Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 30
A Psalm of David. A Song at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up,
and have not caused my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to You,
and You healed me.
3 O Lord, You have brought up my soul from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His,
and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
5 For His anger endures but a moment,
in His favor is life;
weeping may endure for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 In my prosperity I said,
“I will never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor
You had set me strong as a mountain;
You hid Your face,
and I was terrified.
8 I cried to You, O Lord,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust give You thanks?
Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
Lord, be my helper.”
11 For You have turned my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
12 so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Psalm 32
A Psalm of David. A Contemplative Maskil.
1 Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man
against whom the Lord does not count iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
Your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was changed
into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
and my iniquity I did not conceal.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord,”
and You forgave
the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 For this cause everyone who is godly will pray to You
in a time when You may be found;
surely in the floods of great waters
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
You will preserve me from trouble;
You will surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye on you.
9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule
that are without understanding,
that must be restrained with bit and bridle,
or they will not come near you.
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but lovingkindness will surround
the man who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous one;
and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Psalm 42
For the Music Director. A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As the deer pants after the water brooks,
so my soul pants after You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When will I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they always say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I would travel with the throng of people;
I proceeded with them to the house of God,
with the voice of joy and thanks,
with a multitude making a pilgrimage.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted in me?
Hope in God,
for I will yet thank Him
for the help of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
therefore I will remember You
from the land of Jordan,
and of the Hermon, from the hill of Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the noise of Your waterfalls;
all Your waves and Your billows
passed over me.
8 Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
and in the night His song will be with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 With shattering in my bones,
those harassing me reproach me,
when they say to me every day,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you cast down?
Why do you groan within me?
Wait for God;
I will yet thank Him,
For He is my deliverance and my God.
Psalm 43
1 Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 For You are the God of my refuge;
why have You rejected me?
Why do I walk about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out Your light and Your truth.
Let them lead me;
let them bring me to Your holy hill,
and to Your dwelling place.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joyful gladness;
with the harp I will give thanks to You,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
for I will yet give Him thanks,
the salvation of my countenance and my God.
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Can a man be profitable to God,
as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
4 “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
and enters into judgment with you?
21 “Now acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace;
thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive, I pray, the teaching from His mouth,
and lay up His words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
you will put away iniquity far from your tents.
24 Then you will lay up gold as dust,
and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver;
26 for then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face unto God.
27 You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 You will also declare a matter, and it will be established unto you;
and the light will shine upon your ways.
29 When men are cast down, and you say, ‘There is a time of exaltation!’
then He will save the humble person.
30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent;
he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Grievous
23 Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy because of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
that I might come even to His seat!
4 I would present my case before Him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words that He would answer me
and understand what He would say to me.
6 Will He plead against me with His great power?
No! But He would take note of me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with Him;
so would I be delivered forever from my Judge.
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those of you who fear God, the word of this salvation has been sent to us. 27 Because those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, did not know Him, in condemning Him they have fulfilled the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found in Him no cause worthy of death, yet they asked Pilate to have Him killed. 29 When they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and placed Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead, 31 and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.
32 “We preach to you good news: The promise which was made to the fathers, 33 God has fulfilled to us, their children, raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:
‘You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.’[a]
34 That He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way:
‘I will give You the holy and sure blessings of David.’[b]
35 So He says in another Psalm:
‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’[c]
36 “For after David had served by the counsel of God in his own generation, he fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw decay. 37 But He whom God raised up saw no decay.
38 “Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this Man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses. 40 Therefore beware, lest what is spoken of in the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers,
marvel and perish!
For I will perform a work in your days
which you will never believe,
even if someone declares it to you.’[d]”
42 When Paul and Barnabas went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles asked that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
The Parable of the Shepherd
10 “Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. 4 When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him. For they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 But he who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and am known by My own. 15 Even as the Father knows Me, so I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also bring them, and they will hear My voice. There will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I received this command from My Father.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.