Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
70 (A)God, hurry to save me;
Lord, hurry to help me!
2 (B)May those who seek my [a]life
Be put to shame and humiliated;
May those who delight [b]in my harm
Be turned back and dishonored.
3 (C)May those who say, “Aha, aha!” be [c]turned back
Because of their shame.
4 May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And may those who love Your salvation say continually,
“May God be exalted!”
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hurry to me, God!
You are my help and my savior;
Lord, do not delay.
Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.
71 (F)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
2 (G)In Your righteousness rescue me and save me;
(H)Extend Your ear to me and help me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)dwelling to which I may continually come;
You have given the (K)commandment to save me,
For You are (L)my rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
From the [d]grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
Lord [e]God, You are my (O)confidence from my youth.
6 I have (P)leaned on You since my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [f]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me away at the (W)time of my old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [g]against me;
And those who (X)watch for my [h]life (Y)have consulted together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to save him.”
12 God, (AB)do not be far from me;
My God, (AC)hurry to my aid!
13 May those who are enemies of my soul be (AD)put to shame and consumed;
May they be (AE)covered with disgrace and dishonor, who (AF)seek [i]to injure me.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)wait continually,
And will [j](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the art of writing.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of the Lord [k]God;
I will (AM)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, God, do not abandon me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [l]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19 [m]For Your (AR)righteousness, God, reaches to the [n]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You who have (AU)shown [o]me many troubles and distresses
Will (AV)revive [p]me again,
And will bring [q]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [r](AZ)a harp,
And Your [s]truth, my God;
I will sing praises to You with the (BA)lyre,
(BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek [t]my harm.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Step toward the [d](H)irreparable ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own signs as (L)signs.
5 It [e]seems like one bringing up
His (M)axe into a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now they break down [g]all its (N)carved work
With axe and hammers.
7 They have [h](O)burned Your sanctuary [i]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let’s [j]completely [k]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there anyone among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, God, will the enemy (U)taunt You?
Shall the enemy (V)treat Your name disrespectfully forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Extend it from Your chest and (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my King from long ago,
Who performs acts of salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 [l]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[m]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [n]in the waters.
14 [o]You crushed the heads of [p](AC)Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the [q]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [r]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[s]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[t]You have (AG)prepared the [u]light and the sun.
17 [v]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[w]You have [x]created (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [y]Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)taunted You,
And a (AK)foolish people has treated Your name disrespectfully.
19 Do not give the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild animal;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the places of violence.
21 May the (AP)oppressed person not return dishonored;
May the (AQ)afflicted and the needy praise Your name.
The Free Offer of Mercy
55 “[a]You there! Everyone who (A)thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have (B)no [b]money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy (C)wine and milk
(D)Without money and without cost.
2 Why do you [c]spend money for what is (E)not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and (F)eat what is good,
And (G)delight yourself in abundance.
3 (H)Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that [d]you may (I)live;
And I will make (J)an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the (K)faithful mercies [e]shown to David.
4 Behold, I have made (L)him a witness to the peoples,
A (M)leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you will call a (N)nation you do not know,
And a nation which does not know you will (O)run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel;
For He has (P)glorified you.”
6 (Q)Seek the Lord while He may be found;
(R)Call upon Him while He is near.
7 (S)Let the wicked abandon his way,
And the unrighteous person his (T)thoughts;
And let him (U)return to the Lord,
And He will have (V)compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will (W)abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not (X)your thoughts,
Nor are (Y)your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For (Z)as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the (AA)rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing (AB)seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My (AC)word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will (AD)not return to Me empty,
Without (AE)accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
12 For you will go out with (AF)joy
And be led in (AG)peace;
The (AH)mountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you,
And all the (AI)trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the (AJ)thorn bush, the (AK)juniper will come up,
And instead of the (AL)stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
And [f]it will be a [g](AM)memorial to the Lord,
An everlasting (AN)sign which (AO)will not be eliminated.”
Follow the Spirit
5 (A)It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore (B)keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a (C)yoke of slavery.
2 Look! I, (D)Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves (E)circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I (F)testify again to every man who has himself (G)circumcised, that he is obligated to (H)keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who [a]are seeking to be justified by the [b]Law; you have (I)fallen from grace. 5 For we, [c]through the Spirit, [d]by faith, are (J)waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in (K)Christ Jesus (L)neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but (M)faith working through love.
7 You were (N)running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from (O)Him who calls you. 9 (P)A little [e]leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 (Q)I have confidence [f]in you in the Lord, that you (R)will adopt no other view; but the one who is (S)disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is. 11 But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still (T)persecuted? Then (U)the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. 12 I wish that (V)those who are troubling you would even [g](W)emasculate themselves.
13 For you were called to (X)freedom, brothers and sisters; (Y)only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but (Z)serve one another through love. 14 For (AA)the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “(AB)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you (AC)bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Peter’s Confession of Christ
27 (A)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of (B)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 (C)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” (D)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the [a]Christ.” 30 And (E)He [b]warned them to tell no one about Him.
31 (F)And He began to teach them that (G)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. 32 And He was stating the matter (H)plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, (I)Satan; for you are not setting your mind on [c]God’s purposes, but on man’s.”
34 And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, (J)take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For (K)whoever wants to save his [d]life will lose it, but whoever loses his [e]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? 38 For (L)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, (M)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He (N)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
The Transfiguration
9 And Jesus was saying to them, “(O)Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.”
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