Book of Common Prayer
Lead Me to the Rock
For the choir director. On a stringed instrument. Of David.
61 (A)Hear my cry of lamentation, O God;
(B)Give heed to my prayer.
2 From the (C)end of the earth I call to You when my heart is (D)faint;
Lead me to (E)the rock that is higher than I.
3 For You have been a (F)refuge for me,
A (G)tower of strength before the enemy.
4 Let me (H)sojourn in Your tent forever;
Let me (I)take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. [a]Selah.
5 For You, O God, have heard my (J)vows;
You have given me the inheritance of those who (K)fear Your name.
6 You will (L)add days to the king’s [b]life;
His years will be from generation to generation.
7 He will sit enthroned (M)before God forever;
Appoint (N)lovingkindness and truth that they may guard him.
8 So I will (O)sing praise to Your name forever,
As I (P)pay my vows day by day.
God Is a Refuge for Us
For the choir director. According to [c]Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
62 (Q)Surely my soul waits in silence for God;
From Him (R)is my salvation.
2 Surely He is my (S)rock and my salvation,
My (T)stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
3 How long will you assail a man,
That you may murder him, all of you,
Like a (U)leaning wall, like a fence thrust down?
4 Surely they have counseled to thrust him down from his high position;
They (V)find pleasure in falsehood;
They (W)bless with [d]their mouth,
But inwardly they curse. [e]Selah.
5 Surely (X)wait in silence for God, O my soul,
For my hope is from Him.
6 Surely He is (Y)my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God my (Z)salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my (AA)refuge is in God.
8 (AB)Trust in Him at all times, O people;
(AC)Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Let God’s Enemies Be Scattered
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68 [a]Let (A)God arise, [b]let His enemies be scattered,
And [c]let those who hate Him flee before Him.
2 As (B)smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As (C)wax melts before the fire,
So let the (D)wicked perish before God.
3 But let the (E)righteous be glad; let them exult before God;
And let them rejoice with gladness.
4 Sing to God, (F)sing praises to His name;
[d](G)Lift up a song for Him who (H)rides through the deserts,
Whose (I)name is [e]Yah, and exult before Him.
5 A (J)father of the fatherless and a (K)judge [f]for the widows,
Is God in His (L)holy habitation.
6 God (M)causes the lonely to inhabit a home;
He (N)leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only (O)the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, when You (P)went forth before Your people,
When You (Q)marched through the wasteland, [g]Selah.
8 The (R)earth quaked;
The (S)heavens also dripped rain at the presence of God;
[h](T)Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You (U)caused abundant rain to sprinkle down, O God;
You established Your inheritance when it was [i]parched.
10 Your creatures inhabited it;
You (V)established it in Your goodness for the poor, O God.
11 The Lord gives the word;
The (W)women who proclaim the good news are a great host:
12 “(X)Kings of armies retreat, they retreat,
And she who remains at home will (Y)divide the spoil!”
13 If you men lie down (Z)among the [j]sheepfolds,
You all would be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And its pinions with glistening gold.
14 When the Almighty (AA)dispersed the kings [k]there,
It was snowing in (AB)Zalmon.
15 A [l](AC)mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks,
At the mountain which God has (AD)prized for His habitation?
Surely (AE)Yahweh will dwell there forever.
17 The (AF)chariots of God are [m]myriads, (AG)thousands upon thousands;
[n]The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.
18 You have (AH)ascended on high, You have (AI)led captive Your captives;
You have received gifts among men,
Even among the rebellious also, that Yah—God—may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily (AJ)bears our burden,
(AK)The God who is our salvation. Selah.
20 God is to us a (AL)God of [o]salvation;
And (AM)to Yahweh the Lord belong escapes [p]from death.
21 Surely God will (AN)crush the head of His enemies,
The hairy [q]skull of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.
22 The Lord [r]said, “(AO)I will bring them back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;
23 That [s](AP)your foot may crush them in blood,
The tongue of your (AQ)dogs may have its portion from your enemies.”
24 They have seen (AR)Your [t]procession, O God,
The [u]procession of my God, my King, [v](AS)into the sanctuary.
25 The (AT)singers went on, the musicians after them,
[w]In the midst of the (AU)maidens beating tambourines.
26 (AV)Bless God in the congregations,
Yahweh, the (AW)fountain of Israel.
27 There is (AX)Benjamin, the [x]youngest, [y]having dominion over them,
The princes of Judah in their throng,
The princes of (AY)Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 [z]Your God has (AZ)commanded your strength;
Show Yourself strong, O God, (BA)who has worked [aa]on our behalf.
29 [ab]Because of Your temple at Jerusalem
(BB)Kings will bring gifts to You.
30 Rebuke the (BC)beast [ac]in the reeds,
The herd of (BD)bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Trampling under foot the pieces of silver;
He has (BE)cast out the peoples who delight in war.
31 Envoys will come out of (BF)Egypt;
[ad](BG)Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
32 Sing to God, O (BH)kingdoms of the earth,
(BI)Sing praises to the Lord, Selah.
33 To Him who (BJ)rides upon the [ae](BK)highest heavens, which are from ancient times;
Behold, (BL)He gives forth His voice, a (BM)voice that is strong.
34 (BN)Ascribe strength to God;
His majesty is over Israel
And (BO)His strength is in the [af]skies.
35 [ag]O God, You are (BP)awesome from Your [ah]sanctuary.
The God of Israel Himself (BQ)gives strength and might to the people.
(BR)Blessed be God!
Yahweh Speaks Against Ahab
17 Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, (A)who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(B)Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(C)In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.”’”
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, “(D)Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he [a]answered, “I have found you, (E)because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh. 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and (F)will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every [b]male, both bond and free in Israel; 22 and (G)I will make your house (H)like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you (I)have made Israel sin. 23 Of Jezebel also has Yahweh spoken, saying, ‘(J)The dogs will eat Jezebel in the [c]district of Jezreel.’ 24 (K)The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of the sky will eat.”
Ahab Humbles Himself
25 (L)Surely there was no one who sold himself to do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 (M)And he acted very abominably in following idols, (N)according to all that the Amorites had done, whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
27 Now it happened when Ahab heard these words, that (O)he tore his clothes and put [d]on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about [e]despondently. 28 Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house (P)in his son’s days.”
20 (A)Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of (B)this age? Has not God (C)made foolish the wisdom of (D)the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, (E)the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, (F)God was well-pleased, through the (G)foolishness of the [a]message preached, to (H)save those who believe. 22 For indeed (I)Jews ask for [b]signs and Greeks search for wisdom, 23 but we preach [c](J)Christ crucified, (K)to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles (L)foolishness, 24 but to those who are (M)the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (N)the power of God and (O)the wisdom of God. 25 Because the (P)foolishness of God is wiser than men, and (Q)the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For [d]consider your (R)calling, brothers, that there were (S)not many wise according to [e]the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. 27 But (T)God has chosen the foolish things of (U)the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of (V)the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of (W)the world and the despised God has chosen, (X)the things that are not, so that He may (Y)abolish the things that are, 29 so that (Z)no flesh may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in (AA)Christ Jesus, who became to us (AB)wisdom from God, [f]and (AC)righteousness and (AD)sanctification, and (AE)redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “(AF)Let him who boasts, boast in the [g]Lord.”
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when Jesus heard that (A)John had been taken into custody, (B)He departed into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and (C)lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
15 “(D)The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
[a]By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the [b]Gentiles—
16 (E)The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”
17 (F)From that time Jesus began to [c]preach and say, “(G)Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
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