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)
Chapter 9
Job’s Second Reply. 1 Then Job answered and said:
2 I know well that it is so;
but how can anyone be in the right before God?
3 Should one wish to contend with him,[a]
he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has withstood him and remained whole?
5 He removes the mountains before they know it;
he overturns them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth out of its place,(A)
and the pillars beneath it tremble.
7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals up the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(B)
and treads upon the back of the sea.
9 He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
10 He does things great and unsearchable,
things marvelous and innumerable.
11 Should he come near me, I do not see him;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
12 Should he seize me forcibly, who can resist?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
13 He is God and he does not relent;
the helpers of Rahab[b] bow beneath him.
14 How then could I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
15 Even though I were right, I could not answer,(C)
but should rather beg for what was due me.
32 For he is not a man like myself, that I should answer him,
that we should come together in judgment.
33 Would that there were an arbiter between us,
who could lay his hand upon us both
34 and withdraw his rod from me,
So that his terrors did not frighten me;
35 that I might speak without being afraid of him.
Since this is not the case with me,
1 [a]I loathe my life.(A)
34 Then Peter proceeded to speak and said,[a] “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.(A) 35 Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. 36 [b]You know the word [that] he sent to the Israelites[c] as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,(B) 37 what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached,(C) 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth[d] with the holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.(D) 39 We are witnesses[e] of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and [in] Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. 40 This man God raised [on] the third day and granted that he be visible, 41 not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.(E) 42 He commissioned us(F) to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.[f] 43 To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”
The Baptism of Cornelius. 44 (G)While Peter was still speaking these things, the holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.[g] 45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the holy Spirit should have been poured out on the Gentiles also, 46 for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 47 “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the holy Spirit even as we have?”(H) 48 He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.(A) 38 Whoever believes in me, as scripture says:
39 He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet,[b] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.(C)
Discussion About the Origins of the Messiah.[c] 40 Some in the crowd who heard these words said, “This is truly the Prophet.”(D) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he? 42 Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”(E) 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.” 47 So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?(F) 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,(G) 51 “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?”(H) 52 They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
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.