Book of Common Prayer
BOOK 1
The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.
1 Blessed is the person who (A)does not walk in the (B)counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the [a](C)path of sinners,
Nor (D)sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his (E)delight is (F)in the Law of the Lord,
And on His Law he meditates (G)day and (H)night.
3 He will be like (I)a tree planted by [b]streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its [c]leaf does not wither;
And [d]in whatever he does, (J)he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like (K)chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore (L)the wicked will not stand in the (M)judgment,
Nor sinners in (N)the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord [e](O)knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of (P)the wicked will perish.
The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.
2 Why are (Q)the [f]nations restless
And the peoples (R)plotting in vain?
2 The (S)kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers conspire together
(T)Against the Lord and against His [g](U)Anointed, saying,
3 “Let’s (V)tear their shackles apart
And throw their ropes away from us!”
4 He who [h]sits in the heavens (W)laughs,
The Lord (X)scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His (Y)anger
And (Z)terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have installed (AA)My King
Upon Zion, (AB)My holy mountain.”
7 “I will announce the [i]decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are (AC)My Son,
Today I have fathered You.
8 Ask it of Me, and (AD)I will certainly give (AE)the [j]nations as Your inheritance,
And the (AF)ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 You shall [k](AG)break them with a [l]rod of iron,
You shall (AH)shatter them like [m]earthenware.’”
10 Now then, you kings, (AI)use insight;
Let yourselves be instructed, you [n]judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with [o](AJ)reverence
And rejoice with (AK)trembling.
12 [p]Kiss (AL)the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way,
For (AM)His wrath may be kindled quickly.
How blessed are all who (AN)take refuge in Him!
Morning Prayer of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David, when [q]he fled from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, how (AO)my enemies have increased!
Many are rising up against me.
2 Many are saying of my soul,
“There is no (AP)salvation for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, Lord, are (AQ)a shield around me,
My (AR)glory, and the One who (AS)lifts my head.
4 I was crying out to the Lord with my voice,
And He (AT)answered me from (AU)His holy [r]mountain. Selah
5 [s]I (AV)lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.
6 I will (AW)not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have (AX)set themselves against me all around.
7 (AY)Arise, Lord; (AZ)save me, my God!
For You [t]have (BA)struck all my enemies on the [u]cheek;
You [v]have (BB)shattered the teeth of the wicked.
8 [w](BC)Salvation belongs to the Lord;
May Your (BD)blessing [x]be upon Your people! Selah
Evening Prayer of Trust in God.
[y]For the music director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
4 (BE)Answer me when (BF)I call, God [z]of my righteousness!
You have [aa](BG)relieved me in my distress;
Be (BH)gracious to me and (BI)hear my prayer.
2 You sons of man, how long will (BJ)my [ab]honor be treated as (BK)an insult?
How long will you love (BL)what is worthless and strive for a (BM)lie? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has [ac](BN)set apart the (BO)godly person for Himself;
The Lord (BP)hears when I call to Him.
The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.
A [a]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord [b]concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 O Lord my God, (A)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and (B)rescue me,
2 Or he will tear [c]my soul (C)like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is no one to rescue me.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is (D)injustice in my hands,
4 If I have (E)done evil to [d]my friend,
Or have (F)plundered [e]my enemy for no reason,
5 Let the enemy pursue [f]my soul and overtake [g]it;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 (G)Arise, Lord, in Your anger;
(H)Raise Yourself against (I)the rage of my enemies,
And (J)stir Yourself [h]for me; You have ordered judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the (K)peoples encompass You,
And return on high over it.
8 The Lord (L)judges the peoples;
[i](M)Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
9 Please let (N)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but (O)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God (P)puts hearts and [j]minds to the test.
10 My (Q)shield is [k]with God,
Who (R)saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a (S)righteous judge,
And a God who (T)shows indignation every day.
12 If one (U)does not repent, He will (V)sharpen His sword;
He has (W)bent His bow and taken aim.
13 He has also prepared deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His (X)arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, an evil person is pregnant with injustice,
And he (Y)conceives harm and gives birth to lies.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has (Z)fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His (AA)harm will return on his own head,
And his (AB)violence will descend on the top of his own head.
Saul’s Disobedience
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “(A)The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the [a]words of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘I will [b]punish Amalek (B)for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and (C)completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but (D)put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
7 Then (A)Saul [a]defeated the Amalekites, from (B)Havilah [b]going toward (C)Shur, which is [c]east of Egypt. 8 He captured (D)Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and (E)completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people (F)spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the more valuable animals, the lambs, and everything that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them completely; but everything despicable and weak, that they completely destroyed.
Samuel Rebukes Saul
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “(G)I regret that I have made Saul king, because (H)he has turned back from [d]following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was furious and (I)cried out to the Lord all night. 12 Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was reported to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to (J)Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on [e]down to (K)Gilgal.” 13 So Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “(L)Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “(M)What then is this [f]bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the [g]bellowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for (N)the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have completely destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and let me inform you of what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak!”
17 So Samuel said, “[h]Is it not true, (O)though you were [i]insignificant in your own eyes, that you became the head of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed you as king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a [j]mission, and said, ‘(P)Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? (Q)Instead, you loudly rushed upon the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord!”
20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “(R)I did obey the voice of the Lord, for I went on the [k]mission on which the Lord sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But (S)the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22 Samuel said,
“(T)Does the Lord have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, (U)to obey is better than a sacrifice,
And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of (V)divination,
And insubordination is as reprehensible as (W)false religion and idolatry.
Since you have rejected the word of the Lord,
(X)He has also rejected you from being king.”
19 and he took food and was strengthened.
Saul Begins to Preach Christ
Now (A)for several days he was with (B)the disciples who were in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus (C)in the synagogues, [a]saying, “He is (D)the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem (E)destroyed those who (F)called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the [b]Christ.
23 When (G)many days had elapsed, (H)the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but (I)their plot became known to Saul. (J)They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.
26 (K)When he came to Jerusalem, he tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But (L)Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had (M)seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how (N)he had (O)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus. 28 And he was with them, [c]moving about freely in Jerusalem, (P)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he was talking and arguing with the [d](Q)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. 30 Now when (R)the [e]brothers learned of it, they brought him down to (S)Caesarea and (T)sent him away to (U)Tarsus.
31 So (V)the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria [f]enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it [g]continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.
44 (A)It was now about [a](B)the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until [b]the ninth hour, 45 [c]because the sun stopped shining; and (C)the veil of the temple was torn [d]in two. 46 And Jesus, (D)crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, (E)into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He [e]died. 47 (F)Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began (G)praising God, saying, “This Man was in fact [f]innocent.” 48 And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, [g](H)beating their chests. 49 (I)And all His acquaintances and (J)the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.
Jesus Is Buried
50 (K)And a man named Joseph, who was a (L)member of the Council, a good and righteous man 51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was (M)waiting for the kingdom of God— 52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. 54 It was a [h](N)preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to [i]begin. 55 Now (O)the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 And then they returned and (P)prepared spices and perfumes.
And (Q)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
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