Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50[a]
The Acceptable Sacrifice
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(A)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.(B)
3 Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
it rages strongly around him.(C)
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth to judge his people:
5 “Gather my loyal ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is the judge.(D)
Selah
II
7 “Listen, my people, I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I will not take a bullock from your house,
or he-goats from your folds.(E)
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
11 I know every bird in the heights;
whatever moves in the wild is mine.
12 Were I hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine is the world and all that fills it.(F)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of he-goats?
14 Offer praise as your sacrifice to God;(G)
fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then call on me on the day of distress;(H)
I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.”
III
16 But to the wicked God says:
“Why do you recite my commandments
and profess my covenant with your mouth?
17 You hate discipline;
you cast my words behind you!
18 If you see a thief, you run with him;
with adulterers you throw in your lot.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil;
you yoke your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.
21 When you do these things should I be silent?
Do you think that I am like you?
I accuse you, I lay out the matter before your eyes.
IV
22 “Now understand this, you who forget God,
lest I start ripping apart and there be no rescuer.
23 Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me;
I will let him whose way is steadfast
look upon the salvation of God.”(I)
Psalm 59[a]
Complaint Against Bloodthirsty Enemies
1 For the director. Do not destroy.[b] A miktam of David, when Saul sent people to watch his house and kill him.(A)
I
2 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;
lift me out of reach of my foes.
3 Deliver me from evildoers;
from the bloodthirsty save me.
4 They have set an ambush for my life;
the powerful conspire against me.
For no offense or misdeed of mine, Lord,
5 for no fault they hurry to take up arms.
Come near and see my plight!
6 You, Lord God of hosts, are the God of Israel!
Awake! Punish all the nations.
Have no mercy on these worthless traitors.
Selah
7 Each evening they return,
growling like dogs, prowling the city.(B)
8 Their mouths pour out insult;
sharp words are on their lips.
They say: “Who is there to hear?”[c]
9 But you, Lord, laugh at them;
you deride all the nations.(C)
10 My strength, for you I watch;
you, God, are my fortress,
11 my loving God.
II
May God go before me,
and show me my fallen foes.
12 Slay them, God,
lest they deceive my people.
Shake them by your power;
Lord, our shield, bring them down.
13 For the sinful words of their mouths and lips
let them be caught in their pride.
For the lies they have told under oath(D)
14 destroy them in anger,
destroy till they are no more.
Then people will know God rules over Jacob,
yes, even to the ends of the earth.(E)
Selah
15 Each evening they return,
growling like dogs, prowling the city.
16 They roam about as scavengers;
if they are not filled, they howl.
III
17 But I shall sing of your strength,
extol your mercy at dawn,
For you are my fortress,
my refuge in time of trouble.
18 My strength, your praise I will sing;
you, God, are my fortress, my loving God.
Psalm 60[d]
Lament After Defeat in Battle
1 For the leader; according to “The Lily of.…” A miktam of David (for teaching), 2 when he fought against Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah; and Joab, coming back, killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(F)
I
3 O God, you rejected us, broke our defenses;
you were angry but now revive us.
4 You rocked the earth, split it open;(G)
repair the cracks for it totters.
5 You made your people go through hardship,
made us stagger from the wine you gave us.(H)
6 Raise up a banner for those who revere you,
a refuge for them out of bow shot.
Selah
7 [e]Help with your right hand and answer us
that your loved ones may escape.
II
8 [f]In the sanctuary God promised:
“I will exult, will apportion Shechem;
the valley of Succoth I will measure out.
9 Gilead is mine, mine is Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet for my head,
Judah, my own scepter.[g]
10 [h]Moab is my washbowl;
upon Edom I cast my sandal.(I)
I will triumph over Philistia.”
III
Psalm 19[a]
God’s Glory in the Heavens and in the Law
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.(A)
3 Day unto day pours forth speech;
night unto night whispers knowledge.
4 [b]There is no speech, no words;
their voice is not heard;
5 A report goes forth through all the earth,
their messages, to the ends of the world.
He has pitched in them a tent for the sun;[c]
6 it comes forth like a bridegroom from his canopy,
and like a hero joyfully runs its course.
