Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
70 (A)O God, hasten to deliver me;
O Lord, hasten to my help!
2 (B)Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my [a]life;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [b]in my hurt.
3 (C)Let those be [c]turned back because of their shame
Who say, “Aha, aha!”
4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified.”
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.
71 (F)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (G)In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
(H)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given (K)commandment to save me,
For You are (L)my [d]rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [e]grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
O Lord [f]God, You are my (O)confidence from my youth.
6 [g]By You I have been (P)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [h]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the (W)time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [i]against me;
And those who (X)watch for my [j]life (Y)have consulted together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has forsaken him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to deliver.”
12 O God, (AB)do not be far from me;
O my God, (AC)hasten to my help!
13 Let those who are adversaries of my soul be (AD)ashamed and consumed;
Let them be (AE)covered with reproach and dishonor, who (AF)seek [k]to injure me.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)hope continually,
And will [l](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the [m]sum of them.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of the Lord [n]God;
I will (AM)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 O God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [o]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19 [p]For Your (AR)righteousness, O God, reaches to the [q]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
O God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You who have (AU)shown [r]me many troubles and distresses
Will (AV)revive [s]me again,
And will bring [t]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [u](AZ)a harp,
Even Your [v]truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the (BA)lyre,
O (BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek [w]my hurt.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Turn Your footsteps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own [d]standards (L)for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His [e](M)axe in a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now [g]all its (N)carved work
They smash with hatchet and [h]hammers.
7 They have [i](O)burned Your sanctuary [j]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [k]completely [l]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)revile,
And the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 [m]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[n]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [o]in the waters.
14 [p]You crushed the heads of [q](AC)Leviathan;
[r]You gave him as food for the [s]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [t]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[u]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[v]You have (AG)prepared the [w]light and the sun.
17 [x]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[y]You have [z]made (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [aa]O Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)reviled,
And a (AK)foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures
28 “Surely there is a [a]mine for silver
And a place [b]where they refine gold.
2 “Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3 “Man puts an end to darkness,
And (A)to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4 “He [c]sinks a shaft far from [d]habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
5 “The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
6 “Its rocks are the [e]source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7 “The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
8 “The [f]proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the [g]base.
10 “He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11 “He dams up the streams from [h]flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
The Search for Wisdom Is Harder
12 “But (B)where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 “(C)Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 “(D)Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16 “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
17 “(E)Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
18 “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of (F)wisdom is above that of pearls.
19 “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in (G)pure gold.
20 “(H)Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 “[i](I)Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23 “(J)God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 “For He (K)looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
25 “When He imparted (L)weight to the wind
And (M)meted out the waters by measure,
26 When He set a (N)limit for the rain
And a course for the (O)thunderbolt,
27 Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the (P)fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
25 But about midnight (A)Paul and Silas were praying and (B)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly (C)there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately (D)all the doors were opened and everyone’s (E)chains were unfastened. 27 When (F)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about (G)to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before (H)Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, (I)what must I do to be saved?”
The Jailer Converted
31 They said, “(J)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and (K)your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of [a]the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them (L)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set [b]food before them, and rejoiced [c]greatly, having believed in God with (M)his whole household.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And (N)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go (O)in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, (P)men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. (Q)They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them (R)to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of (S)Lydia, and when they saw (T)the brethren, they [d]encouraged them and departed.
Jesus Foretells His Death
27 “(A)Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘(B)Father, save Me from (C)this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 (D)Father, glorify Your name.” Then a (E)voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “(F)An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “(G)This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. 31 (H)Now judgment is upon this world; now (I)the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I (J)am lifted up from the earth, will (K)draw all men to Myself.” 33 But He was saying this (L)to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. 34 The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of (M)the Law that [a](N)the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The (O)Son of Man must be (P)lifted up’? Who is this (Q)Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “(R)For a little while longer (S)the Light is among you. (T)Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who (U)walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the Light, (V)believe in the Light, so that you may become (W)sons of Light.”
These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and [b](X)hid Himself from them.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.