Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David to the tune of “Lilies.”
69 God, save me.
My troubles are like a flood.
I’m up to my neck in them.
2 I’m sinking in deep mud.
I have no firm place to stand.
I am out in deep water.
The waves roll over me.
3 I’m worn out from calling for help.
My throat is very dry.
My eyes grow tired
looking for my God.
4 Those who hate me without any reason
are more than the hairs on my head.
Many people who don’t have any reason to be my enemies
are trying to destroy me.
They force me to give back
what I didn’t steal.
5 God, you know how foolish I’ve been.
My guilt is not hidden from you.
6 Lord, you are the Lord who rules over all.
May those who put their hope in you not be dishonored because of me.
You are the God of Israel.
May those who worship you not be put to shame because of me.
7 Because of you, people laugh at me.
My face is covered with shame.
8 I’m an outsider to my own family.
I’m a stranger to my own mother’s children.
9 My great love for your house destroys me.
Those who make fun of you make fun of me also.
10 When I weep and go without eating,
they laugh at me.
11 When I put on rough clothing to show how sad I am,
people make jokes about me.
12 Those who gather in public places make fun of me.
Those who get drunk make up songs about me.
13 But Lord, I pray to you.
May this be the time you help me.
God, answer me because you love me so much.
Save me, as you always do.
14 Save me from the trouble I’m in.
It’s like slippery mud, so don’t let me sink in it.
Save me from those who hate me.
Save me from the deep water I’m in.
15 Don’t let the floods cover me.
Don’t let the deep water swallow me up.
Don’t let the grave close its mouth over me.
16 Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Turn to me because you are so kind.
17 Don’t turn your face away from me.
Answer me quickly. I’m in trouble.
18 Come near and save me.
Set me free from my enemies.
19 You know how they make fun of me.
They dishonor me and put me to shame.
You know all about my enemies.
20 They have broken my heart by saying evil things about me.
It has left me helpless.
I looked for pity, but I didn’t find any.
I looked for someone to comfort me, but I didn’t find anyone.
21 They put bitter spices in my food.
They gave me vinegar when I was thirsty.
22 Let their feast be a trap and a snare.
Let my enemies get what’s coming to them.
23 Let their eyes grow weak so they can’t see.
Let their backs be bent forever.
24 Pour out your anger on them.
Let them feel what it is like.
25 May their homes be deserted.
May no one live in their tents.
26 They attack those you have wounded.
They talk about the pain of those you have hurt.
27 Charge them with one crime after another.
Don’t save them.
28 May their names be erased from the book of life.
Don’t include them in the list of those who do right.
29 I’m in pain. I’m in deep trouble.
God, save me and keep me safe.
30 I will praise God’s name by singing to him.
I will bring him glory by giving him thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than offering him an ox.
It will please him more than offering him a bull with its horns and hooves.
32 Poor people will see it and be glad.
The hearts of those who worship God will be strengthened.
33 The Lord hears those who are in need.
He doesn’t forget his people in prison.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him.
Let the oceans and everything that moves in them praise him.
35 God will save Zion.
He will build the cities of Judah again.
Then people will live in them and own the land.
36 The children of those who serve God will receive it.
Those who love him will live there.
Book III
Psalms 73–89
A psalm of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel.
He is good to those who have pure hearts.
2 But my feet had almost slipped.
I had almost tripped and fallen.
3 I saw that proud and sinful people were doing well.
And I began to long for what they had.
4 They don’t have any troubles.
Their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have the problems most people have.
They don’t suffer as other people do.
6 Their pride is like a necklace.
They put on meanness as if it were their clothes.
7 Many sins come out of their hard and stubborn hearts.
There is no limit to the evil things they can think up.
8 They laugh at others and speak words of hatred.
They are proud. They warn others about the harm they can do to them.
9 They brag as if they owned heaven itself.
They talk as if they controlled the earth.
10 So people listen to them.
They lap up their words like water.
11 They say, “How would God know what we’re doing?
Does the Most High God know anything?”
12 Here is what sinful people are like.
They don’t have a care in the world.
They keep getting richer and richer.
13 It seems as if I have kept my heart pure for no reason.
It didn’t do me any good to wash my hands
to show that I wasn’t guilty of doing anything wrong.
