Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 30[a]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
1 A psalm. A song for the dedication of the temple. Of David.
2 I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you have raised me out of the depths[b]
and have not let my enemies exult over me.
3 O Lord, my God,
I called to you and you healed me.[c]
4 O Lord, you lifted me up from the netherworld;[d]
you saved me from sinking into the pit.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, O you his saints;[e]
give thanks to his holy name.
6 For his anger lasts for only a moment,
while his goodwill endures for a lifetime.
Weeping may last throughout the night,[f]
but at daybreak there is rejoicing.
7 In time of good fortune, I said,
“Nothing can ever sway me.”[g]
8 O Lord, in your goodness
you established me as an impregnable mountain;
however, when you hid your face,
I was filled with terror.
9 [h]To you, O Lord, I cried out,
and I implored my God for mercy:
10 “What advantage would my death provide
if I descend into the pit?
Can the dust praise you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?
11 Listen, O Lord, and have mercy on me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
12 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken away my sackcloth[i]
and clothed me with joy.
13 My heart[j] will therefore sing
in unceasing praise to you;
O Lord, my God,
I will praise you forever.
Psalm 32[a]
The Joy of Being Forgiven
1 Of David. A maskil.[b]
[c]Blessed is the one whose offense is forgiven,
whose sin is erased.
2 Blessed is the one to whom the Lord charges no guilt
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 As long as I remained silent,[d]
my body wasted away
as the result of my groaning throughout the day.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength withered steadily
as though consumed by the summer heat.[e] Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I made no attempt to conceal my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my offenses[f] to the Lord,”
and you removed the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore, let everyone who is faithful pray to you
where you may be found.[g]
Even if great floods threaten,
they will never reach him.
7 You are a place of refuge for me;
you preserve me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.[h] Selah
8 I will instruct you
and guide you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you
and keep my eyes upon you.
9 Do not behave without understanding
like a horse or a mule;
if its temper is not curbed with bit and bridle,
it will not come near you.
10 The wicked has a multitude of troubles,
but the man who trusts in the Lord
is surrounded by kindness.[i]
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
shout for joy, all you upright of heart.[j]
Book II—Psalms 42–72[a]
Psalm 42[b]
Prayer of Longing for God
1 For the director.[c] A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 As a deer longs for running streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.[d]
3 My soul[e] thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come to behold the face of God?
4 My tears have become my food
day and night,
while people taunt me all day long, saying,
“Where is your God?”
5 As I pour out my soul,
I recall those times
when I journeyed with the multitude
and led them in procession to the house of God,
amid loud cries of joy and thanksgiving
on the part of the crowd keeping festival.
6 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God,
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[f]
7 My soul is disheartened within me;
therefore, I remember you
from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.[g]
8 The depths of the sea resound
in the roar of your waterfalls;[h]
all your waves and your breakers
sweep over me.
9 During the day the Lord grants his kindness,
and at night his praise is with me,
a prayer to the living God.[i]
10 I say to God, my Rock,[j]
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in mourning
while my enemy oppresses me?”
11 It crushes my bones
when my foes taunt me,
jeering at me all day long,
“Where is your God?”[k]
12 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[l]
Psalm 43[m]
Prayer To Worship God Anew
1 Grant me your justice, O God,
and plead my cause against a godless nation;
rescue me from those who are deceitful and unjust.
2 You, O God, are my refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in mourning,
while my enemy oppresses me?
3 Send forth your light and your truth;[n]
they will serve as my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place of your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and delight,
and I will praise you[o] with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[p]
Chapter 22
David Flees. 1 David left and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all of his father’s household heard, they went down to him there. 2 Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. He had about four hundred men with him.[a]
3 From there, David traveled to Mizpah in Moab. He said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you until I know what God will do with me.” 4 He brought them to the king of Moab, and they lived with him the whole time that David was in the stronghold.
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold.[b] Leave, and go to the land of Judah.” David left and went into the forest of Hareth.
