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.
Joshua’s Retirement Address to Israel
23 Many years later, after the Lord had given peace[a] between Israel and all its surrounding enemies, and after Joshua had become very old, 2 Joshua called together all Israel, including their leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers. He told them, “I am old now after having lived many years. 3 You have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to all of these nations on your behalf, because it has been the Lord your God who has been fighting on your behalf. 4 Now look, I have allocated these nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, including all of the nations that I have eliminated, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean[b] Sea to the west.[c] 5 The Lord your God will expel them in front of you, driving them out of your sight. You will take possession of this land, just as the Lord your God promised you. 6 Stand very strong, then, so you can obey and carry out everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left of it. 7 That way, you will not mingle with those nations that remain among you, nor mention the name of their gods, nor make oaths by them,[d] nor serve them, nor worship them. 8 Instead, you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done today, 9 because the Lord has expelled great and strong nations ahead of you. Now as for you, not a single man has been able to oppose you right to this day. 10 A single man makes a thousand flee, because the Lord your God is the one who is fighting for you, just as he promised you.
11 “So be very diligent to love the Lord your God, 12 because if you ever turn back and cling to those who remain of these nations by intermarrying with them and associating one with another, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive out these nations ahead of you. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap for you, a whip to your backs, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the Lord your God has given you.
14 “Look here: today I’m going down the path that everyone on earth takes, and you know with all your hearts and souls that not a single word of all of the good things that the Lord your God spoke about you has failed to happen. Everything has been fulfilled about you—not one of them has failed. 15 However, just as all of the good things have come about that the Lord your God promised, so also the Lord will bring upon you all of the threats until he has destroyed you from possessing this good land that he[e] has given you. 16 When you break the covenant of the Lord your God that he commanded you to obey by going to serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the Lord will blaze against you, and you will perish quickly from this good land that he gave you.”
25 Right now, however, I’m going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, 26 because the believers in[a] Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 Yes, they were eager to do this, and in fact they are obligated to help them, for if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to be of service to them in material things.
28 So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain. 29 And I know that when I come to you I will come with the full blessing of the Messiah.[b]
30 Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[c] and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me 31 that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 and that if it’s God’s will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you.
Doxology
33 Now may the God who grants[d] peace be with all of you! Amen.
Pilate Questions Jesus(A)
11 Meanwhile, Jesus was made to stand in front of the governor. The governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus said, “You say so.”
12 While Jesus[a] was being accused by the high priests and elders, he made no reply. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear how many charges they’re bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus[b] did not reply at all, so that the governor was very surprised.
Jesus is Sentenced to Death(B)
15 At every festival[c] the governor had a custom of releasing to the crowd any prisoner whom they wanted. 16 At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.[d] 17 So when the people[e] had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which man do you want me to release for you—Barabbas,[f] or Jesus who is called ‘the Messiah’?”[g] 18 He did this[h] because he knew that they had handed him over out of jealousy.
19 While he was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him a message[i] that said, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, because today I have suffered terribly due to a dream I had about him.”
20 But the high priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to demand that Jesus be put to death. 21 So the governor asked them, “Which of the two men do you want me to release for you?”
“Barabbas!” they replied.
22 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?”[j]
They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
23 He asked, “What has he done wrong?”
But they kept shouting louder and louder, “Let him be crucified!”
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