14 Day after day I’ve been in pain.
God has punished me in a new way every morning.
15 What if I had talked like that?
Then I wouldn’t have been faithful to God’s children.
16 I tried to understand it all.
But it was more than I could handle.
17 It troubled me until I entered God’s temple.
Then I understood what will finally happen to bad people.
18 God, I’m sure you will make them slip and fall.
You will throw them down and destroy them.
19 It will happen very suddenly.
A terrible death will take them away completely.
20 A dream goes away when a person wakes up.
Lord, it will be like that when you rise up.
It will be as if those people were only a dream.
21 At one time my heart was sad
and my spirit was bitter.
22 I didn’t have any sense. I didn’t know anything.
I acted like a wild animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you.
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You give me wise advice to guide me.
And when I die, you will take me away
into the glory of heaven.
25 I don’t have anyone in heaven but you.
I don’t want anything on earth besides you.
26 My body and my heart may grow weak.
God, you give strength to my heart.
You are everything I will ever need.
27 Those who don’t want anything to do with you will die.
You destroy all those who aren’t faithful to you.
28 But I am close to you. And that’s good.
Lord and King, I have made you my place of safety.
I will talk about everything you have done.
The Lord Will Save Those Who Come to Him
56 The Lord says,
“Do what is fair and right.
I will soon come and save you.
Soon everyone will know that what I do is right.
2 Blessed is the person who does what I want them to.
They are faithful in keeping the Sabbath day.
They do not misuse it.
They do not do what is evil on that day.”
3 Suppose an outsider wants to follow the Lord.
Then that person shouldn’t say,
“The Lord won’t accept me as one of his people.”
And a eunuch shouldn’t say,
“I’m like a dry tree
that doesn’t bear any fruit.”
4 The Lord says,
“Suppose some eunuchs keep my Sabbath days.
They choose to do what pleases me.
And they are faithful in keeping my covenant.
5 Then I will set up a monument in the area of my temple.
Their names will be written on it.
That will be better for them than having sons and daughters.
The names of the eunuchs will be remembered forever.
They will never be forgotten.
6 “Suppose outsiders want to follow me
and serve me.
They want to love me
and worship me.
They keep the Sabbath day and do not misuse it.
And they are faithful in keeping my covenant.
7 Then I will bring them to my holy mountain of Zion.
I will give them joy in my house.
They can pray there.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices on my altar.
My house will be called
a house where people from all nations can pray.”
8 The Lord and King will gather
those who were taken away from their homes in Israel.
He announces, “I will gather them to myself.
And I will gather others to join them.”
16 So I say, live by the Holy Spirit’s power. Then you will not do what your desires controlled by sin want you to do. 17 The desires controlled by sin do not want what the Spirit delights in. And the Spirit does not want what the desires controlled by sin delight in. The two are at war with each other. That’s why you are not supposed to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the authority of the law.
19 The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual sins, impure acts and wild living. 20 It includes worshiping statues of gods and worshiping evil powers. It also includes hatred and fighting, jealousy and fits of anger. Sinful desire is interested only in getting ahead. It stirs up trouble. It separates people into their own little groups. 21 It wants what others have. It gets drunk and takes part in wild parties. It does many things of that kind. I warn you now as I did before. People who live like this will not receive God’s kingdom.
22 But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful 23 and gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that kind. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful desires to his cross. They don’t want these things anymore.
Jesus’ Appearance Is Changed
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him. He led them up a high mountain. They were all alone. There in front of them his appearance was changed. 3 His clothes became so white they shone. They were whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared in front of Jesus and his disciples. The two of them were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters. One will be for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 Peter didn’t really know what to say, because they were so afraid.
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them. A voice came from the cloud. It said, “This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to him!”
8 They looked around. Suddenly they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 They came down the mountain. On the way down, Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen. He told them to wait until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves. But they asked each other what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 Then they asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah has to come first?”
12 Jesus replied, “That’s right. Elijah does come first. He makes all things new again. So why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and not be accepted? 13 I tell you, Elijah has come. They have done to him everything they wanted to do. They did it just as it is written about him.”
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.