Book of Common Prayer
A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
31 (A)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never (B)be [a]put to shame;
(C)In Your righteousness rescue me.
2 (D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a (E)rock of [b]strength for me,
A [c]stronghold to save me.
3 For You are my rock and (F)my fortress;
For the (G)sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
4 You will (H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my (I)strength.
5 (J)Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have (K)redeemed me, Lord, (L)God of [d]truth.
6 I hate those who (M)devote themselves to worthless [e]idols,
But I (N)trust in the Lord.
7 I will (O)rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have (P)seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
8 And You have not (Q)handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Be gracious to me, Lord, for (R)I am in distress;
My (S)eye is wasted away from grief, (T)my soul and my body too.
10 For my life is spent with (U)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My (V)strength has failed because of my guilt,
And (W)my [f]body has wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a (X)disgrace,
Especially to my (Y)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am (Z)forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the [g](AA)slander of many,
(AB)Terror is on every side;
While they (AC)took counsel together against me,
They (AD)schemed to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “(AE)You are my God.”
15 My (AF)times are in Your hand;
(AG)Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your (AH)face shine upon Your servant;
(AI)Save me in Your faithfulness.
17 Let me not be (AJ)put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the (AK)wicked be put to shame, let them (AL)be silent in [h]Sheol.
18 Let the (AM)lying lips be speechless,
Which (AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.
19 How great is Your (AO)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who (AP)take refuge in You,
(AQ)Before the sons of mankind!
20 You hide them in the (AR)secret place of Your presence from the (AS)conspiracies of mankind;
You keep them secretly in a [i]shelter from the (AT)strife of tongues.
21 (AU)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His (AV)marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged (AW)city.
22 As for me, (AX)I said in my alarm,
“I am (AY)cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You (AZ)heard the sound of my pleadings
When I called to You for help.
Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.
A Psalm of David.
35 Contend, Lord, with those who (A)contend with me;
Fight against those who (B)fight against me.
2 Take hold of [a](C)buckler and shield
And rise up as (D)my help.
3 Draw also the spear and [b]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am (E)your salvation.”
4 Let those be (F)ashamed and dishonored who seek my [c]life;
Let those be (G)turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
5 Let them be (H)like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and (I)slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 For (J)they (K)hid their net for me without cause;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let (L)destruction come upon him when he is unaware,
And (M)let the net which he hid catch him;
Let him fall into that very (N)destruction.
9 So my soul shall (O)rejoice in the Lord;
It shall (P)rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my (Q)bones will say, “Lord, (R)who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from one (S)who is too strong for him,
And (T)the afflicted and the poor from one who robs him?”
11 (U)Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 They (V)repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, (W)when they were sick, my (X)clothing was sackcloth;
I (Y)humbled my soul with fasting,
But my (Z)prayer kept returning to [d]me.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I (AA)bowed down [e]in mourning, like one who mourns for a mother.
15 But (AB)at my [f]stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The [g](AC)afflicted people whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They [h](AD)slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast,
They (AE)gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, (AF)how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul (AG)from their ravages,
My (AH)only life from the lions.
18 I will (AI)give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will (AJ)praise You among a mighty people.
19 (AK)Do not let those who are wrongfully (AL)my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those (AM)who hate me for no reason [i](AN)wink maliciously.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise (AO)deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They (AP)opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “(AQ)Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it!”
22 (AR)You have seen it, Lord, (AS)do not keep silent;
Lord, (AT)do not be far from me.
23 (AU)Stir Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 (AV)Judge me, Lord my God, according to Your righteousness,
And (AW)do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say in their heart, “(AX)Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have (AY)swallowed him up!”
26 May (AZ)those be ashamed and altogether humiliated who rejoice at my distress;
May those who (BA)exalt themselves over me be (BB)clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and (A)Haran fathered (B)Lot. 28 Haran died [a]during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in (C)Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and (D)Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was (E)Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was (F)Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah [b]and Iscah. 30 (G)Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.
31 Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed [c]together from (H)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and [d]settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
Abram Journeys to Egypt
12 Now (I)the Lord said to Abram,
“Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And (J)I will make you into a great nation,
And (K)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall (L)be a blessing;
3 And (M)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [e]curses you I will [f]curse.
(N)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and (O)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their (P)possessions which they had accumulated, and (Q)the [g]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they [h]set out for the land of Canaan; (R)so they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (S)Shechem, to the [i]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 And the Lord (T)appeared to Abram and said, “(U)To your [j]descendants I will give this land.” So he built (V)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with (W)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and (X)called upon the name of the Lord.
Melchizedek’s Priesthood like Christ’s
7 For this (A)Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the (B)Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 3 Without father, without mother, (C)without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like (D)the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.
4 Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the (E)patriarch, (F)gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 And those indeed of (G)the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment [a]in the Law to collect [b]a tenth from the people, that is, from their countrymen, although they [c]are descended from Abraham. 6 But the one (H)whose genealogy is not traced from them (I)collected [d]a tenth from Abraham and [e](J)blessed the one who (K)had the promises. 7 But without any dispute the lesser person is blessed by the greater. 8 In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, (L)of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. 9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, has paid tithes, 10 for he was still in the loins of his [f]forefather when Melchizedek met him.
11 (M)So if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it (N)the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise (O)according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. 13 For (P)the one about whom (Q)these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord [g]was (R)descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses said nothing concerning priests. 15 And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest not on the basis of a law of [h](S)physical requirement, but according to the power of (T)an indestructible life. 17 For it is attested of Him,
“(U)You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this which you have said is true.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[a]Sir, I perceive that You are (A)a prophet. 20 (B)Our fathers worshiped on (C)this mountain, and yet you Jews say that (D)in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that [b](E)a time is coming when you will worship the Father (F)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 (G)You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because (H)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But [c](I)a time is coming, and [d]even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (J)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be [e]His worshipers. 24 God is [f]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (K)in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that (L)Messiah is coming ((M)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “(N)I am He, the One speaking to you.”
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