Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
Thanksgiving and Prayer for Help
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]I waited patiently for the Lord;
then he stooped down and heard my cry.
3 He raised me up from the desolate pit,
out of the mire of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a rock,
giving me a firm footing.
4 He put a new song[d] in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will look on and be awestruck,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed[e] is the man
who places his trust in the Lord,
who does not follow the arrogant
or those who go astray after falsehoods.
6 How innumerable, O Lord, my God,
are the wonders you have worked;
no one can compare with you
in the plans you have made for us.
I would proclaim them and recount them,
but there are far too many to enumerate.
7 [f]Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but you have made my ears receptive.[g]
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not demand.
8 [h]Then I said, “Behold I come;
it is written of me in the scroll of the book.
9 To do your will, O God, is my delight;
your law is in my heart.”[i]
10 I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly;
I did not seal my lips,
as you well know, O Lord.
11 I have not concealed your righteousness within the depths of my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and salvation.
I have not concealed your kindness and your truth
in the great assembly.
12 O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me;
may your kindness[j] and your truth keep me safe forever.
13 I am surrounded by evils without number;
my sins have so engulfed me that I cannot see.
They outnumber the hairs on my head,
and my heart sinks within me.[k]
14 [l]Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
15 [m]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
16 May those who cry out to me, “Aha, aha!”[n]
be overcome with shame and dismay.
17 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “The Lord be magnified.”
18 Even though I am poor and needy,[o]
the Lord keeps me in his thoughts.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
Prayer in Time of Danger
1 For the director.[b] On stringed instruments. A maskil of David. 2 When the Ziphites came to Saul and said, “David is hiding among us.”
3 O God, save me by your name;[c]
vindicate me by your power.
4 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers[d] have risen against me;
those who are ruthless seek my life,
and they have no thought of God. Selah
6 Surely God is my helper;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
7 May their own evil recoil on my foes:
you who are faithful, destroy them.[e]
8 [f]I will freely offer sacrifice to you,
and I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
9 For you have rescued me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.
Psalm 51[a]
The “Miserere”: Repentance for Sin
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David. 2 When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
3 Have mercy on me, O God,
in accord with your kindness;[c]
in your abundant compassion
wipe away my offenses.
4 Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
5 For I am fully aware of my offense,
and my sin is ever before me.
6 Against you, you alone,[d] have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
Therefore, you are right in accusing me
and just in passing judgment.
7 Indeed, I was born in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.[e]
8 But you desire sincerity of heart;[f]
and you endow my innermost being with wisdom.
9 Sprinkle me with hyssop[g] so that I may be cleansed;
wash me until I am whiter than snow.
10 Let me experience joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed exult.
11 Hide your face from my sins,
and wipe out all my offenses.
12 Create[h] in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a resolute spirit within me.
13 Do not cast me out from your presence
or take away from me your Holy Spirit.[i]
14 Restore to me the joy of being saved,
and grant me the strength of a generous spirit.
15 I will teach your ways to the wicked,
and sinners will return to you.
16 Deliver me from bloodguilt,[j] O God,
the God of my salvation,
and I will proclaim your righteousness.
17 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18 For you take no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to make a burnt offering,
you would refuse to accept it.[k]
19 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a contrite and humble heart,[l] O God,
you will not spurn.
20 [m]In your kindness, deal favorably with Zion;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
21 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole oblations,
and young bulls will be offered on your altar.
Job’s Final Speech: His Appeal to God
Chapter 29
The Happy Time.[a] 1 Then Job continued further with his solemn discourse, as he said:
24 “Have I placed my faith in gold
and regarded it as my security?
25 Have I rejoiced in my great wealth
and the abundance of riches in my possession?
26 [a]Have I beheld the sun when it shone
and the moon moving in its splendor
27 and ever found my heart to be secretly enticed
so that I blew them a kiss in homage?
28 Any of these would be a serious offense,
for I would have been unfaithful to God above.
29 [b]“Have I ever rejoiced at the ruin of my enemy
or exulted when evil overtook him—
30 I who would not allow my tongue to sin
by laying his life under a curse?
31 Have not those of my household said,
‘Who has not eaten his meat and been sated?’
32 No stranger has ever had to spend the night in the street;
my door has always been open to the traveler.
33 “Have I ever concealed my transgressions as others do,
keeping my guilt buried within my breast,
34 because I feared the gossip that would ensue,
and I was terrified at the scorn of the multitude?
If so, then I would have remained silent
and not ventured out of doors.
May God Respond[c]
35 [d]“Oh, if only I had someone to hear my defense
and my accuser would write out his indictment!
36 I would wear it on my shoulder
and place it on my head as a crown.
37 I would give him an account of my entire life,
and like a prince I would present myself before him.
Concluding Oath[e]
38 “If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have joined in the weeping,
39 if I have eaten its produce without payment
and caused the death of its owners,
40 then let thistles grow instead of wheat
and noxious weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
12 On hearing this, the whole assembly fell silent, and they listened as Barnabas and Paul described all the signs and wonders that God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
13 James on Dietary Law. After they had finished speaking, James responded, “Brethren, listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has related how God first looked favorably upon the Gentiles and took from among them a people for his name. 15 This agrees with the words of the Prophets, as it is written,
16 ‘After this I will return
and rebuild the fallen tent of David.
From its ruins I will rebuild it
and raise it up again,
17 so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
as well as all the Gentiles whom I have claimed as my own.
Thus says the Lord who is doing this,
18 as he made known from long ago.’
19 “Therefore, I have come to this decision. We should not make things more difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Rather, we should send a letter simply instructing them to abstain from things that have been polluted by idols, from unchastity, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from blood. 21 For in every town for many generations, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
30 For Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, assuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 Mary came to the place where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and beheld the Jews who were with her also weeping, he became deeply moved in spirit and angry. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep, 36 causing the Jews to say, “See how greatly he loved him!” 37 But some of them remarked, “He opened the eyes of the blind man. Why could he not have done something to prevent this man’s death?”
38 Again deeply moved, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, with a stone closing the entrance. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench, for he has been dead for four days.”
40 Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you have faith you will see the glory of God?” 41 And so they removed the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
42 I know that you always hear me,
but I have said this
for the sake of the people standing here,
so that they may believe
that it was you who sent me.”
43 When he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Then Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go free.”
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