Book of Common Prayer

41 God blesses those who are kind to the poor. He helps them out of their troubles. ² He protects them and keeps them alive; he publicly honors them and destroys the power of their enemies. ³ He nurses them when they are sick and soothes their pains and worries.^[a]

⁴ “O Lord,” I prayed, “be kind and heal me, for I have confessed my sins.” ⁵ But my enemies say, “May he soon die and be forgotten!” ⁶ They act so friendly when they come to visit me while I am sick; but all the time they hate me and are glad that I am lying there upon my bed of pain. And when they leave, they laugh and mock. ⁷ They whisper together about what they will do when I am dead. ⁸ “It’s fatal, whatever it is,” they say. “He’ll never get out of that bed!”

⁹ Even my best friend has turned against me—a man I completely trusted; how often we ate together. ¹⁰ Lord, don’t you desert me! Be gracious, Lord, and make me well again so I can pay them back! ¹¹ I know you are pleased with me because you haven’t let my enemies triumph over me. ¹² You have preserved me because I was honest; you have admitted me forever to your presence.

¹³ Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, who exists from everlasting ages past—and on into everlasting eternity ahead. Amen and amen!

52 Written by David to protest against his enemy Doeg (1 Samuel 22), who later slaughtered eighty-five priests and their families.

You call yourself a hero, do you? You boast about this evil deed of yours against God’s people. ² You are sharp as a tack in plotting your evil tricks. ³ How you love wickedness—far more than good! And lying more than truth! ⁴ You love to slander—you love to say anything that will do harm, O man with the lying tongue.

⁵ But God will strike you down, pull you from your home, and drag you away from the land of the living. ⁶ The followers of God will see it happen. They will watch in awe. Then they will laugh and say, ⁷ “See what happens to those who despise God and trust in their wealth, and become ever more bold in their wickedness.”^[a]

⁸ But I am like a sheltered olive tree protected by the Lord himself. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. ⁹ O Lord, I will praise you forever and ever for your punishment.^[b] And I will wait for your mercies—for everyone knows what a merciful God you are.

44 ^1-2 O God, we have heard of the glorious miracles you did in the days of long ago. Our forefathers have told us how you drove the heathen nations from this land and gave it all to us, spreading Israel from one end of the country to the other. ³ They did not conquer by their own strength and skill, but by your mighty power and because you smiled upon them and favored them.

⁴ You are my King and my God. Decree victories for your people. ⁵ For it is only by your power and through your name that we tread down our enemies; ⁶ I do not trust my weapons. They could never save me. ⁷ Only you can give us the victory over those who hate us.

⁸ My constant boast is God. I can never thank you enough! ⁹ And yet for a time, O Lord, you have tossed us aside in dishonor and have not helped us in our battles. ¹⁰ You have actually fought against us and defeated us before our foes. Our enemies have invaded our land and pillaged the countryside. ¹¹ You have treated us like sheep in a slaughter pen and scattered us among the nations. ¹² You sold us for a pittance. You valued us at nothing at all. ¹³ The neighboring nations mock and laugh at us because of all the evil you have sent. ¹⁴ You have made the word Jew a byword of contempt and shame among the nations, disliked by all. ^15-16 I am constantly despised, mocked, taunted, and cursed by my vengeful enemies.

¹⁷ And all this has happened, Lord, despite our loyalty to you. We have not violated your covenant. ¹⁸ Our hearts have not deserted you! We have not left your path by a single step. ¹⁹ If we had, we could understand your punishing us in the barren wilderness and sending us into darkness and death. ²⁰ If we had turned away from worshiping our God and were worshiping idols, ²¹ would God not know it? Yes, he knows the secrets of every heart. ²² But that is not our case. For we are facing death threats constantly because of serving you! We are like sheep awaiting slaughter.

²³ Waken! Rouse yourself! Don’t sleep, O Lord! Are we cast off forever? ²⁴ Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our sorrows and oppression? ²⁵ We lie face downward in the dust. ²⁶ Rise up, O Lord, and come and help us. Save us by your constant love.

¹³ “And if you will carefully obey all of his commandments that I am going to give you today, and if you will love the Lord your God with all your hearts and souls and will worship him, ¹⁴ then he will continue to send both the early and late rains that will produce wonderful crops of grain, grapes for your wine, and olive oil. ¹⁵ He will give you lush pastureland for your cattle to graze in, and you yourselves shall have plenty to eat and be fully content.

¹⁶ “But beware that your hearts do not turn from God to worship other gods. ¹⁷ For if you do, the anger of the Lord will be hot against you, and he will shut the heavens—there will be no rain and no harvest, and you will quickly perish from the good land the Lord has given you. ¹⁸ So keep these commandments carefully in mind. Tie them to your hand to remind you to obey them, and tie them to your forehead between your eyes! ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting at home, when you are out walking, at bedtime, and before breakfast!

¹¹ It is because of this solemn fear of the Lord, which is ever present in our minds, that we work so hard to win others. God knows our hearts, that they are pure in this matter, and I hope that, deep within, you really know it too.

¹² Are we trying to pat ourselves on the back again? No, I am giving you some good ammunition! You can use this on those preachers of yours who brag about how well they look and preach but don’t have true and honest hearts. You can boast about us that we, at least, are well intentioned and honest.

^13-14 Are we insane to say such things about ourselves?^[a] If so, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Whatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ’s love controls us now. Since we believe that Christ died for all of us, we should also believe that we have died to the old life we used to live. ¹⁵ He died for all so that all who live—having received eternal life from him—might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them. ¹⁶ So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now! ¹⁷ When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!

¹⁸ All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. ²⁰ We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God. ²¹ For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!^[b]

6 As God’s partners, we beg you not to toss aside this marvelous message of God’s great kindness. ² For God says, “Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open. I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered.” Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.

17 “There will always be temptations to sin,” Jesus said one day to his disciples, “but woe to the man who does the tempting. ^2-3 If he were thrown into the sea with a huge rock tied to his neck, he would be far better off than facing the punishment in store for those who harm these little children’s souls. I am warning you!

“Rebuke your brother if he sins, and forgive him if he is sorry. ⁴ Even if he wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, forgive him.”

⁵ One day the apostles said to the Lord, “We need more faith; tell us how to get it.”

⁶ “If your faith were only the size of a mustard seed,” Jesus answered, “it would be large enough to uproot that mulberry tree over there and send it hurtling into the sea! Your command would bring immediate results! ^7-9 When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, he doesn’t just sit down and eat, but first prepares his master’s meal and serves him his supper before he eats his own. And he is not even thanked, for he is merely doing what he is supposed to do. ¹⁰ Just so, if you merely obey me, you should not consider yourselves worthy of praise. For you have simply done your duty!”