Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the choir director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my [b](B)groaning.
2 Heed (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, O Lord, [c]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will order my [d]prayer to You and eagerly (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil [e]dwells with You.
5 The (I)boastful shall not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do iniquity.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors (M)the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
[f]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 O Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of [g]my foes;
Make Your way [h]straight before me.
9 There is (T)nothing [i]reliable in [j]what they say;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [k]flatter with their tongue.
10 Hold them guilty, O God;
(W)By their own devices let them fall!
In the multitude of their transgressions (X)thrust them out,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But let all who (Z)take refuge in You (AA)be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And [l]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may exult in You.
12 For it is You who (AD)blesses the righteous man, O Lord,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a shield.
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the choir director; with stringed instruments, [m]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (AF)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am (AG)pining away;
(AH)Heal me, O Lord, for (AI)my bones are dismayed.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O Lord—(AK)how long?
4 Return, O Lord, (AL)rescue my [n]soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
5 For (AM)there is no [o]mention of You in death;
In [p]Sheol who will give You thanks?
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)pride the wicked [b]hotly pursue the afflicted;
[c]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)heart’s desire,
And [d]the greedy man curses and (G)spurns the Lord.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, (H)does not seek Him.
All his [e]thoughts are, “(I)There is no God.”
5 His ways [f](J)prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[g]Throughout all generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of curses and deceit and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he (R)kills the innocent;
His eyes [h]stealthily watch for the [i](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in a hiding place as (T)a lion in his [j]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his (W)net.
10 He [k]crouches, he [l]bows down,
And the [m]unfortunate fall [n]by his mighty ones.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)spurned God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”
14 You have seen it, for You have beheld (AB)mischief and vexation to [o]take it into Your hand.
The [p](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[q](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 O Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the [r]humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will incline Your ear
18 To [s]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord a Refuge and Defense.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain;
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They [t](AR)make ready their arrow upon the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His (AU)holy temple; the [u]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will (AZ)rain [v]snares;
(BA)Fire and brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [w]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)behold His face.
Jonah’s Disobedience
1 The word of the Lord came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh the great city and (C)cry against it, for their (D)wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to (E)Tarshish (F)from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to (G)Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 The (H)Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to [a]break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to (I)his god, and they (J)threw the [b]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it [c]for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, (K)call on your god. Perhaps your (L)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us (M)cast lots so we may [d]learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the (N)lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “(O)Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your (P)occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a (Q)Hebrew, and I (R)fear the Lord (S)God of heaven who (T)made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “[e]How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was (U)fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm [f]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm [g]for you, for I know that (V)on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men [h]rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the (W)Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for (X)You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea (Y)stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made (Z)vows.
17 [i]And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the (AA)stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
24 While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! [a]Your great (A)learning is [b]driving you mad.” 25 But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, (B)most excellent Festus, but I utter words [c]of sober truth. 26 For the king [d](C)knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a [e]corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you [f]do.” 28 Agrippa replied to Paul, “[g]In a short time you [h]will persuade me to [i]become a (D)Christian.” 29 And Paul said, “[j]I would wish to God, that whether [k]in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these (E)chains.”
30 (F)The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, 31 and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, “(G)This man is not doing anything worthy of death or [l]imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been (H)set free if he had not (I)appealed to Caesar.”
Paul Is Sent to Rome
27 When it was decided that (J)we (K)would sail for (L)Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan [m](M)cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of [n](N)Asia, we put out to sea accompanied by (O)Aristarchus, a (P)Macedonian of (Q)Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at (R)Sidon; and Julius (S)treated Paul with consideration and (T)allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of (U)Cyprus because (V)the winds were contrary. 5 When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of (W)Cilicia and (X)Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an (Y)Alexandrian ship sailing for (Z)Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7 When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, (AA)since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of (AB)Crete, off Salmone; 8 and with difficulty (AC)sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
Miracles of Healing
40 (A)And as Jesus returned, the [a]people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. 41 (B)And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an [b](C)official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; 42 for he had an [c]only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.
43 And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, 44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His [d]cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “(D)Master, the [e]people are crowding and pressing in on You.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that (E)power had gone out of Me.” 47 When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And He said to her, “Daughter, (F)your faith has [f]made you well; (G)go in peace.”
49 While He was still speaking, someone *came from the house of (H)the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” 50 But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “(I)Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be [g]made well.” 51 When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother. 52 Now they were all weeping and (J)lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but (K)is asleep.” 53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. 54 He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. 56 Her parents were amazed; but He (L)instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
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