Book of Common Prayer
A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
31 (A)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never (B)be ashamed;
(C)In Your righteousness deliver me.
2 (D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be to me a (E)rock of [a]strength,
A stronghold to save me.
3 For You are my [b]rock and (F)my fortress;
For (G)Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
4 You will (H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my (I)strength.
5 (J)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have (K)ransomed me, O Lord, (L)God of [c]truth.
6 I hate those who (M)regard [d]vain idols,
But I (N)trust in the Lord.
7 I will (O)rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have (P)seen my affliction;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
8 And You have not (Q)given me over into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for (R)I am in distress;
My (S)eye is wasted away from grief, (T)my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with (U)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My (V)strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And (W)my [e]body has wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a (X)reproach,
Especially to my (Y)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am (Z)forgotten as a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the [f](AA)slander of many,
(AB)Terror is on every side;
While they (AC)took counsel together against me,
They (AD)schemed to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “(AE)You are my God.”
15 My (AF)times are in Your hand;
(AG)Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your (AH)face to shine upon Your servant;
(AI)Save me in Your lovingkindness.
17 Let me not be (AJ)put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the (AK)wicked be put to shame, let them (AL)be silent in [g]Sheol.
18 Let the (AM)lying lips be mute,
Which (AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.
19 How great is Your (AO)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have wrought for those who (AP)take refuge in You,
(AQ)Before the sons of men!
20 You hide them in the (AR)secret place of Your presence from the (AS)conspiracies of man;
You keep them secretly in a [h]shelter from the (AT)strife of tongues.
21 (AU)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has made (AV)marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged (AW)city.
22 As for me, (AX)I said in my alarm,
“I am (AY)cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You (AZ)heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried to You.
Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.
A Psalm of David.
35 Contend, O Lord, with those who (A)contend with me;
Fight against those who (B)fight against me.
2 Take hold of [a](C)buckler and shield
And rise up for (D)my help.
3 Draw also the spear and [b]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am (E)your salvation.”
4 Let those be (F)ashamed and dishonored who seek my [c]life;
Let those be (G)turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
5 Let them be (H)like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and (I)slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 For (J)without cause they (K)hid their net for me;
Without cause they dug a [d]pit for my soul.
8 Let (L)destruction come upon him unawares,
And (M)let the net which he hid catch himself;
Into that very (N)destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall (O)rejoice in the Lord;
It shall (P)exult in His salvation.
10 All my (Q)bones will say, “Lord, (R)who is like You,
Who delivers the afflicted from him (S)who is too strong for him,
And (T)the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”
11 (U)Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They (V)repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, (W)when they were sick, my (X)clothing was sackcloth;
I (Y)humbled my soul with fasting,
And my (Z)prayer kept returning to my bosom.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I (AA)bowed down [e]mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.
15 But (AB)at my [f]stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The [g](AC)smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They [h](AD)slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast,
They (AE)gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, (AF)how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul (AG)from their ravages,
My (AH)only life from the lions.
18 I will (AI)give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will (AJ)praise You among a mighty throng.
19 (AK)Do not let those who are wrongfully (AL)my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those (AM)who hate me without cause [i](AN)wink maliciously.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise (AO)deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They (AP)opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “(AQ)Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”
22 (AR)You have seen it, O Lord, (AS)do not keep silent;
O Lord, (AT)do not be far from me.
23 (AU)Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 (AV)Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness,
And (AW)do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say in their heart, “(AX)Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have (AY)swallowed him up!”
26 Let (AZ)those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who rejoice at my distress;
Let those be (BA)clothed with shame and dishonor who (BB)magnify themselves over me.
The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East
13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard [a]a voice from the [b]four (A)horns of the (B)golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the (C)four angels who are bound at the (D)great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were (E)released, so that they would kill a (F)third of [c]mankind. 16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was (G)two hundred million; (H)I heard the number of them. 17 And [d]this is how I saw (I)in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of [e](J)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and (K)out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and [f](L)brimstone. 18 A (M)third of [g]mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the (N)fire and the smoke and the [h]brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.
20 The rest of [i]mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (O)did not repent of (P)the works of their hands, so as not to (Q)worship demons, and (R)the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they (S)did not repent of their murders nor of their (T)sorceries nor of their (U)immorality nor of their thefts.
Martha and Mary
38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named (A)Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called (B)Mary, who was (C)seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But (D)Martha was distracted with [a]all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “(E)Martha, Martha, you are (F)worried and bothered about so many things; 42 (G)but only one thing is necessary, for (H)Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
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