Book of Common Prayer
Assurance of God’s Eternal Protection
To the Chief Musician. On [a]a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.
61 Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For You have been a shelter for me,
(A)A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your [b]tabernacle forever;
(B)I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
6 You will prolong the king’s life,
His years as many generations.
7 He shall abide before God forever.
Oh, prepare mercy (C)and truth, which may [c]preserve him!
8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows.
A Calm Resolve to Wait for the Salvation of God
To the Chief Musician. To (D)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
62 Truly (E)my soul silently waits for God;
From Him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my [d]defense;
I shall not be greatly (F)moved.[e]
3 How long will you attack a man?
You shall be slain, all of you,
(G)Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
4 They only consult to cast him down from his high position;
They (H)delight in lies;
They bless with their mouth,
But they curse inwardly. Selah
5 My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my [f]expectation is from Him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be [g]moved.
7 (I)In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
(J)Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
The Glory of God in His Goodness to Israel
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68 Let (A)God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
2 (B)As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
(C)As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3 But (D)let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
(E)Extol[a] Him who rides on the [b]clouds,
(F)By His name [c]Yah,
And rejoice before Him.
5 (G)A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6 (H)God sets the solitary in families;
(I)He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But (J)the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7 O God, (K)when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 (L)You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.
10 Your congregation dwelt in it;
(M)You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.
11 The Lord gave the word;
Great was the [d]company of those who proclaimed it:
12 “Kings(N) of armies flee, they flee,
And she who remains at home divides the [e]spoil.
13 (O)Though you lie down among the [f]sheepfolds,
(P)You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And her feathers with yellow gold.”
14 (Q)When the Almighty scattered kings in it,
It was white as snow in Zalmon.
15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why do you [g]fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks?
(R)This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in;
Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
17 (S)The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
Even thousands of thousands;
The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
18 (T)You have ascended on high,
(U)You have led captivity captive;
(V)You have received gifts among men,
Even from (W)the rebellious,
(X)That the Lord God might dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation! Selah
20 Our God is the God of salvation;
And (Y)to God the Lord belong escapes from death.
21 But (Z)God will wound the head of His enemies,
(AA)The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring (AB)back from Bashan,
I will bring them back (AC)from the depths of the sea,
23 (AD)That [h]your foot may crush them in blood,
(AE)And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”
24 They have seen Your [i]procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
25 (AF)The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
26 Bless God in the congregations,
The Lord, from (AG)the fountain of Israel.
27 (AH)There is little Benjamin, their leader,
The princes of Judah and their [j]company,
The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 [k]Your God has (AI)commanded your strength;
Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,
(AJ)Kings will bring presents to You.
30 Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,
(AK)The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Till everyone (AL)submits himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31 (AM)Envoys will come out of Egypt;
(AN)Ethiopia will quickly (AO)stretch out her hands to God.
32 Sing to God, you (AP)kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 To Him (AQ)who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a (AR)mighty voice.
34 (AS)Ascribe strength to God;
His excellence is over Israel,
And His strength is in the clouds.
35 O God, (AT)You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God!
The Lord Condemns Ahab
17 (A)Then the word of the Lord came to (B)Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, (C)who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: (D)“In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
20 So Ahab said to Elijah, (E)“Have you found me, O my enemy?”
And he answered, “I have found you, because (F)you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: 21 ‘Behold, (G)I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your (H)posterity, and will cut off from Ahab (I)every male in Israel, both (J)bond and free. 22 I will make your house like the house of (K)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of (L)Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ 23 And (M)concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the [a]wall of Jezreel.’ 24 The dogs shall eat (N)whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”
25 But (O)there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, (P)because Jezebel his wife [b]stirred him up. 26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all (Q)that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and (R)put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.
28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he (S)has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. (T)In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
20 (A)Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the [a]disputer of this age? (B)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the (C)wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For (D)Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, (E)to the Jews a [b]stumbling block and to the [c]Greeks (F)foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (G)the power of God and (H)the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Glory Only in the Lord
26 For [d]you see your calling, brethren, (I)that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many [e]noble, are called. 27 But (J)God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the [f]base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and (K)righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, (L)“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry(A)
12 (B)Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
15 “The(C) land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 (D)The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
17 (E)From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, (F)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven [a]is at hand.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.