Book of Common Prayer
A song of Asaph.
The Acceptable Sacrifice
50 God, the Lord,[a] has spoken.
He has summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting place.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined forth.
3 Our God has appeared and he has not been silent;
a devouring fire blazed before him,
and a mighty storm swirled around him.
4 He summoned the heavens above
and the earth below,[b]
to sit in judgment on his people.
5 “Assemble before me, my saints,
who have entered into my covenant by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens revealed his justice,
for God is himself the judge.
7 “Listen, my people,
for I am making a pronouncement:
Israel, I, God, your God, am testifying against you.
8 I do not rebuke you because of your sacrifices;
indeed, your burnt offerings are continuously before me.
9 I will no longer accept a sacrificial[c] bull from your household;
nor goats from your pens.
10 Indeed, every animal of the forest is mine,
even the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds in the mountains;
indeed, everything that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is mine along with everything in it.
13 Why should I eat the flesh of oxen
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a thanksgiving praise;
pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of distress;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
16 As for the wicked, God says,
“How dare you recite my statutes
or speak about my covenant with your lips!
17 You hate instruction
and toss my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you befriend him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth free reign for evil,
and your tongue devises deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you did, and I kept silent,
because you assumed that I was like you.
But now I am going to rebuke you,
and I will set forth my case before your very own eyes.”
22 Consider this, you who have forgotten God—
Otherwise, I will tear you in pieces
and there will be no deliverer:
23 Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and I will reveal the salvation of God
to whomever continues in my way.”[d]
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[a] to the tune of[b] “Do Not Destroy,” when Saul sent men to watch the house in order to kill him.
A Prayer for Deliverance and Justice
59 Save me from my enemies, my God!
Keep me safe from those who rise up against me.
2 Save me from those who practice evil;
deliver me from bloodthirsty men.
3 Look, they lie in ambush for my life;
these violent men gather together against me,
but not because of any transgression or sin of mine, Lord.
4 Without any fault on my part,
they rush together and prepare themselves.
Get up!
Come help me!
Pay attention!
5 You, Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, God of Israel,
stir yourself up to punish all the nations.
Show no mercy to those wicked transgressors.
6 At night they return like howling dogs;
they prowl around the city.
7 Look what pours out of their mouths!
They use their lips like swords,
saying[c] “Who will hear us?”
8 But you, Lord, will laugh at them;
you will mock all the nations.
9 My Strength, I will watch for you,
for God is my fortress.
10 My God of Gracious Love will meet me;
God will enable me to see what happens[d] to my enemies.
11 Don’t kill them!
Otherwise, my people may forget.
By your power make them stumble around;
bring them down low,
Lord, our Shield.
12 The sin of their mouth is the word on their lips.
They will be caught in their own conceit;
for they speak curses and lies.
13 Go ahead and destroy them in anger!
Wipe them out,
and they will know to the ends of the earth
that God rules over Jacob.[e]
14 At night they return like howling dogs;
they prowl around the city.
15 They scavenge for food.
If they find nothing,
they become hungry and growl.
16 But I will sing of your power
and in the morning I will shout for joy about your gracious love.
For you have been a fortress for me;
and a refuge when I am distressed.[f]
17 My Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, God of Gracious Love, are my fortress.
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of[g] “Lily of The Covenant,” for teaching about his battle with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, when Joab returned and attacked 12,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley.[h]
A Prayer for God’s Help against Adversaries
60 God, you have cast us off;
you have breached our defenses
and you have become enraged.
Return to us!
2 You made the earth quake;
you broke it open.
Repair its fractures,
because it has shifted.
3 You made your people go through hard times;
you had us drink wine that makes us stagger.
4 But you have given a banner to those who fear you,
so they may display it in honor of truth.[i]
5 So your loved ones may be delivered,
save us by your power[j]
and answer us quickly!
6 Then God spoke in his holiness,
“I will rejoice—
I will divide Shechem;
I will portion out the Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead belongs to me,
and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet,
and Judah my scepter.
8 Moab is my wash basin;
over Edom I will throw my shoes;
over Philistia I will celebrate my triumph.”
9 Who will lead me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Aren’t you the one, God, who has cast us off?
Didn’t you refuse, God, to accompany our armies?
To the Director: A song. A Psalm.
A Song of Praise
66 Shout praise to God all the earth!
2 Sing praise about the glory of his name.[a]
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your works!
