Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]helpless;
The Lord will deliver him (B)in a day of [b]trouble.
2 The Lord will (C)protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall [c]be called (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [d]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [e]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [f]falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they (J)devise my hurt, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out [g]upon him,
That when he lies down, he will (K)not rise up again.”
9 Even my (L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You are pleased with me,
Because (O)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me (Q)in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [e]his evil desire.”
Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)spread them abroad.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]cheaply,
And have not [f]profited by their sale.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]my (AG)humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
Elihu in Anger Rebukes Job
32 Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was (A)righteous in his own eyes. 2 But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the (B)Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned (C)because he justified himself [a](D)before God. 3 And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 4 Now Elihu had waited [b]to speak to Job because they were years older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned.
6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite [c]spoke out and said,
“I am young in years and you are (E)old;
Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you [d]what I think.
7 “I [e]thought [f](F)age should speak,
And [g]increased years should teach wisdom.
8 “But it is a spirit in man,
And the (G)breath of the Almighty gives them (H)understanding.
9 “The [h]abundant in years may not be wise,
Nor may (I)elders understand justice.
10 “So I [i]say, ‘Listen to me,
I too will tell [j]what I think.’
19 “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine,
Like new wineskins it is about to burst.
20 “Let me speak that I may get relief;
Let me open my lips and answer.
21 “Let me now (A)be partial to no one,
Nor flatter any man.
22 “For I do not know how to flatter,
Else my Maker would soon take me away.
Elihu Claims to Speak for God
33 “However now, Job, please (B)hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
19 “[a]Man is also chastened with (A)pain on his bed,
And with unceasing complaint in his bones;
20 So that his life (B)loathes bread,
And his soul favorite food.
21 “His (C)flesh wastes away from sight,
And his (D)bones which were not seen stick out.
22 “Then (E)his soul draws near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.
23 “If there is an angel as (F)mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To remind a man what is [b]right for him,
24 Then let him be gracious to him, and say,
‘Deliver him from (G)going down to the pit,
I have found a (H)ransom’;
25 Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;
26 Then he will (I)pray to God, and He will accept him,
That (J)he may see His face with joy,
And He may restore His righteousness to man.
27 “He will sing to men and say,
‘I (K)have sinned and perverted what is right,
And it is not (L)proper for me.
28 ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,
And my life shall (M)see the light.’
Paul Turns to the Gentiles
44 The next (A)Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of [a]the Lord. 45 But when (B)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were [b]blaspheming. 46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you (C)first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, (D)we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us,
‘(E)I have placed You as a (F)light for the Gentiles,
That You may [c]bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying (G)the word of [d]the Lord; and as many as (H)had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And (I)the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. 50 But (J)the Jews incited the [e](K)devout women (L)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their [f]district. 51 But (M)they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to (N)Iconium. 52 And the disciples were continually (O)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
19 (A)A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He (B)has a demon and (C)is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one (D)demon-possessed. (E)A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”
Jesus Asserts His Deity
22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of (F)Solomon. 24 (G)The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long [a]will You keep us in suspense? If You are [b]the Christ, tell us (H)plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “(I)I told you, and you do not believe; (J)the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because (K)you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep (L)hear My voice, and (M)I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give (N)eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and (O)no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 [c]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 (P)I and the Father are [d]one.”
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