
will bow low before him.(P)
29 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
the ruler over the nations.(Q)
30 [i]All who sleep in the earth
will bow low before God;
All who have gone down into the dust
will kneel in homage.
31 And I will live for the Lord;
my descendants will serve you.
32 The generation to come will be told of the Lord,
that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn
the deliverance you have brought.(R)
Call of Joshua. 7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him,(A) “Be strong and steadfast, for you shall bring this people into the land which the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them; it is you who will give them possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.”(B)
The Reading of the Law. 9 (C)When Moses had written down this law, he gave it to the levitical priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.(D) 10 Moses commanded them, saying, On the feast of Booths,(E) at the prescribed time in the year for remission[a] which comes at the end of every seven-year period, 11 when all Israel goes to appear before the Lord, your God, in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law aloud in the presence of all Israel. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, as well as the resident aliens who live in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to fear the Lord, your God, and to observe carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children also, who do not know it yet, shall hear and learn to fear the Lord, your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.
The Law Placed in the Ark. 24 When Moses had finished writing out on a scroll the words of this law in their entirety, 25 Moses gave the Levites(A) who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord this order: 26 Take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord, your God, that there it may be a witness against you.(B) 27 For I already know how rebellious and stiff-necked you will be. Why, even now, while I am alive among you, you have been rebels against the Lord! How much more, then, after I am dead!(C) 28 (D)Assemble all your tribal elders and your officials before me, that I may speak these words for them to hear and so may call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 (E)For I know that after my death you are sure to act corruptly and to turn aside from the way along which I commanded you, so that evil will befall you in time to come because you have done what is evil in the Lord’s sight, and provoked him by your deeds.
The Song of Moses. 30 Then Moses recited the words of this song in their entirety, for the whole assembly of Israel to hear:
Chapter 32
1 [a]Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak;
let the earth hear the words of my mouth!(F)
2 May my teaching soak in like the rain,
and my utterance drench like the dew,
Like a downpour upon the grass,
like a shower upon the crops.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord,
praise the greatness of our God!
4 The Rock—how faultless are his deeds,
how right all his ways!
A faithful God, without deceit,
just and upright is he!(G)
Chapter 10
1 [a]Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on their behalf is for salvation.(A) 2 I testify with regard to them that they have zeal for God, but it is not discerning.(B) 3 For, in their unawareness of the righteousness that comes from God and their attempt to establish their own [righteousness], they did not submit to the righteousness of God.(C) 4 For Christ is the end[b] of the law for the justification of everyone who has faith.(D)
5 [c]Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from [the] law, “The one who does these things will live by them.”(E) 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says,(F) “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 [d]or ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”(G) 8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”(H)
(that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 for, if you confess[e] with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(I) 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11 For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”(J) 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.(K) 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(L)
15 (A)“When you see the desolating abomination[a] spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee[b] to the mountains, 17 [c](B)a person on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house, 18 a person in the field must not return to get his cloak. 19 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. 20 [d]Pray that your flight not be in winter or on the sabbath, 21 [e](C)for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. 22 And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened. 23 (D)If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. 26 So if they say to you, ‘He is in the desert,’ do not go out there; if they say, ‘He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.[f] 27 (E)For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man. 29 [g](F)“Immediately after the tribulation of those days,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 (G)And then the sign of the Son of Man[h] will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 (H)And he will send out his angels[i] with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree.[j]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.