Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of destruction, out of the [b]miry clay,
And (D)He set my feet upon a rock (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not [c]turned to the proud, nor to those who (J)lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 [d](N)Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have [e]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is [f]written of me.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, O my God;
(P)Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
O Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[g]Your (V)lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [h]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make (AB)haste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [i]life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [j]in my hurt.
15 Let those (AE)be [k]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation (AH)say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 Since (AI)I am afflicted and needy,
[l](AJ)Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54 Save me, O God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, O God;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. [e]Selah.
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And [e]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [f]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [g]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[h]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [i]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [j]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [k]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [l]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [m](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
5 Woe to (A)Assyria, the (B)rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is (C)My indignation,
6 I send it against a (D)godless nation
And commission it against the (E)people of My fury
To capture booty and (F)to seize plunder,
And to [a]trample them down like (G)mud in the streets.
7 Yet it (H)does not so intend,
Nor does [b]it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is [c]its purpose to destroy
And to cut off [d]many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my princes [e]all kings?
9 “Is not (I)Calno like (J)Carchemish,
Or (K)Hamath like Arpad,
Or (L)Samaria like (M)Damascus?
10 “As my hand has reached to the (N)kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not [f]do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and (O)her idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His (P)work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will [g]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and (Q)the pomp of [h]his haughtiness.” 13 For (R)he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I (S)removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down [i]their inhabitants,
14 And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a (T)nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
15 Is the (U)axe to (V)boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like (W)a [j]club wielding those who lift it,
Or like (X)a rod lifting him who is not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, the [k]God of hosts, will send a (Y)wasting disease among his (Z)stout warriors;
And under his (AA)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the (AB)light of Israel will become a fire and his (AC)Holy One a flame,
And it will (AD)burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will (AE)destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the (AF)rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.
17 These are (A)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, (B)for whom the [a]black darkness has been reserved. 18 For speaking out (C)arrogant words of (D)vanity they (E)entice by fleshly desires, by (F)sensuality, those who barely (G)escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for (H)by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have (I)escaped the defilements of the world by (J)the knowledge of the (K)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again (L)entangled in them and are overcome, (M)the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 (N)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from (O)the holy commandment (P)handed on to them. 22 [b]It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “(Q)A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
2 (A)Now when (B)John, [a]while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You (C)the [b]Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” 4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 (D)the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the (E)poor have the [c]gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he [d]who (F)does not [e]take offense at Me.”
Jesus’ Tribute to John
7 As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into (G)the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 [f]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ [g]palaces! 9 [h]But what did you go out to see? (H)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it [i]is written,
11 Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is [k]least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 (J)From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven [l]suffers violence, and violent men [m]take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is (K)Elijah who [n]was to come. 15 (L)He who has ears to hear, [o]let him hear.
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