Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41[a]
Trust in God in Sickness and Misfortune
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]Blessed is he who has concern for the weak;
in time of trouble the Lord will deliver him.
3 The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
he will make him happy on earth
and not abandon him to the will of his enemies.
4 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed
and bring him back to health.
5 Once I prayed, “O Lord, have mercy on me;
heal me, for I have sinned[d] against you.
6 In their malice my enemies say of me,
‘When will he die and his name be forgotten?’
7 When someone comes to visit me,
he utters words without sincerity;
his heart[e] harbors slander,
and on departing he gives voice to it.
8 “All my enemies whisper against me
and conjure up the worst in my regard.
9 ‘He has a fatal disease,’ they say;
‘he will never rise up from his sickbed.’
10 “Even my friend whom I trusted,
the one who dined at my table,
has risen up[f] against me.
11 But you, O Lord, be merciful to me;
make me well[g] so that I may pay them back.”
12 By this I know that you are pleased with me—
that my enemy fails to triumph over me.
13 Because of my innocence you uphold me
and let me stand in your presence forever.
14 Blessed[h] be the Lord, the God of Israel,
forever and forever.
Amen and Amen.
Psalm 52[a]
Prayer for Help against Calumniators
1 For the director.[b] A maskil of David. 2 When Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”
3 Why do you boast of your evil deeds,
you champion of malice?[c]
All day long 4 you plot harm;
your tongue is like a sharpened razor,
you master of deceit.
5 [d]You love evil rather than good,
and lies rather than truthful speech. Selah
6 You wallow in destructive talk,
you tongue of deceit.
7 [e]This is the reason why God will crush you
and destroy you once and for all.
He will snatch you from your tent[f]
and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
8 The righteous will see and be afraid;
they will mock him:
9 “This is the man
who refused to accept God as his refuge.
Rather, he placed his trust in his abundant riches
and gathered strength by his crimes.”
10 [g]But I am like a green olive tree[h]
in the house of God.
I place my trust forever and ever
in the kindness of God.
11 I will praise you forever
for what you have done,[i]
and in the presence of the saints
I will proclaim the goodness of your name.
Psalm 44[a]
Past Glory and Present Need of God’s People
1 For the director.[b] A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 [c]O God, we have heard with our ears,
our ancestors have told us,
of the deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old.
3 To establish them in the land,
you drove out the nations with your own hand;
you crushed the peoples
so that our ancestors could flourish.
4 It was not their own swords that won them the land,
nor did their own arms make them victorious;
rather, it was your right hand and your arm
and the light of your face,[d]
because you loved them.
5 You are my[e] King and my God,
who bestowed victories upon Jacob.
6 Through you we throw back our enemies;
through your name[f] we crush our assailants.
7 It is not in my bow that I trust,
nor can my sword ensure my victory.
8 It is you who saved us from our enemies;
you scattered in confusion those who hate us.
9 In God we boast the whole day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
10 [g]But now you have rejected and humiliated us,
and you no longer accompany our armies.[h]
11 You have forced us to retreat[i] before the enemy;
those who hate us plunder us unceasingly.
12 You have handed us over like sheep to be slaughtered
and scattered us among the nations.
13 You have sold your people for nothing,
receiving no gain from their sale.
14 You have subjected us to the contempt of our neighbors,
to the mockery and scorn of all who are near.
15 You have made us a byword to the nations;
the peoples shake their heads[j] at us.
16 All day long I am confronted by my disgrace,
and my face is covered with shame
17 as I hear the shouts of taunting and abuse
and see the hateful enemy seeking revenge.
18 All this has happened to us
even though we have not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.[k]
19 Our hearts[l] have not turned back,
nor have our feet wandered from your path.
20 Yet you have crushed us,
forced us to live among the jackals,[m]
and covered us with darkness.
21 If we had forgotten the name[n] of our God
or lifted up our hands to a foreign god,
22 would not God have discovered it,
he who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For your sake we are put to death all day long;
we are treated like sheep destined to be slaughtered.[o]
24 Awake, O Lord. Why[p] do you sleep?
Rise up, and do not abandon us forever.
