Book of Common Prayer
Confidence in God’s Protection
For the music director, upon stringed instruments.[a] Of David.[b]
61 Hear, O God, my cry;
attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth[c] I call to you
when my heart grows faint.
You will lead me to a rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower from the enemy.
4 Let me reside in your tent forever.
Let me take refuge under the covering of your wings. Selah
5 For you, O God, you have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 You will add days to the days of the king,
his years like those of many generations.[d]
7 May he live[e] forever in the presence of God.
Appoint loyal love and faithfulness to preserve him.
8 So I will sing the praise of your name forever,
that I may fulfill[f] my vows daily.[g]
Confidence in God’s Salvation
For the music director, on Jeduthun.[h]
A psalm of David.[i]
62 Only for God my soul waits in silence.
From him is my salvation.
2 Only he is my rock and my salvation,
my high stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
3 How long will you attack a man?
All of you will be shattered[j]
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence.
4 They only[k] plan to thrust him down from his high position;
they are pleased with deception.
With their mouths[l] they bless,
but inwardly[m] they curse. Selah
5 Only for God wait in silence, O my soul,
because my hope is from him.
6 Only he is my rock and my salvation,
my high stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
God[n] is my strong rock, my refuge.
8 Trust him at all times, O people;
pour out before him your heart.
God is a refuge for us. Selah
9 Only a vapor[o] are men of low degree,
a deception are men of high degree.
Weighed[p] in a balance,
together they are lighter than a vapor.
10 Do not trust in extortion,
and do not put vain confidence in robbery.
If wealth increases,
do not set your heart on it.
11 Once God has spoken;
twice I have heard this:
that strength belongs to God.
12 And to you belongs loyal love, O Lord,
because you will render to each according to his work.
Praise to God for Providing Victory
For the music director. Of David. A psalm. A song.[a]
68 God will arise; his enemies will be scattered,
and those who hate him will flee from before him.
2 As smoke is driven off, you will drive them off.
As wax melts before fire,
the wicked will perish before God.
3 But the righteous will be glad; they will exalt before God,
and will rejoice with joy.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name.
Lift up a song to the rider on the clouds—his name is Yah—[b]
and rejoice before him.
5 A father to orphans and a judge for widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the lonely in a home;
he brings prisoners out into prosperity.
But the rebellious abide in a barren land.
7 O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the desert, Selah
8 the earth shook; the heavens also dripped rain
at the presence of God who was at Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You caused abundant rain to fall, O God.
When your inheritance was weary you revived it.
10 Your community dwelled in it.
You provided in your goodness for the poor, O God.
11 The Lord gives the word.
Great is the company of women who announce:
12 “The kings of armies flee, they flee,
and she who remains at home divides the spoil.
13 Though you men lie down between the sheepfolds,
you will be like the wings of a dove covered in silver
and its pinions in yellow gold.”
14 When Shaddai scattered kings on it,
on Zalmon it snowed.[c]
15 A mountain of God[d] is the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why do you look with hostility, O many-peaked mountains?
This[e] mountain God desires for his dwelling.
Yes, Yahweh will abide in it forever.
17 The chariots of God
are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled.
The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory.[f]
18 You have ascended on high; you have led away captives.
You have received gifts from among humankind,
and even from the rebellious, so that Yah[g] God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord. Daily he loads us with benefits,[h]
the God of our salvation.[i] Selah
20 Our God is a God of deliverances,
and to the Yahweh the Lord belong escapes from death.
21 But God will shatter the head of his enemies,
the hairy scalp of the one who continues on[j] in his guilt.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 so that your foot may shatter them bloody
for the tongues of your dogs to have their share from the enemies.”
24 They have seen your processions, O God,
the processions of my God, my king, distinctive in victory.[k]
25 Singers went up front, those playing stringed instruments last,
between them young women playing tambourines.
26 Bless God in the assemblies,
Yahweh from the fountain of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin ruling them,
with the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has commanded your strength.
Show yourself strong, O God, by what you perform[l] for us.
29 Because your temple is above Jerusalem,
kings will bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the beasts in[m] the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
trampling the pieces of silver.[n]
Scatter the nations who delight in battles.
31 Ambassadors[o] will come from Egypt;
Cush will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praise to the Lord, Selah
33 to the one who rides in the highest heavens of old.
See, he gives forth his voice, a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe strength to God.
His majesty is over Israel,
and his strength is in the clouds.
35 Awesome are you, O God, from your sanctuary.[p]
The God of Israel, it is he who gives strength and might to the people.
Blessed be God.
11 “For this commandment that I am commanding you today[a] is not too wonderful for you,[b] and it is not too far from you. 12 It is not in the heavens so that you might say,[c] ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 13 And it is not beyond the sea,[d] so that you might say,[e] ‘Who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and take it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.[f]
15 “See, I am setting before you[g] today[h] life and prosperity and death and disaster; 16 what I am commanding you today[i] is to love Yahweh your God by going[j] in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his regulations, and then you will live, and you will become numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land where you are going.[k] 17 However, if your heart turns aside and you do not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them, 18 I declare to you today[l] that you will certainly perish; you will not extend your time[m] on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it. 19 I invoke as a witness against you today[n] the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you,[o] blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,[p] 20 by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,[q] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.”
Paul Defends His Apostleship
11 I wish that you would put up with me in something a little foolish[a]—but indeed you are putting up with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds may be led astray from the sincerity and the purity of devotion to Christ. 4 For if the one who comes proclaims another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you put up with it well enough! 5 For I consider myself in no way to be inferior to the preeminent apostles.[b] 6 But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; certainly in everything we have made this clear to you in every way. 7 Or did I commit a sin by[c] humbling myself in order that you may be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you without payment? 8 I robbed other churches by[d] accepting support from them for the ministry to you. 9 And when I[e] was present with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will keep myself from being a burden. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine[f] will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why[g]? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 But what I am doing, I will also do, in order that I may remove the opportunity of those who want an opportunity, that they may be found just as also we are in what they are boasting about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Paul Boasts in His Sufferings
16 Again I say, do not let anyone think I am foolish. But indeed, if you do, accept me even as foolish, in order that I also may boast a little. 17 What I am saying in this project of boasting, I am not saying as the Lord would say, but as in foolishness. 18 Since many are boasting according to human standards, I also will boast. 19 For because you[h] are wise, you put up with foolish people gladly! 20 For you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone is presumptious toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 21 I say this to my shame, namely, that we have been weak.
But in whatever anyone dares to boast—I am speaking in foolishness—I also dare to boast.
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 And he entered and[a] traveled through Jericho. 2 And there was[b] a man named[c] Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see Jesus—who he was—and he was not able to as a result of the crowd, because he was short in stature. 4 And he ran on ahead and[d] climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he could see him, because he was going to go through that way. 5 And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and[e] said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because it is necessary for me to stay at your house today!” 6 And he came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully. 7 And when they[f] saw it,[g] they all began to complain,[h] saying, “He has gone in to find lodging with a man who is a sinner!” 8 And Zacchaeus stopped and[i] said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am paying it[j] back four times as much!” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”
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