Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, is the Lord;
He has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined.
3 Our God will come, and will not keep silent;
a fire consumes before Him,
and a strong tempest is around Him.
4 He calls to the heavens above,
and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
5 “Gather My faithful ones together to Me,
those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens will declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
I am God, even your God.
8 I will not reprove you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings that are continually before Me.
9 I will take no young bull out of your house,
nor male goats out of your folds.
10 For every wild animal of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and the creatures that move in the field are Mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and pay your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
or take My covenant in your mouth?
17 You hate instruction,
and cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you are pleased,
and have a share in those who commit adultery.
19 You let loose your mouth to evil,
and your tongue is bound to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you accuse your own mother’s son.
21 These things have you done, and I kept silent;
you thought that I was indeed like you;
but I will reprove you
and make a case before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23 Whoever sacrifices a thank offering
glorifies Me and makes a way;
I will show him the salvation of God.”
Psalm 59
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men, and they watched the house to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
give me refuge from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
and save me from bloodthirsty people.
3 For they lie in wait for my life;
the mighty are gathered against me,
not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.
4 For no guilt of mine, they run and prepare themselves.
Arise to help me, and take notice.
5 You, O Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel,
awake to punish all the nations;
do not be gracious to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 They return at evening,
they growl like a dog,
and go around the city.
7 Indeed, they burst out with their mouth;
swords are in their lips;
for who listens?
8 But You, O Lord, will laugh at them;
You will have all the nations in derision.
9 O my strength, I will wait on You;
for God is my refuge.
10 The God of lovingkindness will go before me;
God will cause me to look in triumph on my enemies.
11 Do not slay them,
lest my people forget;
scatter them by Your power,
and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth
and the words of their lips,
may they be snared by their pride,
and because of curses and lies that they speak.
13 Consume them in wrath,
consume them so they no longer exist;
and let them know that God rules in Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 At evening they return,
and growl like a dog,
and go around the city.
15 They roam about to eat,
and if they are not satisfied, they complain.
16 But I will sing of Your power;
I will sing aloud of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
for You have been my refuge
and escape in the day of my trouble.
17 To You, O my strength, I will sing,
for God is my refuge, and the God of my lovingkindness.
Psalm 60(A)
For the Music Director. A Miktam of David to teach. To the melody of “Lily of the Testimony,” when he struggled with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah and when Joab returned from striking down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, You have rejected us, You have scattered us;
You have been displeased; take us back.
2 You have made the earth tremble; You have split it open;
heal its breaches, for it shook.
3 You have shown Your people hard times;
You have made us drink wine, causing us to stagger.
4 You have given a banner to those who fear You,
that they may flee to it from the bow.[a] Selah
5 That Your beloved ones may be delivered,
save with Your right hand and answer us.
6 God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
and measure out the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is My helmet;
Judah is My scepter;
8 Moab is My wash basin;
over Edom I will cast My shoe;
shout the alarm, O Philistia, because of Me.”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me into Edom?
10 You, O God, have You not cast us off?
And You, O God, did not go out with our armies.
11 Give us help from trouble,
for the help of man is worthless.
12 Through God we will do valiantly,
for He will tread down our enemies.
Psalm 93
1 The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.
Indeed, the world is established;
it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne is established of old;
You are from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring waves.
4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
yes, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Your statutes are very sure;
holiness is becoming to Your house,
O Lord, forever.
Psalm 96(A)
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song;
sing unto the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;
declare His salvation from day to day.
3 Proclaim His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give unto the Lord, O families of the people,
give unto the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give unto the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Indeed, the world is established; it shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field be joyful, and all that is in it;
then all the trees of the forests shall rejoice
13 before the Lord, for He comes,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with His faithfulness.
Job’s Final Defense
29 Moreover Job continued his discourse:
31 “I made a covenant with my eyes;
why then should I look upon a young woman?
2 For what portion of God is there from above?
And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Does not destruction belong to the wicked,
and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
4 Does He not see my ways,
and count all my steps?
5 “If I have walked in vanity,
or if my foot has hurried after deceit,
6 let me be weighed in an even balance
that God may know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned out of the path,
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has clung to my hands,
8 then let me sow, but let another eat;
yes, let my offspring be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been deceived by a woman,
or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down over her.
11 For this is a heinous crime;
yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumes to destruction
and would root out all my increase.
13 “If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant
when they complained against me,
14 what then will I do when God rises up?
And when He visits, what will I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make him?
And did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel by myself,
so that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (but from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,
and I have guided the widow from my mother’s womb);
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or any poor without covering;
20 if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
when I saw I had help in the gate;
22 then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade,
and my arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God is a terror to me,
and because of His highness I cannot endure.
The Council in Jerusalem
15 Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised in the tradition of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others among them, should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared what God had done through them.
5 Then some believers of the sect of the Pharisees rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders assembled to consider this matter. 7 After much disputing, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God decided among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, approved of them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between them and us, and purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why test God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”
Jesus the Resurrection and the Life
17 When Jesus arrived, He found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, less than two miles away.[a] 19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, but Mary remained in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You may ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Jesus Weeps
28 When she had said this, she went her way and secretly called her sister Mary, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 When she heard this, she rose quickly and went to Him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.