Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56[a]
Boundless Trust in God
1 For the director.[b] According to Yonath elem rehoqim. A miktam of David. When the Philistines seized him at Gath.
2 Be merciful to me, O God,
for people are trampling upon me;
all day long they keep up their attack.
3 My foes pursue me all day long,
with their forces too many to number.
4 When I am terrified,
I place my trust in you.
5 In God, whose word[c] I praise,
in God I place my trust and know no fear;
what can people do to me?
6 All day long they slander me;
their one thought is to bring evil upon me.
7 In groups they hide in ambush
and spy on my every step,
determined to take my life.
8 Shall they escape in their iniquity?
Strike down the nations, O God, in your anger.
9 You have kept count of my wanderings
and stored my tears in your flask,
recording all these in your book.[d]
10 My foes will turn back
when I call out to you.
Of this I am confident:
that God is on my side.
11 In God, whose word I praise—
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
12 in God I place my trust and know no fear;
what can people do to me?
13 I am bound, O God, by vows[e] to you,
and I will pay you my debt of gratitude.
14 For you have delivered my life from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk in the presence of God[f]
in the light of the living.
Psalm 57[g]
Trust in God amid Suffering
1 For the director.[h] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David. When he fled from Saul into the cave.
2 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
for in you my soul[i] takes refuge.
I will seek shelter in the shadow of your wings
until the time of danger has passed.
3 I call out to God Most High,
to God who takes care of me.[j]
4 May he send his help from heaven to deliver me
and put to shame those who trample upon me; Selah
may God send his kindness[k] and his faithfulness.
5 I lie prostrate in the midst of lions
who are hungrily seeking human prey.
Their teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongues are razor-sharp swords.
6 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory shine over all the earth.[l]
7 They set a trap for my feet,
and I was overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they themselves fell into it. Selah
8 [m]My heart[n] is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant your praise;
9 awake, my soul!
Awake, lyre and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.[o]
10 [p]I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing your praises among the nations.
11 For your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
12 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory radiate over all the earth.
Psalm 58[q]
The Judge of Unjust Rulers
1 For the director.[r] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David.
2 O you rulers,[s] do you render justice?
Do you judge your people impartially?
3 No! You devise wickedness in your hearts,[t]
and your hands bring about violence on the earth.
4 The wicked have gone astray right from the womb;
from birth these liars have taken the wrong path.[u]
5 Their venom is like that of a serpent;
they are as deaf as an asp that stops its ears
6 so as not to hear the voice of the charmer
no matter how skillful the spells he casts.[v]
7 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of these lions, O Lord.[w]
8 [x]Cause them to vanish like water that drains off;
make them wither like grass that is trampled.[y]
9 Let them melt like a snail[z] that oozes into slime
or like a stillborn child that will never see the sun.
10 Before they sprout thorns[aa] like brambles or thistles,
may your whirlwind sweep them away.
11 The righteous will rejoice
when he sees that justice has been done,
and he will bathe his feet
in the blood[ab] of the wicked.
12 Then the people will say,
“There is truly a reward for the righteous;
there is a God who dispenses justice on the earth.”
Psalm 64[a]
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 Listen, O God, to my cry of lament;
from the dreaded enemy preserve my life.
3 Protect me from the council of the wicked,
from the band of those who do evil.
4 They sharpen their tongues[c] like swords,
and they shoot forth their venomous words like arrows,
5 while they attack the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and without fear.
6 [d]They agree on their evil plan,
and they resolve to lay snares,
saying, “Who will see us?”
7 They plot evil schemes
and devise shrewd plots;
the thoughts of their hearts[e] are hidden.
8 [f]However, God will shoot his arrows at them,[g]
and they will suddenly be struck down.
9 Their own tongues will bring them down,
and all who see them will wag their heads.[h]
10 [i]Then everyone will be in awe,
as they proclaim God’s mighty deeds
and contemplate what he has done.[j]
11 The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will praise him.
Psalm 65[k]
Thanksgiving for Divine Blessings
1 For the director.[l] A psalm of David. A song.
2 It is fitting to offer praise to you,[m]
O God, in Zion.
To you our vows must be fulfilled,
3 for you answer our prayers.
To you all flesh must come,[n]
4 burdened by its sinful deeds.
Too heavy for us are our sins,
and only you can blot them out.[o]
5 Blessed[p] is the one whom you choose
and invite to dwell in your courts.
We will be filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
6 Through your awesome deeds[q] of righteousness,
you respond to us, O God, our Savior;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the far-off islands.
7 Clothed in your great power,
you hold the mountains in place.[r]
8 You quiet the roaring of the seas,
the turbulence of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.[s]
9 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
are awestruck by your wonders.[t]
You call forth songs of joy
from sunrise and sunset.
10 You care for the earth and water it,
making it most fertile.
The streams of God[u] are filled with water
to provide grain for its people.
Thus, you prepare the earth for growth:
11 you water its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its yield.[v]
12 You crown the year with your bounty,[w]
and your tracks dispense fertility.
13 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
and the hills are covered with rejoicing.
14 The meadows are clothed with flocks,
and the valleys are decked out with grain;
in their joy they shout and sing together.[x]
Chapter 30
God’s Forgiveness and Blessing. 1 When all of these blessings and curses come upon you that I have set before you and you call them to mind wherever you are dispersed among all of the nations, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord, your God, and you obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and all your soul, 3 then the Lord, your God, will have compassion on you in your captivity, and he will bring you back, gathering you from all the nations where the Lord, your God, has scattered you. 4 The Lord, your God, will gather and fetch you back, even if your exiles are in the outermost parts of the heavens. 5 The Lord, your God, will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed so that you might possess it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord, your God, will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your offspring so that you might love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and that you might live. 7 The Lord, your God, will cause all of these curses to come upon your enemies and those who hated and persecuted you. 8 You shall once again obey the voice of the Lord and observe all of his commandments that I have given you today. 9 The Lord, your God, will make you bountiful in all of your undertakings, your offspring, your livestock, and the produce from your land; the Lord will take as much delight in bringing you prosperity as the Lord delighted in your fathers 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord and observe his commandments and his statutes that are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and your whole soul.
Paul’s Self-Defense[a]
Chapter 10
Recommendation from Human Beings or from God?[b] 1 I myself, Paul, exhort you by the gentleness and the mercy of Christ, I who am “timid” when I am face to face with you, but “bold” when I am at a distance! 2 I beg you that when I am in your presence I will not have to act with boldness and the self-assurance that I consider necessary when I oppose some of those who accuse us of acting according to human standards.[c]
3 [d]Although we are human beings, we do not engage in battle according to human standards. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they possess the divine power to destroy strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every proud pretension against the knowledge of God, and we compel every thought to surrender in obedience to Christ. 6 What is more, once your obedience is complete, we are prepared to punish every disobedience.
7 [e]Face the facts squarely. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on the fact that we belong to Christ as much as he does. 8 It is possible that I tend to boast a bit too much about our authority, which the Lord has entrusted to us for building you up rather than for tearing you down, but I will not apologize for doing so.
9 Therefore, I do not want to seem to be someone who frightens you with my letters. 10 Some may assert, “His letters are impressive and forceful, but his personal appearance is insignificant, and he cannot speak well.” 11 Let them understand that what we are in our letters when we are absent will be the same as what we are in our deeds when we are present.
12 We do not dare to rank ourselves or to compare ourselves with any of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they only demonstrate their ignorance. 13 In contrast, we will not boast beyond the proper limits. Rather, we will measure ourselves according to the standard that God laid down for us, which enabled us to reach out all the way to you.
14 We are not overreaching ourselves as we would be if we had not come to you; indeed, we came to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither are we boasting immoderately of the labors of others. Our hope is rather that, as your faith increases, our influence among you will be greater than ever, 16 so that we may preach the gospel to regions beyond you, rather than boasting about work already done in someone else’s region.
17 If anyone would boast, let him boast in the Lord.[f] 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is really approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
31 Jesus Predicts His Passion a Third Time.[a] Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are now going up to Jerusalem, and everything that has been written by the Prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. 33 After they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and on the third day he will rise again.”
34 But they understood nothing of this. Its meaning remained obscure to them, and they failed to comprehend what he was telling them.
35 Jesus Heals a Blind Man.[b] As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going past, he inquired what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 39 The people in front rebuked him and ordered him to be silent, but he only shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. And when he had come near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He answered, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well.” 43 Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. And all the people who witnessed this also gave praise to God.
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