Book of Common Prayer
BOOK I
(Psalms 1–41)
Psalm 1
1 The truly happy person
doesn’t follow wicked advice,
doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
2 Instead of doing those things,
these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
3 They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
which bears fruit at just the right time
and whose leaves don’t fade.
Whatever they do succeeds.
4 That’s not true for the wicked!
They are like dust that the wind blows away.
5 And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
neither will sinners
in the assembly of the righteous.
6 The Lord is intimately acquainted
with the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is destroyed.
Psalm 2
2 Why do the nations rant?
Why do the peoples rave uselessly?
2 The earth’s rulers take their stand;
the leaders scheme together
against the Lord and
against his anointed one.
3 “Come!” they say.
“We will tear off their ropes
and throw off their chains!”
4 The one who rules in heaven laughs;
my Lord makes fun of them.
5 But then God speaks to them angrily;
then he terrifies them with his fury:
6 “I hereby appoint my king on Zion,
my holy mountain!”
7 I will announce the Lord’s decision:
He said to me, “You are my son,
today I have become your father.
8 Just ask me,
and I will make the nations your possession;
the far corners of the earth will be your property.
9 You will smash them with an iron rod;
you will shatter them like a pottery jar.”
10 So kings, wise up!
Be warned, you rulers of the earth!
11 Serve the Lord reverently—
trembling, 12 kiss his feet[a]
or else he will become angry,
and your way will be destroyed
because his anger ignites in an instant.
But all who take refuge in the Lord are truly happy!
Psalm 3
A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, I have so many enemies!
So many are standing against me.
2 So many are talking about me:
“Even God won’t help him.” Selah[b]
3 But you, Lord, are my shield!
You are my glory!
You are the one who restores me.
4 I cry out loud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I lie down, sleep, and wake up
because the Lord helps me.
6 I won’t be afraid of thousands of people
surrounding me on all sides.
7 Stand up, Lord!
Save me, my God!
In fact, hit all my enemies on the jaw;
shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Rescue comes from the Lord!
May your blessing be on your people! Selah
Psalm 4
For the music leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
4 Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God!
Set me free from my troubles!
Have mercy on me!
Listen to my prayer!
2 How long, you people,
will my reputation be insulted?
How long will you continue
to love what is worthless
and go after lies? Selah
3 Know this: the Lord takes
personal care of the faithful.
The Lord will hear me
when I cry out to him.
4 So be afraid, and don’t sin!
Think hard about it in your bed
and weep over it! Selah
5 Bring righteous offerings,
and trust the Lord!
6 Many people say,
“We can’t find goodness anywhere.
The light of your face has left us, Lord!”[c]
7 But you have filled my heart with more joy
than when their wheat and wine are everywhere!
8 I will lie down and fall asleep in peace
because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.
Psalm 7
A shiggayon[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord about Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 I take refuge in you, Lord, my God.
Save me from all who chase me!
Rescue me!
2 Otherwise, they will rip me apart,
dragging me off with no chance of rescue.
3 Lord, my God, if I have done this—
if my hands have done anything wrong,
4 if I have repaid a friend with evil
or oppressed a foe for no reason—
5 then let my enemy
not only chase but catch me,
trampling my life into the ground,
laying my reputation in the dirt. Selah
6 Get up, Lord; get angry!
Stand up against the fury of my foes!
Wake up, my God;[b]
you command that justice be done!
7 Let the assembled peoples surround you.
Rule them from on high![c]
8 The Lord will judge the peoples.
Establish justice for me, Lord,
according to my righteousness
and according to my integrity.
9 Please let the evil of the wicked be over,
but set the righteous firmly in place
because you, the righteous God,
are the one who examines hearts and minds.
10 God is my shield;
he saves those whose heart is right.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who is angry at evil[d] every single day.
12 If someone doesn’t change their ways,
God will sharpen his sword,
will bend his bow,
will string an arrow.
13 God has deadly weapons in store
for those who won’t change;
he gets his flaming arrows ready!
14 But look how the wicked hatch evil,
conceive trouble, give birth to lies!
15 They make a pit, dig it all out,
and then fall right into the hole that they’ve made!
16 The trouble they cause
will come back on their own heads;
the violence they commit
will come down on their own skulls.
