Book of Common Prayer
Book I
Psalms 1–41
1 Blessed is the person who obeys the law of the Lord.
They don’t follow the advice of evil people.
They don’t make a habit of doing what sinners do.
They don’t join those who make fun of the Lord and his law.
2 Instead, the law of the Lord gives them joy.
They think about his law day and night.
3 That kind of person is like a tree that is planted near a stream of water.
It always bears its fruit at the right time.
Its leaves don’t dry up.
Everything godly people do turns out well.
4 Sinful people are not like that at all.
They are like straw
that the wind blows away.
5 When the Lord judges them, their life will come to an end.
Sinners won’t have any place among those who are godly.
6 The Lord watches over the lives of godly people.
But the lives of sinful people will lead to their death.
2 Why do the nations plan evil together?
Why do they make useless plans?
2 The kings of the earth rise up against the Lord.
The rulers of the earth join together against his anointed king.
3 “Let us break free from their chains,” they say.
“Let us throw off their ropes.”
4 The God who sits on his throne in heaven laughs.
The Lord makes fun of those rulers and their plans.
5 When he is angry, he warns them.
When his anger blazes out, he terrifies them.
6 He says to them,
“I have placed my king on my holy mountain of Zion.”
7 I will announce what the Lord has promised.
He said to me, “You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
8 Ask me, and I will give the nations to you.
All nations on earth will belong to you.
9 You will break them with an iron scepter.
You will smash them to pieces like clay pots.”
10 Kings, be wise!
Rulers of the earth, be warned!
11 Serve the Lord and have respect for him.
Celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Obey the son completely, or he will be angry.
Your way of life will lead to your death.
His anger can blaze out at any moment.
Blessed are all those who go to him for safety.
A psalm of David when he ran away from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, I have so many enemies!
So many people are rising up against me!
2 Many are saying about me,
“God will not save him.”
3 Lord, you are like a shield that keeps me safe.
You bring me honor. You help me win the battle.
4 I call out to the Lord.
He answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep.
I wake up again, because the Lord takes care of me.
6 I won’t be afraid even though tens of thousands
attack me on every side.
7 Lord, rise up!
My God, save me!
Strike all my enemies in the face.
Break the teeth of sinful people.
8 Lord, you are the one who saves.
May your blessing be on your people.
For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on stringed instruments.
4 My faithful God,
answer me when I call out to you.
Give me rest from my trouble.
Have mercy on me. Hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love what will certainly fail you?
How long will you pray to statues of gods?
3 Remember that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself.
The Lord hears me when I call out to him.
4 Tremble and do not sin.
When you are in bed,
look deep down inside yourself and be silent.
5 Offer to the Lord the sacrifices that godly people offer.
Trust in him.
6 Lord, many are asking, “Who will make us successful?”
Lord, may you do good things for us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when the people have lots of grain and fresh wine.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep.
Lord, you alone keep me safe.
A shiggaion of David. He sang it to the Lord about Cush, who was from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I go to you for safety.
Help me. Save me from all those who are chasing me.
2 If you don’t, they will tear me apart as if they were lions.
They will rip me to pieces so that no one can save me.
3 Lord my God, suppose I have done something wrong.
Suppose I am guilty.
4 Or I have done evil to my friend.
Or I have robbed my enemy without any reason.
5 Then let my enemy chase me and catch me.
Let him stomp me into the ground.
Let him bury me in the dust.
6 Lord, rise up in your anger.
Rise up against the great anger of my enemies.
My God, wake up. Command that the right thing be done.
7 Let all the people of the earth gather around you.
Rule over them from your throne in heaven.
8 Lord, judge all people.
Lord, show that I have done what is right.
Most High God, remember that I am honest.
9 God, you always do what is right.
You look deep down inside the hearts and minds of people.
Bring to an end the terrible things sinful people do.
Make godly people safe.
10 The Most High God is like a shield that keeps me safe.
He saves those whose hearts are honest.
11 God judges fairly.
He shows his anger every day.
12 If evil people don’t change their ways,
God will sharpen his sword.
He will get his bow ready to use.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons.
He has made his flaming arrows ready.
14 Whoever is full of evil
plans trouble and ends up telling lies.
15 Whoever digs a hole and shovels it out
falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause comes back on them.
The terrible things they do will happen to them.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because he does what is right.
I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
Israel’s Sin Brings Suffering
7 I’m suffering very much!
I’m like someone who gathers summer fruit in a vineyard
after the good fruit has already been picked.
No grapes are left to eat.
None of the early figs I long for remain.
2 Faithful people have disappeared from the land.
Those who are honest are gone.
Everyone hides and waits
to spill the blood of others.
They use nets to try and trap one another.
3 They are very good at doing what is evil.
Rulers require gifts.
Judges accept money from people
who want special favors.
Those who are powerful
always get what they want.
All of them make evil plans together.
4 The best of these people are as harmful as thorns.
The most honest of them are even worse.
God has come to punish you.
The time your prophets warned you about has come.
Panic has taken hold of you.
5 Don’t trust your neighbors.
Don’t put your faith in your friends.
Be careful what you say
even to your own wife.
6 Sons don’t honor their fathers.
Daughters refuse to obey their mothers.
Daughters-in-law are against their mothers-in-law.
A man’s enemies are the members of his own family.
7 But I will look to the Lord.
I’ll put my trust in God my Savior.
He will hear me.
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now present your case.”
So Paul motioned with his hand. Then he began to present his case. 2 “King Agrippa,” he said, “I am happy to be able to stand here today. I will answer all the charges brought against me by the Jews. 3 I am very pleased that you are familiar with Jewish ways. You know the kinds of things they argue about. So I beg you to be patient as you listen to me.
4 “The Jewish people all know how I have lived ever since I was a child. They know all about me from the beginning of my life. They know how I lived in my own country and in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time. So if they wanted to, they could tell you how I have lived. I have lived by the rules of the Pharisees. Those rules are harder to obey than those of any other Jewish group. 6 Today I am on trial because of the hope I have. I believe in what God promised our people of long ago. 7 It is the promise that our 12 tribes are hoping to see come true. Because of this hope they serve God with faithful and honest hearts day and night. King Agrippa, it is also because of this hope that these Jews are bringing charges against me. 8 Why should any of you think it is impossible for God to raise the dead?
9 “I believed that I should oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. So I did everything I could to oppose his name. 10 That’s just what I was doing in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests, I put many of the Lord’s people in prison. I agreed that they should die. 11 I often went from one synagogue to another to have them punished. I tried to force them to speak evil things against Jesus. All I wanted to do was hurt them. I even went looking for them in the cities of other lands.
12 “On one of these journeys I was on my way to Damascus. I had the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, I was on the road. I saw a light coming from heaven. It was brighter than the sun. It was shining around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground. I heard a voice speak to me in the Aramaic language. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me? It is hard for you to go against what you know is right.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus,’ the Lord replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing. 16 Now get up. Stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you to serve me. And you must tell other people about me. You must tell others that you have seen me today. You must also tell them that I will show myself to you again. 17 I will save you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes. I want you to turn them from darkness to light. I want you to turn them from Satan’s power to God. I want their sins to be forgiven. They will be forgiven when they believe in me. They will have their place among God’s people.’
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I obeyed the vision that appeared from heaven. 20 First I preached to people in Damascus. Then I preached in Jerusalem and in all Judea. And then I preached to the Gentiles. I told them to turn away from their sins to God. The way they live must show that they have turned away from their sins. 21 That’s why some Jews grabbed me in the temple courtyard and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this day. So I stand here and tell you what is true. I tell it to everyone, both small and great. I have been saying nothing different from what the prophets and Moses said would happen. 23 They said the Messiah would suffer. He would be the first to rise from the dead. He would bring the message of God’s light. He would bring it to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
Jesus Heals a Man Controlled by Demons
26 Jesus and his disciples sailed to the area of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped on shore, he was met by a man from the town. The man was controlled by demons. For a long time he had not worn clothes or lived in a house. He lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God, what do you want with me? I beg you, don’t hurt me!” 29 This was because Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times the spirit had taken hold of him. The man’s hands and feet were chained, and he was kept under guard. But he had broken his chains. And then the demon had forced him to go out into lonely places in the countryside.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus again and again not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. And he allowed it. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep bank. They ran into the lake and drowned.
34 Those who were tending the pigs saw what had happened. They ran off and reported it in the town and countryside. 35 The people went out to see what had happened. Then they came to Jesus. They found the man who was now free of the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was dressed and thinking clearly. All this made the people afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the others how the man who had been controlled by demons was now healed. 37 Then all the people who lived in the area of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them. They were filled with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38 The man who was now free of the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away. He said to him, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away. He told people all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
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