Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
Prayer and Thanksgiving
31 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
Let me never be ashamed.
Because you are righteous, deliver me!
2 Listen to me,
and deliver me quickly.
Become a rock of safety for me,
a fortified citadel to deliver me;
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name guide me and lead me.
4 Rescue me from the net that they concealed to trap me;
for you are my strength.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
for you have redeemed me,
Lord God of truth.
6 I despise those who trust vain idols;
but I have trusted in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your gracious love,
for you see my affliction
and take note that my soul is distressed.
8 You have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy,
but you have set my feet in a sturdy[a] place.
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
for I am in distress.
My eyes have been consumed by my grief
along with my soul and my body.
10 My life is consumed by sorrow,
my years with groaning.
My strength has faltered because of my iniquity;[b]
my bones have been consumed.
11 I have become an object of reproach to all my enemies,
especially to my neighbors.
I have become an object of fear to my friends,
and whoever sees me outside runs away from me.
12 Like a dead man, I am forgotten in their thoughts[c]—
like broken pottery.
13 I have heard the slander of many;
it is like terror all around me,
as they conspire together and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 May your face shine on your servant;
in your gracious love, deliver me.
17 Let me not be ashamed, Lord,
for I have called upon you.
Let the wicked be put to shame,
let them be silent in the next life.[d]
18 Let the lying lips be made still,
especially those who speak arrogantly
against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19 How great is your goodness
that you have reserved for those who fear you,
that you have set in place for those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of the children of men.
20 You will hide them in the secret place of your presence,
away from the conspiracies of men.
You will hide them in your tent,
away from their contentious tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord!
In a marvelous way he demonstrated his gracious love to me,
when I was in a city under siege.
22 When I said in my panic,
“I have been cut off in your sight,”
then you surely heard the voice of my prayer
in my plea to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all his godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful
and repays those who act with proud motives.
24 Be strong,
and let your heart be courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord.
Davidic
A Prayer for Deliverance
35 Argue my case,[a] Lord,
against those who argue against me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up the buckler[b] and the shield,
and rise up to help me.
3 Take out the spear and the ax to confront the one who pursues me;
say to me, “I am your deliverer!”
4 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and disgraced;
let those who plot evil against me be driven back and confounded.
5 Make them like the chaff before the wind,
as the messenger of the Lord pushes them aside.
6 May their path be dark and slippery,
as the messenger of the Lord tracks them down.
7 Without justification they laid a snare for me;
without justification they dug a pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction come upon them[c] unawares,
and let the net that he hid catch him;
let him fall into destruction.
9 My soul will rejoice in the Lord
and be glad in his deliverance.
10 All my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like you?
Who delivers the weak from the one who is stronger than he,
and the weak and the needy from the one who wants to rob him?”
11 False witnesses stepped forward
and questioned me concerning things
about which I knew nothing.
12 They paid me back evil for good;
my soul mourns.
13 But when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting,
and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them.[d]
14 I paced about as for my friend or my brother,
and fell down mourning as one weeps for one’s mother.
15 But when I stumbled,
they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered together against me—
attackers whom I did not know.
They tore me apart and would not stop.
16 Malicious mockers[e]—
they gnashed[f] their teeth against me.
17 Lord, how long will you just watch?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from these young lions.
18 Then I will give you thanks in front of the great congregation;
in the midst of the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies gloat over me,
nor let those who hate me without justification mock me with their eyes.
20 For they do not speak peace;
they devise clever lies against the peaceful people of the land.
21 They open their mouth wide against me,
claiming, “Yes! Yes! We saw him do[g] it with our own eyes!”
22 You see this, Lord,
so do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me!
23 Wake up! Arouse yourself to vindicate me
and argue my case, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me according to your righteousness, Lord my God!
But do not let them gloat over me.
25 Don’t let them say in their hearts,
“Yes! We got what we wanted.”
Don’t let them say,
“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Instead, let those who gloat over the evil directed against me
be ashamed and confounded together;
Let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 Let those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and rejoice!
Let them continuously say,
“Magnify the Lord, who delights in giving peace to[h] his servant.”
28 My tongue will declare your righteousness
and praise you all day long.
Why Joshua Set up the Memorial
19 The people came up from the Jordan River on the tenth day[a] of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern outskirts of Jericho. 20 Joshua set up the twelve stones that they had removed from the Jordan River at Gilgal. 21 Then he told the Israelis, “When your descendants ask their parents in years to come, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22 you are to tell your descendants: ‘Israel crossed this Jordan River on dry ground 23 because the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan River right in front of you, until you had crossed over, just as the Lord your God had done to the Reed[b] Sea—which he had dried up in front of us until we had crossed it also.’ 24 Do this[c] so that all of the people of the earth may know how strong the power[d] of the Lord is, and so that you may fear the Lord your God every day.”
Israel’s Enemies Become Discouraged
5 All the Amorite kings who lived across the Jordan River to the west and all the Canaanite kings by the Mediterranean[e] Sea became discouraged as soon as they heard that the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan River for the people of Israel until they had crossed it. They no longer had a will to fight[f] because of the people of Israel.
The Manna Ceases
10 While the Israelis remained encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they observed the Passover during the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. 11 On the day following Passover—on that exact day—they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land. Since the Israelis no longer received manna, they ate crops from the land of Canaan that year.
Joshua is Visited by the Lord
13 Now it happened that while Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and much to his amazement, he saw a man standing in front of him, holding a drawn sword in his hand! Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you one of us, or are you with our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” he answered. “I have come as commander of the Lord’s Army.”
Joshua immediately fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying to him, “Lord, what do you have for your servant by way of command?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s Army replied to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you’re standing is holy.” So Joshua did so.
9 Your love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to each other with mutual affection. Excel at showing respect for each other. 11 Never be lazy in showing such devotion. Be on fire with the Spirit. Serve the Lord.[a] 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in trouble, and persistent in prayer. 13 Supply the needs of the saints. Extend hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Keep on blessing them, and never curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Cry with those who are crying. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Do not be arrogant, but associate with humble people. Do not think that you are wiser than you really are.
17 Do not pay anyone back evil for evil, but[b] focus your thoughts on what is right in the sight of all people. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with all people. 19 Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s[c] wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord.”[d] 20 But “if your enemy is hungry, feed him. For if he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will pile burning coals on his head.”[e] 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
The Passover with the Disciples(A)
17 On the first day of the Festival[a] of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover meal?”
18 He said, “Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’”[b] 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
20 When evening came, Jesus[c] was sitting at the table with the Twelve.[d] 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell all of you[e] with certainty, one of you is going to betray me.”
22 Feeling deeply distressed, each one began to ask him, “Surely I am not the one, Lord?”
23 He replied, “The man who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been written about him. How terrible it will be for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had never been born.”
25 Then Judas, who was going to betray him, asked, “Rabbi,[f] I’m not the one, am I?”
Jesus[g] told him, “You have said so.”
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