Doeg Betrays Ahimelech. 6 Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. Saul, holding a spear in his hand, was sitting in Gibeah under the tree of Ramah, and all of his servants were standing around him. 7 Saul said to his servants who were standing around him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites. Will each of you give fields and vineyards to the son of Jesse? Will you all be officers of thousands and officers of hundreds? 8 Is that why all of you have conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me today.”
9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s servants, said, “I saw the son of Jesse go to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. 10 Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for him, and he gave him provisions, and he gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11 Saul Slays the Priests. The king summoned Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, the priest, as well as all of his father’s family in Nob who were also priests. All of them came to the king. 12 He said, “Listen now, O son of Ahitub.” He answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired with the son of Jesse against me? You gave him bread and a sword. You inquired of God whether he should lie in wait for me today.”
14 Ahimelech answered the king, “Who among all of your servants is as faithful as David, the king’s son-in-law, who goes about at your bidding, and who is respected in your house? 15 Was that the first time I inquired of the Lord for him? No! Let the king not accuse your servant or any of my father’s family, for your servant knows absolutely nothing about any of this.”
16 The king said, “You must die, Ahimelech, you and all of your father’s family.” 17 The king said to the guards who were standing around him, “Turn around and kill the priests of the Lord, for they are in league with David. They knew about his fleeing, and they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not stretch out their hands to fall upon the priests of the Lord.
18 So the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and fall upon the priests.” Doeg the Edomite turned around, and he fell upon the priests, killing eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod that day. 19 He put Nob, the city of the priests, to the sword: men, women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.
20 Abiathar Escapes. Now one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, escaped. He was named Abiathar, and he fled to David. 21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. 22 David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when I saw that Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of everyone in your father’s family. 23 Stay with me, and do not be afraid. The same man who seeks my life seeks your life as well, but you will be safe with me.”[c]
26 “Brethren, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who fear God, we are the ones to whom this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize Jesus or to understand the words of the Prophets that are read on every Sabbath, and they fulfilled those prophecies by condemning him. 28 Even though they found no basis to justify his execution, they asked Pilate to have him killed.
29 “When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. 30 However, God raised him from the dead, 31 and over a period of many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses before the people.
32 “We have come here to proclaim to you the good news—what God promised to our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus up as it is written in the second psalm:
‘You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.’
34 “God raised him from the dead, never to be subjected to corruption. He declares it in these words, ‘To you I will give the blessings promised to David.’ 35 And he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to suffer corruption.’ 36 When David had served God’s purposes during his lifetime, he fell asleep, and he was buried with his ancestors, and he saw corruption. 37 However, the one whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 “You must understand, brethren, that it is through him that forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you. 39 All those who believe are justified from all the things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses. 40 Beware, then, lest what the Prophets have foretold will happen to you:
41 ‘Look carefully, you scoffers!
Be amazed and perish!
For I am doing a work in your days
that you will never believe
even if someone tells you.’ ”
42 As they were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to speak further on these subjects on the following Sabbath. 43 After the congregation had dispersed, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Contrasting Reactions to the Person of Jesus[a]
20 The Concern of Jesus’ Relatives.[b] Jesus then returned home,[c] and once again such a great crowd collected around them that they did not even find it possible to eat. 21 When his relatives heard about this, they went out to take charge of him, saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
22 The Blasphemy of the Scribes.[d] Meanwhile, the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” 23 Summoning them to him, he spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot survive. 25 And if a household is divided against itself, that household will not be able to survive. 26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot survive; he is doomed.
27 “But no one can break into a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can ransack the house.
28 “Amen, I say to you, all sins that people commit and whatever blasphemies they utter will be forgiven. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they had claimed he was possessed by an unclean spirit.
31 The True Family of Jesus.[e] Then his mother and his brethren arrived, and, standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they said, “Behold, your mother and your brethren are outside asking for you.” 33 He replied, “Who are my mother and my brethren?” 34 Then, looking around at those who were near him, he said: “Behold, my mother and my brethren. 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
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