Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, [a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18 “I love You, Lord, (A)my strength.”
2 The Lord is (B)my rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)savior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)ropes of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of [b]destruction [c]terrified me.
5 The (L)ropes of [d]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)from His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the (P)earth shook and quaked;
And the (Q)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up [e]out of His nostrils,
And (R)fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
9 He also (S)bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick (T)darkness under His feet.
10 He rode on a (U)cherub and flew;
And He sped on the (V)wings of the wind.
11 He made (W)darkness His hiding place, (X)His [f]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
12 From the (Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and (Z)coals of fire.
13 The Lord also (AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He (AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and [g]routed them.
15 Then the (AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your (AD)rebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the (AE)breath of Your nostrils.
16 He (AF)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of (AG)many waters.
17 He (AH)saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were (AI)too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in (AJ)the day of my disaster,
But (AK)the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an (AL)open place;
He rescued me, because (AM)He delighted in me.
20 The Lord has (AN)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the (AO)cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have (AP)kept the ways of the Lord,
And have (AQ)not acted wickedly against my God.
22 For all (AR)His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His (AS)statutes from me.
23 I was also [h](AT)blameless with Him,
And I (AU)kept myself from my wrongdoing.
24 Therefore the Lord has (AV)repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25 With (AW)the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the [i]blameless (AX)You prove Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself (AY)pure,
And with the crooked (AZ)You show Yourself [j]astute.
27 For You (BA)save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate (BB)haughty eyes.
28 For You (BC)light my lamp;
The Lord my God (BD)illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can (BE)run at a [k]troop of warriors;
And by my God I can (BF)leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is [l](BG)blameless;
The (BH)word of the Lord is refined;
He is a (BI)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For (BJ)who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a (BK)rock, except our God,
32 The God who (BL)encircles me with strength,
And [m]makes my way [n](BM)blameless?
33 He (BN)makes my feet like deer’s feet,
And (BO)sets me up on my high places.
34 He (BP)trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can (BQ)bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me (BR)the shield of Your salvation,
And Your (BS)right hand upholds me;
And (BT)Your [o]gentleness makes me great.
36 You (BU)enlarge my steps under me,
And my [p](BV)feet have not slipped.
37 I (BW)pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back (BX)until they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were (BY)not able to rise;
They fell (BZ)under my feet.
39 For You have (CA)encircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me (CB)to bow down under me.
40 You have also made my enemies (CC)turn their backs to me,
And I [q](CD)destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was (CE)no one to save,
They cried to the Lord, but (CF)He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine like the (CG)dust before the wind;
I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.
43 You have rescued me from the (CH)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as (CI)head of the nations;
A (CJ)people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners (CK)pretend to obey me.
45 Foreigners (CL)lose heart,
And (CM)come trembling out of their [r]fortresses.
46 The Lord (CN)lives, and blessed be (CO)my rock;
And exalted be (CP)the God of my salvation,
47 The God who (CQ)executes vengeance for me,
And (CR)subdues peoples under me.
48 He (CS)rescues me from my enemies;
You indeed (CT)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a (CU)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (CV)give thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will (CW)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [s](CX)salvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to (CY)His anointed,
To David and (CZ)his [t]descendants forever.
6 “But I gave you also (A)cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have (B)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
7 “Furthermore, I (C)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
But on (D)another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
8 So the people of two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink (E)water,
But would (F)not be satisfied;
Yet you have (G)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
9 “I (H)struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
The (I)caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have (J)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
10 “I sent a (K)plague among you [a]as in Egypt;
I (L)killed your young men with the sword, along with your (M)captured horses,
And I made the (N)stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have (O)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew you, as (P)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a (Q)log snatched from a fire;
Yet you have (R)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore so I will do to you, Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to (S)meet your God, Israel.”
13 For behold, He who (T)forms mountains and (U)creates the wind,
And (V)declares to a person what are His thoughts,
He who (W)makes dawn into darkness
And (X)treads on the high places of the earth,
(Y)The Lord God of armies is His name.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 (A)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which (B)the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the (C)elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His (D)promise we are looking for (E)new heavens and a new earth, (F)in which righteousness dwells.
14 (G)Therefore, (H)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be (I)found (J)spotless and blameless by Him, at peace, 15 and regard the (K)patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also (L)our beloved brother Paul, (M)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of (N)these things, (O)in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and (P)unstable distort, as they do also (Q)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, (R)beloved, knowing this beforehand, (S)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by (T)the error of [a](U)unscrupulous people and (V)lose your own [b]firm commitment, 18 but grow in the grace and (W)knowledge of our (X)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Y)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Parable of the Landowner
33 “Listen to another parable. (A)There was a [a]landowner who (B)planted a (C)vineyard and put a [b]fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to [c]vine-growers and (D)went on a journey. 34 And when the [d]harvest time approached, he (E)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he (F)sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the [e]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and (G)lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”
42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘(H)A stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the [f]chief cornerstone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a [g]people producing its fruit. 44 And (I)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 And although they sought to arrest Him, they (J)feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a (K)prophet.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.