25 Why do you hide your face[q]
and continue to ignore our misery and our sufferings?
26 We have been brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.[r]
27 Rise up and come to our aid;
redeem us for the sake of your kindness.[s]
The Four Speeches of Elihu[a]
Chapter 32
Elihu’s Indignation Is Aroused.[b] 1 The three men then ceased to argue with Job because in his own eyes he was righteous. 2 Then Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite,[c] of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was furious because Job believed that he was righteous and that God was in error. 3 And he was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had never devised an answer to refute Job and thus had allowed God to appear to be wrong.
4 While Job and his friends had been conversing, Elihu had refrained from addressing Job, since the three companions were older than he. 5 But when Elihu perceived that the three had no answer to offer, he could no longer contain his anger.
Elihu’s First Speech
I Have Many Things To Say.[d] 6 Therefore Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, began to speak.
“I am young in years,
and you are old.
Therefore, I held my tongue
and hesitated to express my opinion to you.
7 I thought, ‘Age ought to speak;
many years will result in conveying wisdom.’
8 “But it is the spirit in a man,
the breath of the Almighty,
that gives him understanding.
9 It is not only the old who are wise;
it is not only the aged who understand what is right.
10 Therefore, I beg you to listen to me
and allow me to declare my opinion.
19 “I am ready to burst,
like a new wineskin with wine searching for a vent.
20 I must speak so that I may find relief;
I must open my lips and reply.
21 I will show no partiality to anyone,
nor will I use flattering words.
22 For I do not know how to flatter;
if I did, my Maker would soon do away with me.
Chapter 33
God Is Greater Than Any Human Being[a]
1 “Therefore, O Job, listen to my words
and pay careful attention to everything I have to say.
19 “Or again, he chastens him with pain upon his bed
and with unceasing agony in his bones,
20 so that he regards food with loathing
and rejects the choicest dishes.
21 His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
and his bones that once were invisible now begin to show.
22 His soul draws nearer to the pit
and his life to the abode of the dead.
23 “But then, if there should be an angel on his side,
one out of a thousand, a mediator,
to show him what is right for him
and expound God’s righteousness to him,
24 he will take pity on him and say,
‘Spare him from going down into the pit;
I have the ransom for his life.’
25 Then his flesh will regain its boyish freshness,
and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 “Then, if he entreats God to show him favor
and allow him to enter his presence with joy,
27 he will affirm before everyone,
‘I sinned and departed from the path of righteousness,
but God has not punished me as I deserved.
28 He spared my soul from descending into the pit,
and I will behold the light of life.’
44 Paul’s Speech to the Gentiles. On the next Sabbath, almost the entire city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and with blasphemy they contradicted whatever Paul said. 46 Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be proclaimed to you first. However, since you have rejected it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so has the Lord commanded us to do, saying,
‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles
so that you may bring salvation
to the farthest corners of the earth.’ ”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were delighted, and they praised the word of the Lord. All those who were destined for eternal life became believers. 49 Thus, the word of the Lord continued to spread throughout the entire region.
50 However, the Jews incited the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city. As a result, a campaign of persecution was stirred up against Paul and Barnabas, and they were driven out of the territory. 51 And so they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.[a] 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
19 Once again, these words provoked a division among the Jews. 20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed and out of his mind. Why should we listen to him?” 21 But others said, “No one possessed by a demon could speak like this. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”[a]
I and the Father Are One
22 Feast of the Dedication.[b] At that time, the feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple along the Portico of Solomon.[c] 24 The Jews gathered around him and asked, “How much longer will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus replied,
“I have told you,
but you do not believe.
The works that I do in my Father’s name
bear witness to me,
26 but you do not believe
because you are not my sheep.
27 “My sheep listen to my voice.
I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life,
and they will never perish.
No one will ever snatch them from my hand.
29 My Father who has given them to me
is greater than all,
and no one can snatch them
out of the Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”[d]
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