Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 69[a]
A Cry of Anguish in Great Distress
1 For the leader; according to “Lilies.”[b] Of David.
I
2 Save me, God,
for the waters[c] have reached my neck.(A)
3 I have sunk into the mire of the deep,
where there is no foothold.
I have gone down to the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.(B)
4 I am weary with crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
from looking for my God.(C)
5 More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause.(D)
Those who would destroy me are mighty,
my enemies without reason.
Must I now restore
what I did not steal?[d]
II
6 God, you know my folly;
my faults are not hidden from you.
7 Let those who wait in hope for you, Lord of hosts,
not be shamed because of me.
Let those who seek you, God of Israel,(E)
not be disgraced because of me.
8 For it is on your account I bear insult,
that disgrace covers my face.(F)
9 I have become an outcast to my kindred,
a stranger to my mother’s children.(G)
10 Because zeal for your house has consumed me,[e]
I am scorned by those who scorn you.(H)
11 When I humbled my spirit with fasting,(I)
this led only to scorn.
12 When I clothed myself in sackcloth;
I became a byword for them.
13 Those who sit in the gate gossip about me;
drunkards make me the butt of songs.
III
14 But I will pray to you, Lord,
at a favorable time.
God, in your abundant kindness, answer me
with your sure deliverance.(J)
15 Rescue me from the mire,(K)
and do not let me sink.
Rescue me from those who hate me
and from the watery depths.
16 Do not let the flood waters overwhelm me,
nor the deep swallow me,
nor the pit close its mouth over me.
17 Answer me, Lord, in your generous love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
18 Do not hide your face from your servant;
hasten to answer me, for I am in distress.(L)
19 Come and redeem my life;
because of my enemies ransom me.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace;
before you stand all my foes.
21 Insult has broken my heart, and I despair;
I looked for compassion, but there was none,(M)
for comforters, but found none.
22 Instead they gave me poison for my food;
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar.(N)
IV
23 May their own table be a snare for them,
and their communion offerings a trap.(O)
24 Make their eyes so dim they cannot see;
keep their backs ever feeble.
25 Pour out your wrath upon them;
let the fury of your anger overtake them.
26 Make their camp desolate,
with none to dwell in their tents.(P)
27 For they pursued the one you struck,
added to the pain of the one you wounded.
28 Heap punishment upon their punishment;
let them gain from you no vindication.
29 May they be blotted from the book of life;
not registered among the just!(Q)
V
30 But here I am miserable and in pain;
let your saving help protect me, God,
31 [f]That I may praise God’s name in song
and glorify it with thanksgiving.
32 That will please the Lord more than oxen,
more than bulls with horns and hooves:(R)
33 “See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, take heart!(S)
34 For the Lord hears the poor,
and does not spurn those in bondage.
35 Let the heaven and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!”
VI
Third Book—Psalms 73–89
Psalm 73[a]
The Trial of the Just
1 A psalm of Asaph.
How good God is to the upright,
to those who are pure of heart!
I
2 But, as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped,
3 Because I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(A)
4 For they suffer no pain;
their bodies are healthy and sleek.
5 They are free of the burdens of life;
they are not afflicted like others.
6 Thus pride adorns them as a necklace;
violence clothes them as a robe.
7 Out of such blindness comes sin;
evil thoughts flood their hearts.(B)
8 They scoff and spout their malice;
from on high they utter threats.(C)
9 [b]They set their mouths against the heavens,
their tongues roam the earth.
10 [c]So my people turn to them
and drink deeply of their words.
11 They say, “Does God really know?”
“Does the Most High have any knowledge?”(D)
12 Such, then, are the wicked,
always carefree, increasing their wealth.
II
13 Is it in vain that I have kept my heart pure,
washed my hands in innocence?(E)
14 For I am afflicted day after day,
chastised every morning.
15 Had I thought, “I will speak as they do,”
I would have betrayed this generation of your children.
16 Though I tried to understand all this,
it was too difficult for me,
17 Till I entered the sanctuary of God
and came to understand their end.[d]
III
18 You set them, indeed, on a slippery road;
you hurl them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly they are devastated;
utterly undone by disaster!
20 They are like a dream after waking, Lord,
dismissed like shadows when you arise.(F)
IV
21 Since my heart was embittered
and my soul deeply wounded,
22 I was stupid and could not understand;
I was like a brute beast in your presence.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you take hold of my right hand.(G)
24 With your counsel you guide me,
and at the end receive me with honor.[e]
25 Whom else have I in the heavens?
None beside you delights me on earth.
26 Though my flesh and my heart fail,
God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.
27 But those who are far from you perish;
you destroy those unfaithful to you.
28 As for me, to be near God is my good,
to make the Lord God my refuge.