Because of your great strength
your enemies cringe before you.”
4 The whole earth worships you.
They sing praise to you.
They sing praise to your name.
5 Come and see the awesome works of God
on behalf of human beings:
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
Israel[b] crossed the river on foot;
let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules by his power forever,
his eyes watching over the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
8 Bless our God, people,
and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He gives us life
and does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, tested us,
to purify us like fine silver.
11 You have led us into a trap[c]
and set burdens on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over us.[d]
You brought us through fire and water,
but you led us to abundance.
13 I will come to your house with burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you
14 that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat,
along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams.
I will offer bulls along with goats.
16 Come and listen, all of you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 I called aloud to him
and praised him with my tongue.
18 Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not listen to me.
19 Surely God has heard,
and he paid attention to my[e] prayers.
20 Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers
nor his gracious love from me.
To the Director of music: Accompanied by stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
A Call to Thanksgiving
67 May God show us favor and bless us;
may he truly show us his favor.[f]
2 Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth,
along with your deliverance.
3 Let the people thank you, God.
Let all the people thank you.
4 Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy,
because you judge people with fairness
and you govern the people of the earth.
5 Let the people thank you, God;
let all the people thank you.
6 May the earth yield its produce.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God truly bless us
so that all the peoples[g] of the earth will fear him.
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they took the initiative by preparing their provisions shrewdly: they took tattered sacks for their donkeys, worn-out, torn, and mended wineskins, 5 worn-out, patched sandals for their feet, and worn-out clothes. All of their food was dried out and covered in mold. 6 Then they approached Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and addressed him and the Israelis, “We’ve arrived from a distant country, so please make a treaty with us right now.”
7 But the Israelis responded to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live in our midst. If this is so,[a] how can we make a treaty with you?”
8 So they responded to Joshua, “We are your servants.”
Joshua asked them, “Who are you? And where did you come from?”
9 They answered, “Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation[b] of the Lord your God, because we’ve heard a report about all that he did in Egypt, 10 along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River—that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 So our leaders and all of the inhabitants of our country told us, ‘Take provisions along with you for your journey, go to meet them, and tell them, “We are your servants. Come now and make a treaty with us.”’ 12 Look at[c] our bread: it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for our journey on the very day we set out to come to you. But now, look how it’s dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look—now they’re cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
14 So the leaders of Israel[d] sampled their provisions, but did not ask the Lord about it. 15 They made a treaty with them, guaranteeing their lives with a covenant, and the leaders of the congregation confirmed it with an oath to them.
16 But three days after they had made the treaty with them, they learned that they were their neighbors and were living in their midst. 17 So the Israelis set out for their cities and three days later they reached their cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of[e] the Lord, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders.
19 Then all of the leaders spoke to the entire congregation, “We have sworn to them in the name of[f] the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them. 20 So this is what we’ll do to them: we’ll let them live, so that wrath won’t come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.”
21 The leaders told them, “Let them live.” So they became wood cutters and water carriers for the entire congregation, which is what the leaders had decided concerning them.
Please Others, Not Yourselves
15 Now we who are strong ought to be patient with the weaknesses of those who are not strong and must stop pleasing ourselves. 2 Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building him up. 3 For even the Messiah[a] did not please himself. Instead, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”[b] 4 For everything that was written long ago was written to instruct us, so that we might have hope through the endurance and encouragement that the Scriptures give us.[c]
5 Now may God, the source of endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other as you follow the Messiah[d] Jesus,[e] 6 so that with one mind and one voice you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[f]
7 Therefore, accept one another, just as the Messiah[g] accepted you,[h] for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that the Messiah[i] became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors, 9 so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
10 Again he says,[l]
“Rejoice, you gentiles, with his people!”[m]
11 And again,
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“There will be a Root[q] from Jesse.
He will rise up to rule the gentiles,
and the gentiles will hope in him.”[r]
13 Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter Denies Jesus(A)
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant girl came up to him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 But he denied it in front of them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he exclaimed.
71 As he went out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus from Nazareth.”[a]
72 Again he denied it and swore with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”
73 After a little while, the people who were standing there came up and told Peter, “Obviously you’re also one of them, because your accent gives you away.”
74 Then he began to curse violently. “I don’t know the man!” he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed. 75 Peter remembered the words of Jesus when he said, “Before a rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times.” Then he went outside and cried bitterly.
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