7 From one end of the heavens it comes forth;
its course runs through to the other;
nothing escapes its heat.
II
8 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The decree of the Lord is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.(B)
9 The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eye.
10 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The statutes of the Lord are true,
all of them just;
11 More desirable than gold,
than a hoard of purest gold,
Sweeter also than honey
or drippings from the comb.(C)
12 By them your servant is warned;[d]
obeying them brings much reward.
III
13 Who can detect trespasses?
Cleanse me from my inadvertent sins.
14 Also from arrogant ones restrain your servant;
let them never control me.
Then shall I be blameless,
innocent of grave sin.
15 Let the words of my mouth be acceptable,
the thoughts of my heart before you,
Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 46[a]
God, the Protector of Zion
1 For the leader. A song of the Korahites. According to alamoth.[b]
I
2 God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.(A)
3 [c]Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken
and mountains quake to the depths of the sea,
4 Though its waters rage and foam
and mountains totter at its surging.(B)
Selah
II
5 [d]Streams of the river gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.(C)
6 God is in its midst; it shall not be shaken;
God will help it at break of day.(D)
7 Though nations rage and kingdoms totter,
he utters his voice and the earth melts.(E)
8 [e]The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Selah
III
9 Come and see the works of the Lord,
who has done fearsome deeds on earth;(F)
10 Who stops wars to the ends of the earth,
breaks the bow, splinters the spear,
and burns the shields with fire;(G)
11 (H)“Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.”
12 The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Selah
Chapter 39
Joseph’s Temptation. 1 When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, an Egyptian, Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 2 (A)The Lord was with Joseph and he enjoyed great success and was assigned to the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and brought him success in whatever he did, 4 he favored Joseph and made him his personal attendant; he put him in charge of his household and entrusted to him all his possessions.(B) 5 From the moment that he put him in charge of his household and all his possessions, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the Lord’s blessing was on everything he owned, both inside the house and out. 6 Having left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge, he gave no thought, with Joseph there, to anything but the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After a time, his master’s wife looked at him with longing and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, as long as I am here, my master does not give a thought to anything in the house, but has entrusted to me all he owns. 9 He has no more authority in this house than I do. He has withheld from me nothing but you, since you are his wife. How, then, could I do this great wrong and sin against God?” 10 Although she spoke to him day after day, he would not agree to lie with her, or even be near her.(C)
11 One such day, when Joseph came into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were then in the house, 12 she laid hold of him by his cloak, saying, “Lie with me!” But leaving the cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand as he escaped outside, 14 she cried out to her household servants and told them, “Look! My husband has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us! He came in here to lie with me, but I cried out loudly. 15 When he heard me scream, he left his cloak beside me and escaped and ran outside.”
16 She kept the cloak with her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave whom you brought us came to me to amuse himself at my expense. 18 But when I screamed, he left his cloak beside me and escaped outside.” 19 When the master heard his wife’s story in which she reported, “Thus and so your servant did to me,” he became enraged. 20 Joseph’s master seized him and put him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were confined.(D) And there he sat, in jail.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him kindness by making the chief jailer well-disposed toward him.(E) 22 The chief jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners in the jail. Everything that had to be done there, he was the one to do it. 23 The chief jailer did not have to look after anything that was in Joseph’s charge, since the Lord was with him and was bringing success to whatever he was doing.
14 Now the natural person[a] does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually. 15 The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgment[b] by anyone.
16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?” But we have the mind of Christ.(A)
Chapter 3
1 [c]Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people,[d] as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it. Indeed, you are still not able, even now,(B) 3 for you are still of the flesh. While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,[e] are you not of the flesh and behaving in an ordinary human way?(C) 4 Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?(D)
The Role of God’s Ministers.[f] 5 What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers[g] through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.(E) 7 Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. 9 For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.(F)
10 [h]According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, 11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day[i] will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.(G) 14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,[j] but only as through fire.
Chapter 2
The Healing of a Paralytic. 1 [a]When Jesus returned to Capernaum(A) after some days, it became known that he was at home.[b] 2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 [c]When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 [d]Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does this man speak that way?[e] He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?”(B) 8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? 10 [f]But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— 11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
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