I shall declare all your works
in the gates of daughter Zion.[f]
I. Prologue
Chapter A
Dream of Mordecai. 1 In the second year of the reign of Ahasuerus the great, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream.[a](A) 2 [b]He was a Jew residing in the city of Susa, a prominent man who served at the king’s court, 3 and one of the captives whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken from Jerusalem with Jeconiah, king of Judah.(B)
4 (C)This was his dream.[c] There was noise and tumult, thunder and earthquake—confusion upon the earth. 5 Two great dragons advanced, both poised for combat. They uttered a mighty cry, 6 and at their cry every nation prepared for war, to fight against the nation of the just. 7 It was a dark and gloomy day. Tribulation and distress, evil and great confusion, lay upon the earth. 8 The whole nation of the just was shaken with fear at the evils to come upon them, and they expected to perish. 9 (D)Then they cried out to God, and from their crying there arose, as though from a tiny spring, a mighty river, a flood of water. 10 The light of the sun broke forth; the lowly were exalted and they devoured the boastful.
11 Having seen this dream and what God intended to do, Mordecai awoke. He kept it in mind, and tried in every way, until night, to understand its meaning.
Mordecai Thwarts an Assassination.[d] 12 (E)Mordecai lodged in the courtyard with Bigthan and Teresh, two eunuchs of the king who guarded the courtyard. 13 He overheard them plotting, investigated their plans, and discovered that they were preparing to assassinate King Ahasuerus. So he informed the king about them. 14 The king had the two eunuchs questioned and, upon their confession, put to death. 15 Then the king had these things recorded; Mordecai, too, put them into writing. 16 The king also appointed Mordecai to serve at the court, and rewarded him for his actions.(F)
17 Haman, however, son of Hammedatha, a Bougean,[e] who was held in high honor by the king, sought to harm Mordecai and his people because of the two eunuchs of the king.(G)
II. Esther Becomes Queen
Chapter 1
The Banquet of Ahasuerus. 1 [f]During the reign of Ahasuerus—the same Ahasuerus who ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia— 2 while he was occupying the royal throne in the royal precinct of Susa,[g] 3 in the third year of his reign, he gave a feast for all his officials and ministers: the Persian and Median army officers, the nobles, and the governors of the provinces.(H) 4 For as many as a hundred and eighty days, he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the resplendent wealth of his royal estate.
Refusal of Vashti. 10 On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he instructed Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended King Ahasuerus,(A) 11 to bring Queen Vashti into his presence wearing the royal crown, that he might display her beauty to the populace and the officials, for she was lovely to behold. 12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the royal order issued through the eunuchs. At this the king’s wrath flared up, and he burned with fury. 13 He conferred with the sages who understood the times, because the king’s business was conducted in general consultation with lawyers and jurists. 14 He summoned Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven Persian and Median officials who were in the king’s personal service and held first rank in the realm,(B) 15 and asked them, “What is to be done by law with Queen Vashti for disobeying the order of King Ahasuerus issued through the eunuchs?”
16 In the presence of the king and of the officials, Memucan answered: “Queen Vashti has not wronged the king alone, but all the officials and the populace throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and they will look with disdain upon their husbands when it is reported, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded that Queen Vashti be ushered into his presence, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median noblewomen who hear of the queen’s conduct will recount it to all the royal officials, and disdain and rancor will abound. 19 If it please the king, let an irrevocable royal decree[a] be issued by him and inscribed among the laws of the Persians and Medes, forbidding Vashti to come into the presence of King Ahasuerus and authorizing the king to give her royal dignity to one more worthy than she.(C)
Chapter 17
Paul in Thessalonica. 1 When they took the road through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.(A) 2 Following his usual custom, Paul joined them, and for three sabbaths he entered into discussions with them from the scriptures, 3 expounding and demonstrating that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that “This is the Messiah, Jesus, whom I proclaim to you.”(B) 4 Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas; so, too, a great number of Greeks who were worshipers, and not a few of the prominent women. 5 But the Jews became jealous and recruited some worthless men loitering in the public square, formed a mob, and set the city in turmoil. They marched on the house of Jason,(C) intending to bring them before the people’s assembly. 6 [a]When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city magistrates, shouting, “These people who have been creating a disturbance all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them.(D) They all act in opposition to the decrees of Caesar and claim instead that there is another king, Jesus.”[b] 8 They stirred up the crowd and the city magistrates who, upon hearing these charges, 9 took a surety payment from Jason and the others before releasing them.
Paul in Beroea. 10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas to Beroea during the night. Upon arrival they went to the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These Jews were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all willingness and examined the scriptures daily to determine whether these things were so.(E) 12 Many of them became believers, as did not a few of the influential Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had now been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea also, they came there too to cause a commotion and stir up the crowds. 14 So the brothers at once sent Paul on his way to the seacoast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind.(F) 15 After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
Paul in Athens.[c]
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.”(A)
Unbelief and Belief Among the Jews. After he had said this, Jesus left and hid from them. 37 [a](B)Although he had performed so many signs in their presence they did not believe in him, 38 [b]in order that the word which Isaiah the prophet spoke might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed our preaching,
to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?”(C)
39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said:
40 “He blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart and be converted,
and I would heal them.”(D)
41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory[c] and spoke about him.(E) 42 Nevertheless, many, even among the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue.(F) 43 For they preferred human praise to the glory of God.(G)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.