Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16
A Miktam of David.
1 Preserve me, O God,
for in You I take refuge.
2 I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
my welfare has no existence outside of You.”
3 For the holy ones who are in the land,
they are the majestic ones; in them is all my delight.
4 Those who chase after other gods,
their sorrows will be multiplied;
their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
nor lift their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup;
You support my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
yes, an inheritance is beautiful for me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
my affections also instruct me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand,
I will not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
my flesh also will rest in security.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
nor will You suffer Your godly one to see corruption.
11 You will make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 17
A Prayer of David.
1 Hear a just cause, O Lord,
attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer
that is not spoken from deceitful lips.
2 May my sentence go out from Your presence;
may Your eyes see rightly.
3 You have examined my heart; You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 Concerning the works of men,
by the word of Your lips
I have avoided
the paths of the violent,
5 placing my steps in Your paths,
that my footsteps do not slip.
6 I called on You, for You will answer me, O God;
incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7 Show marvelously Your lovingkindness,
O Deliverer of those who seek refuge
by Your right hand from those who arise in opposition.
8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9 from the wicked who bring ruin to me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They close their hard hearts;
with their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now encircled us in our steps;
they have set their eyes to bend down to the earth;
12 it is like a lion that is anxious to rip its prey,
and as a young lion lurking in secrecy.
13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, cast him down!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by Your sword,
14 from men by Your hand, O Lord,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their belly with Your treasure;
they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied when I awake with Your likeness.
Psalm 22
For the Music Director. To the melody of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from delivering me,
and from my roaring words of distress?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer;
and at night, but I have no rest.
3 But You are holy,
O You who inhabits the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You did deliver them.
5 They cried to You and were delivered;
they trusted in You and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not a man;
a reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me laugh me to scorn;
they sneer with the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “Trust in the Lord,
let Him deliver him;
let Him rescue him,
seeing He delights in him.”
9 But You are He who took me out of the womb;
You caused me to trust
while I was on my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast on You from birth;
You are my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Be not far from me
for trouble is near,
for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
13 They open their mouths against me,
as a preying and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted inside my body.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
and You have set me toward the dust of death.
16 For dogs have encompassed me;
the assembly of the wicked has enclosed me;
like a lion they pin my hands and my feet;
17 I can count all my bones;
they look and stare on me.
18 They part my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothes.
19 But do not be far from me, O Lord;
O my Help, hasten to my aid.
20 Rescue my soul from the sword,
my only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth,
and from the horns of the wild ox, answer me!
22 I will declare Your name to my community;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
all you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
and stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted;
nor has He hid His face from him;
but when he cried to Him, He heard.
25 From You my praise will be in the great congregation;
I will pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The meek will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever.
27 All the ends of the world
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will worship before You.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and He rules among the nations.
29 All the prosperous ones of the earth will eat and worship;
all who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
even he who cannot keep his own soul alive.
30 Posterity will serve Him;
it will be told to generations about the Lord;
31 they will come and declare His righteousness
to a people yet to be born,
that He has acted.
Job Replies: There Is No Mediator
9 Then Job answered:
2 “Truly, I know it is so,
but how can a man be righteous with God?
3 If one would dispute with Him,
he cannot answer Him once in a thousand times.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
5 He who removes mountains, and they know not,
who overturns them in His anger.
6 He who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble.
7 He who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals off the stars.
8 He who alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He who makes the Bear, Orion, and Pleiades,
and the constellations of the south.
10 He who does great things, beyond discovery,
yes, and wonders beyond number.
11 Yes, He would cross before me, and I would not see Him;
He would pass on by, but I would not perceive Him.
12 Yes, He takes away; who can hinder Him?
Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
13 God will not withdraw His anger.
The proud helpers bow down beneath Him.
14 “How, then, can I myself answer Him,
and choose my words to reason with Him?
15 Even if I were righteous I could not answer;
I would plead to my Judge for favor.
32 “For He is not a man as I am, that I should answer Him,
and we should come together in judgment.
33 Nor is there a mediator between us,
who may lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let Him take His rod away from me,
and let not dread of Him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him,
but it is not so with me.
Peter Speaks in Cornelius’ House
34 Then Peter began to speak, saying, “Truthfully, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. 35 But in every nation he who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which He sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, 37 the word, which you know, that was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
39 “We are witnesses of all that He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 But God raised Him on the third day and presented Him publicly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses previously chosen by God, to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets bear witness that whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins through His name.”
Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. 45 All the believers of the circumcision who had come with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and magnifying God.
Then Peter continued, 47 “Can anyone forbid water for baptizing these, who have received the Holy Spirit as we have?” 48 So he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” 39 By this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division Among the People
40 Therefore when they heard these words, many of the people said, “Truly, this is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from the seed of David, out of the town of Bethlehem where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
The Unbelief of Those in Authority
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?”
46 The officers answered, “No man has ever spoken like this Man.”
47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 Not at all. This crowd who does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus, being one of them who came to Jesus by night, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.