Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 55

To the Chief Musician; with stringed instruments. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David.

¹ Listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplication!

² Attend to me and answer me; I am restless and distraught in my complaint and must moan

³ [And I am distracted] at the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression and threats of the wicked; for they would cast trouble upon me, and in wrath they persecute me.

⁴ My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵ Fear and trembling have come upon me; horror and fright have overwhelmed me.

⁶ And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷ Yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest.

⁹ Destroy [their schemes], O Lord, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰ Day and night they go about on its walls; iniquity and mischief are in its midst.

¹¹ Violence and ruin are within it; fraud and guile do not depart from its streets and marketplaces.

¹² For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me—then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me—then I might hide from him.

¹³ But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend.

¹⁴ We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company.

¹⁵ Let desolations and death come suddenly upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol (the place of the dead), for evils are in their habitations, in their hearts, and their inmost part.

¹⁶ As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice.

¹⁸ He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me [so that none came near me], for they were many who strove with me.

¹⁹ God will hear and humble them, even He Who abides of old—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—because in them there has been no change [of heart], and they do not fear, revere, and worship God.

²⁰ [My companion] has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has broken and profaned his agreement [of friendship and loyalty].

²¹ The words of his mouth were smoother than cream or butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

²² Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).^(A)

²³ But You, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in, lean on, and confidently rely on You.

Psalm 138

[A Psalm] of David.

¹ I will confess and praise You [O God] with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praises to You.

² I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!

³ In the day when I called, You answered me; and You strengthened me with strength (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self.

⁴ All the kings of the land shall give You credit and praise You, O Lord, for they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].

⁵ Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord and joyfully celebrate His mighty acts, for great is the glory of the Lord.

⁶ For though the Lord is high, yet has He respect to the lowly [bringing them into fellowship with Him]; but the proud and haughty He knows and recognizes [only] at a distance.^(A)

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.^(B)

⁸ The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever—forsake not the works of Your own hands.^(C)

Psalm 139

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.

² You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off.^(D)

³ You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue [still unuttered], but, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.^(E)

⁵ You have beset me and shut me in—behind and before, and You have laid Your hand upon me.

⁶ Your [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it.

⁷ Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence?

⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold, You are there.^(F)

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰ Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me and the night shall be [the only] light about me,

¹² Even the darkness hides nothing from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.^(G)

¹³ For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷ How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!^(H)

¹⁸ If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.

¹⁹ If You would [only] slay the wicked, O God, and the men of blood depart from me—^(I)

²⁰ Who speak against You wickedly, Your enemies who take Your name in vain!^(J)

²¹ Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And am I not grieved and do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

²² I hate them with perfect hatred; they have become my enemies.

²³ Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

41 After two full years, Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by the river [Nile].

² And behold, there came up out of the river [Nile] seven well-favored cows, sleek and handsome and fat; and they grazed in the reed grass [in a marshy pasture].

³ And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river [Nile], ill favored and gaunt and ugly, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the river [Nile].

⁴ And the ill-favored, gaunt, and ugly cows ate up the seven well-favored and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ But he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came out on one stalk, plump and good.

⁶ And behold, after them seven ears [of grain] sprouted, thin and blighted by the east wind.

⁷ And the seven thin ears [of grain] devoured the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

⁸ So when morning came his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians and all the wise men of Egypt. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but not one could interpret them to [him].

⁹ Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, I remember my faults today.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker,

¹¹ We dreamed a dream in the same night, he and I; we dreamed each of us according to [the significance of] the interpretation of his dream.

¹² And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard and chief executioner; and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them to us, to each man according to the significance of his dream.

¹³ And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office [as chief butler], and the baker was hanged.

4 So then, let us [apostles] be looked upon as ministering servants of Christ and stewards (trustees) of the mysteries (the secret purposes) of God.

² Moreover, it is [essentially] required of stewards that a man should be found faithful [proving himself worthy of trust].

³ But [as for me personally] it matters very little to me that I should be put on trial by you [on this point], and that you or any other human tribunal should investigate and question and cross-question me. I do not even put myself on trial and judge myself.

⁴ I am not conscious of anything against myself, and I feel blameless; but I am not vindicated and acquitted before God on that account. It is the Lord [Himself] Who examines and judges me.

⁵ So do not make any hasty or premature judgments before the time when the Lord comes [again], for He will both bring to light the secret things that are [now hidden] in darkness and disclose and expose the [secret] aims (motives and purposes) of hearts. Then every man will receive his [due] commendation from God.

⁶ Now I have applied all this [about parties and factions] to myself and Apollos for your sakes, brethren, so that from what I have said of us [as illustrations], you may learn [to think of men in accordance with Scripture and] not to go beyond that which is written, that none of you may be puffed up and inflated with pride and boast in favor of one [minister and teacher] against another.

⁷ For who separates you from the others [as a faction leader]? [Who makes you superior and sets you apart from another, giving you the preeminence?] What have you that was not given to you? If then you received it [from someone], why do you boast as if you had not received [but had gained it by your own efforts]?

²³ One Sabbath He was going along beside the fields of standing grain, and as they made their way, His disciples began to ^[a]pick off the grains.^(A)

²⁴ And the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing what is not permitted or lawful on the Sabbath?

²⁵ And He said to them, Have you never [even] read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were accompanying him?—

²⁶ How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was the high priest, and ate the sacred loaves set forth [before God], which it is not permitted or lawful for any but the priests to eat, and [how he] also gave [them] to those who were with him?^(B)

²⁷ And Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made on account and for the sake of man, not man for the Sabbath;^(C)

²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

3 Again Jesus went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had one withered hand [^[b]as the result of accident or disease].

² And [the Pharisees] kept watching Jesus [closely] to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might get a charge to bring against Him [^[c]formally].

³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand, Get up [and stand here] in the midst.

⁴ And He said to them, Is it lawful and right on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to take it? But they kept silence.

⁵ And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored.

⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and immediately held a consultation with the Herodians against Him, how they might [devise some means to] put Him to death.