Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50
God as Judge
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 The Mighty One, God,[a] the Lord, speaks;
he summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(B)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God appears in radiance.[b](C)
3 Our God is coming; he will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
and a storm rages around him.(D)
4 On high, he summons heaven and earth
in order to judge his people:(E)
5 “Gather my faithful ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”(F)
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,(G)
for God is the Judge.(H)Selah
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.(I)
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings,
which are continually before me.(J)
9 I will not take a bull from your household
or male goats from your pens,(K)
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.(L)
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is mine.(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?(N)
14 Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to God,(O)
and pay your vows to the Most High.(P)
15 Call on me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”(Q)
16 But God says to the wicked:
“What right do you have to recite my statutes
and to take my covenant on your lips?(R)
17 You hate instruction
and fling my words behind you.(S)
18 When you see a thief,
you make friends with him,
and you associate with adulterers.(T)
19 You unleash your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue for deceit.(U)
20 You sit, maligning your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.(V)
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.(W)
But I will rebuke you
and lay out the case before you.[c](X)
Psalm 59
God Our Stronghold
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. When Saul sent agents to watch the house and kill him.(A)
1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;(B)
protect me from those who rise up against me.(C)
2 Rescue me from evildoers,
and save me from men of bloodshed.(D)
3 Because look, Lord, they set an ambush for me.(E)
Powerful men attack me,
but not because of any sin or rebellion of mine.(F)
4 For no fault of mine,
they run and take up a position.
Awake to help me, and take notice.(G)
5 Lord God of Armies, you are the God of Israel.
Rise up to punish all the nations;
do not show favor to any wicked traitors.(H)Selah
6 They return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.(I)
7 Look, they spew from their mouths—
sharp words from[a] their lips.(J)
“For who,” they say, “will hear?” (K)
8 But you laugh at them, Lord;
you ridicule all the nations.(L)
9 I will keep watch for you, my[b] strength,
because God is my stronghold.(M)
10 My faithful God[c] will come to meet me;
God will let me look down on my adversaries.(N)
11 Do not kill them; otherwise, my people will forget.
By your power, make them homeless wanderers(O)
and bring them down,
Lord, our shield.(P)
12 For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride.
They utter curses and lies.(Q)
13 Consume them in fury;
consume them until they are gone.(R)
Then people will know throughout[d] the earth
that God rules over Jacob.(S)Selah
14 And they return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.(T)
15 They scavenge for food;
they growl if they are not satisfied.(U)
16 But I will sing of your strength
and will joyfully proclaim
your faithful love in the morning.(V)
For you have been a stronghold for me,
a refuge in my day of trouble.(W)
17 To you, my strength, I sing praises,
because God is my stronghold—
my faithful God.(X)
Psalm 60
Prayer in Difficult Times
For the choir director: according to “The Lily of Testimony.”(Y) A Miktam of David for teaching. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in Salt Valley, killing twelve thousand.(Z)
1 God, you have rejected us;
you have broken us down;
you have been angry. Restore us
2 You have shaken the land and split it open.
Heal its fissures, for it shudders.(AB)
3 You have made your people suffer hardship;
you have given us wine to drink
that made us stagger.(AC)
4 You have given a signal flag to those who fear you,
so that they can flee before the archers.[f](AD)Selah
5 Save with your right hand, and answer me,
so that those you love may be rescued.(AE)
6 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[g]
“I will celebrate!
I will divide up Shechem.(AF)
I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.(AG)
7 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine,
and Ephraim is my helmet;(AH)
Judah is my scepter.(AI)
8 Moab is my washbasin.(AJ)
I throw my sandal on Edom;(AK)
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”(AL)
Psalm 8
God’s Glory, Human Dignity
For the choir director: on the Gittith.(A) A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!(B)
You have covered the heavens with your majesty.[a](C)
2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies,(D)
you have established a stronghold[b]
on account of your adversaries
in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I observe your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you set in place,(E)
4 what is a human being that you remember him,
a son of man[c] that you look after him?(F)
5 You made him little less than God[d][e]
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:(G)
7 all the sheep and oxen,
as well as the animals in the wild,
8 the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea
that pass through the currents of the seas.(H)
9 Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!
Psalm 84
Longing for God’s House
For the choir director: on the Gittith.(A) A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord of Armies.(B)
2 I long and yearn
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh cry out for[a] the living God.(C)
3 Even a sparrow finds a home,
and a swallow, a nest for herself
where she places her young—
near your altars, Lord of Armies,
my King and my God.(D)
4 How happy are those who reside in your house,
who praise you continually.(E)Selah
5 Happy are the people whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.(F)
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,[b]
they make it a source of spring water;
even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings.[c](G)
7 They go from strength to strength;
each appears before God in Zion.(H)
8 Lord God of Armies, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob.(I)Selah
9 Consider our shield,[d] God;(J)
look on the face of your anointed one.(K)
10 Better a day in your courts
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
than live in the tents of wicked people.(L)
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield.(M)
The Lord grants favor and honor;
he does not withhold the good
from those who live with integrity.(N)
12 Happy is the person who trusts in you,
Lord of Armies!(O)
Appointing Judges and Officials
18 “Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.(A) 20 Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.(B)
Appointing a King
14 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,(A) take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ 15 you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.(B) Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.(C) 16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’(D) 17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray.(E) He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.(F) 18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear(G) the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years[a] in Israel.
Appeal to Complete the Collection
8 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches(A) of Macedonia:(B) 2 During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.(C) 3 I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, 4 they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing(D) in the ministry to the saints, 5 and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.(E) 6 So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.
7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge,(F) and in all diligence, and in your love for us[a]—excel also in this act of grace. 8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich,(G) for your sake he became poor,(H) so that by his poverty you might become rich. 10 And in this matter I am giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something but also to want to do it.(I) 11 Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.(J) 13 It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality.[b] 14 At the present time your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality. 15 As it is written: The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.[c](K)
Administration of the Collection
16 Thanks be to God, who put the same concern for you into the heart of Titus.
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
18 Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray(A) always and not give up.(B) 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God(C) or respect people. 3 And a widow(D) in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 yet because this widow keeps(E) pestering me,[a] I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out[b] by her persistent coming.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God grant justice(F) to his elect(G) who cry out to him day and night?(H) Will he delay(I) helping them?[c] 8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,(J) will he find faith on earth?”
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