Book of Common Prayer
Yahweh Is My Rock and My Fortress
For the choir director. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, [a]who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
18 He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, (A)my strength.”
2 Yahweh is (B)my [b]rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)deliverer,
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 Yahweh, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)cords of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of vileness [c]terrified me.
5 The (L)cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon Yahweh,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)out of 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 [d]out of His nostrils,
And (R)fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He (S)bowed the heavens and came down
With thick (T)darkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a (U)cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the (V)wings of the wind.
11 He made (W)darkness His hiding place, (X)His [e]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the (Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and (Z)coals of fire.
13 Yahweh also (AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High gave forth His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He (AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and [f]threw them into confusion.
15 Then the (AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were [g]laid bare
At Your (AD)rebuke, O Yahweh,
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)delivered 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)Yahweh was my support.
19 He brought me forth also into a (AL)broad place;
He rescued me, because (AM)He delighted in me.
20 Yahweh has (AN)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the (AO)cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
21 For I have (AP)kept the ways of Yahweh,
And have (AQ)not wickedly departed from 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 iniquity.
24 Therefore Yahweh has (AV)recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes.
25 With (AW)the [i]kind You show Yourself kind;
With the blameless (AX)You show 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 (BB)eyes which are lifted up, You bring down.
28 For You (BC)light my lamp;
Yahweh my God (BD)illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can [k](BE)run upon a troop;
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 Yahweh is [m]tried;
He is a (BI)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For (BJ)who is God, but Yahweh?
And who is a (BK)rock, except our God,
32 The God who (BL)girds me with strength
And [n]makes my way [o](BM)blameless?
33 He (BN)makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And (BO)sets me upon 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 [p]gentleness makes me great.
36 You (BU)enlarge my steps under me,
And my (BV)ankles have not given way.
37 I (BW)pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back (BX)until they were consumed.
38 I crushed them, so that they were (BY)not able to rise;
They fell (BZ)under my feet.
39 For You have (CA)girded me with strength for battle;
You have [q](CB)subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 [r]You have also made my enemies (CC)turn their backs to me,
And I [s](CD)destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was (CE)none to save,
Even to Yahweh, but (CF)He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine as the (CG)dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You have delivered 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 [t](CK)cower before me.
45 Foreigners (CL)fade away,
And (CM)come trembling out of their [u]fortresses.
46 Yahweh (CN)lives, and blessed be (CO)my rock;
And let (CP)the God of my salvation be lifted high,
47 The God who (CQ)executes vengeance for me,
And (CR)subdues peoples under me.
48 Who (CS)delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You (CT)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the (CU)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (CV)give thanks to You among the nations, O Yahweh,
And I will (CW)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [v](CX)salvation to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to (CY)His anointed,
To David and (CZ)his seed 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 Yahweh.
7 “And I also (C)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
And on (D)another city I would not send rain;
One portion would be rained on,
While the portion not rained on would dry up.
8 So two or three cities would wander around to another city to drink (E)water,
But would (F)not be satisfied;
Yet you have (G)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
9 “I (H)struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
And the (I)gnawing locust was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees;
Yet you have (J)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
10 “I sent a (K)pestilence among you after the manner of Egypt;
I (L)killed your choice men by the sword along with your (M)captured horses,
And I made the (N)stench of your camp rise up even in your nostrils;
Yet you have (O)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
11 “I overthrew you as (P)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a (Q)firebrand [a]delivered from a blaze;
Yet you have (R)not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to (S)meet your God, O Israel.”
13 For behold, He who (T)forms mountains and (U)creates the wind
And (V)declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who (W)makes dawn into gloom
And (X)treads on the high places of the earth,
(Y)Yahweh God of hosts 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 burning will be destroyed, 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.
Be on Your Guard
14 (G)Therefore, (H)beloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be (I)found by Him in peace, (J)spotless and blameless, 15 and consider 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 are some things 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 lest you, having been carried away by (T)the error of (U)unprincipled men, (V)fall from your own steadfastness, 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 Vine-Growers
33 “Listen to another parable. (A)There was a [a]landowner who (B)planted a (C)vineyard and put a [b]wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to [c]vine-growers and (D)went on a journey. 34 Now 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, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he (F)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing 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 us kill him and seize 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)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘(H)The stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the chief corner stone;
This came about from the [f]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 nation, producing the fruit of it. 44 And (I)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He *was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to seize Him, they (J)feared the crowds, because they were regarding Him to be a (K)prophet.
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