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.
29 Who has (A)woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who (B)linger long over wine,
Those who go to [a]taste (C)mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
When it [b]sparkles in the cup,
When it (D)goes down smoothly;
32 In the end it (E)bites like a snake
And stings like a (F)viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your [c]mind will (G)say perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the [d]middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a [e]mast.
35 “They (H)struck me, but I did not become [f]ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When will I awake?
I will (I)seek [g]another drink.”
Precepts and Warnings
Concerning Elders
17 (A)The elders who (B)lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who (C)work hard [a]at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “(D)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing,” and “(E)The laborer is worthy of his wages.” 19 Do not accept an accusation against an (F)elder except on the basis of (G)two or three witnesses. 20 Those who continue in sin, (H)rebuke in the presence of all, (I)so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. 21 (J)I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 22 (K)Do not lay hands upon anyone too quickly and [b]thereby share (L)responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself [c]free from sin.
23 Do not go on drinking only water, but (M)use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
24 The sins of some people are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins (N)follow after. 25 Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and (O)those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.
The Mustard Seed
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “(A)The kingdom of heaven is like (B)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that (C)the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
The Leaven
33 He spoke another parable to them: “(D)The kingdom of heaven is like [a]leaven, which a woman took and hid in (E)three [b]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them (F)without a parable. 35 This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be [c]fulfilled:
“(G)I will open My mouth in parables;
I will proclaim things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
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