17 But I will thank the Lord
for his righteousness;
I will sing praises
to the name of the Lord Most High.
Samuel rejects Saul’s kingship
15 Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Listen now to the Lord’s words! 2 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says: I am going to punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel: how they attacked the Israelites as they came up from Egypt. 3 So go! Attack the Amalekites; put everything that belongs to them under the ban.[a] Spare no one. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is near Egypt. 8 He captured Agag the Amalekite king alive, but Saul placed all the people under the ban, killing them with the sword. 9 Saul and the troops spared Agag along with the best sheep, cattle, fattened calves,[a] lambs, and everything of value. They weren’t willing to put them under the ban; but anything that was despised or of no value[b] they placed under the ban.
10 Then the Lord’s word came to Samuel: 11 “I regret making Saul king because he has turned away from following me and hasn’t done what I said.” Samuel was upset at this, and he prayed to the Lord all night long.
12 Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, and was told, “Saul went to Carmel, where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then he left and went down to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel reached Saul,[c] Saul greeted him, “The Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”
14 “Then what,” Samuel asked, “is this bleating of sheep in my ears and mooing of cattle I hear?”
15 “They were taken from the Amalekites,” Saul said, “because the troops spared the best sheep and cattle in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. The rest was placed under the ban.”
16 Samuel then said to Saul, “Enough! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17 Samuel said, “Even if you think you are insignificant, aren’t you the leader of Israel’s tribes? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 The Lord sent you on a mission, instructing you, ‘Go, and put the sinful Amalekites under the ban. Fight against them until you’ve wiped them out.’ 19 Why didn’t you obey the Lord? You did evil in the Lord’s eyes when you tore into the plunder!”
20 “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul protested to Samuel. “I went on the mission the Lord sent me on. I captured Agag the Amalekite king, and I put the Amalekites under the ban. 21 Yes, the troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the very best items placed under the ban—but in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22 Then Samuel replied,
“Does the Lord want entirely burned offerings and sacrifices
as much as obedience to the Lord?
Listen to this: obeying is better than sacrificing,
paying attention is better than fat from rams,
23 because rebellion is as bad as the sin of divination;
arrogance is like the evil of idolatry.[d]
Because you have rejected what the Lord said,
he has rejected you as king.”
19 After eating, he regained his strength.
He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days. 20 Right away, he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. “He is God’s Son,” he declared.
21 Everyone who heard him was baffled. They questioned each other, “Isn’t he the one who was wreaking havoc among those in Jerusalem who called on this name? Hadn’t he come here to take those same people as prisoners to the chief priests?”
22 But Saul grew stronger and stronger. He confused the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
23 After this had gone on for some time, the Jews hatched a plot to kill Saul. 24 However, he found out about their scheme. They were keeping watch at the city gates around the clock so they could assassinate him. 25 But his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.
26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t believe he was really a disciple. 27 Then Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles and told them the story about how Saul saw the Lord on the way and that the Lord had spoken to Saul. He also told them about the confidence with which Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus. 28 After this, Saul moved freely among the disciples in Jerusalem and was speaking with confidence in the name of the Lord. 29 He got into debates with the Greek-speaking Jews as well, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the family of believers learned about this, they escorted him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. God strengthened the church, and its life was marked by reverence for the Lord. Encouraged by the Holy Spirit, the church continued to grow in numbers.
Jesus’ death
44 It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole earth until about three o’clock, 45 while the sun stopped shining. Then the curtain in the sanctuary tore down the middle. 46 Crying out in a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my life.”[a] After he said this, he breathed for the last time.
47 When the centurion saw what happened, he praised God, saying, “It’s really true: this man was righteous.” 48 All the crowds who had come together to see this event returned to their homes beating their chests after seeing what had happened. 49 And everyone who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance observing these things.
Jesus’ burial
50 Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council. He was a good and righteous man. 51 He hadn’t agreed with the plan and actions of the council. He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea and eagerly anticipated God’s kingdom. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a tomb carved out of the rock, in which no one had ever been buried. 54 It was the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was quickly approaching. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid in it, 56 then they went away and prepared fragrant spices and perfumed oils. They rested on the Sabbath, in keeping with the commandment.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible