Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
For the music director. Of David. To bring to remembrance.[a]
70 O God, make haste to deliver me.
O Yahweh, make haste to help me.
2 Let them be ashamed and abashed
who seek my life.
Let them be repulsed and humiliated
who desire my harm.
3 let them turn back because of their shame,
those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
4 Let them rejoice and be glad in you,
all those who seek you.
Let them say continually, “God is great!”
those who love your salvation.
5 But I am poor and needy;
O God hasten to me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
O Yahweh, do not delay.
A Prayer to God the Rock of Refuge
71 In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be for me a rock of refuge to resort to always;
you have ordained[b] to save me,
because you are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp[c] of the evildoer and the oppressor,
5 because you are my hope,
O Lord Yahweh, my confidence from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from birth.[d]
It was you who took[e] me from the womb of my mother.
My praise is of you continually.
7 I have become a wonder to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
with your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me away in the time of old age;
when my strength fails do not abandon me.
10 For my enemies talk concerning me,
and those who watch for my life conspire together,
11 saying, “His God has abandoned him.
Pursue and seize him, because there is no deliverer.”
12 O God, do not be far from me.
My God, hurry to help me.
13 Let them be ashamed; let them perish
who are my adversaries.[f]
Let them wrap themselves with scorn and disgrace
who seek my harm.
14 But as for me, I will hope continually
and increase your praise.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
your salvation all day long,[g]
though I do not know the full sum of them.
16 I will come in to tell the mighty deeds of Lord Yahweh.
I will make known[h] your righteousness, yours only.
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and up to now I have proclaimed your wonderful deeds.
18 And even when I am old and gray,
O God, do not abandon me
until I proclaim your strength[i] to this generation,
your power to every one that comes after.
19 And your righteousness, O God, is to the height of heaven.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
20 You who have caused me[j] to see many troubles and evils,
you will again revive me.[k]
And from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my greatness,
and you will comfort me all around.[l]
22 On my part, I will praise you with a stringed instrument,
and your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you with a lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will sing for joy when I sing praises to you,
and my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue also
will speak of your righteousness all the day,
because they have been put to shame, because they have been humiliated
who seek my harm.
A Lament in Time of National Defeat
A maskil of Asaph.[a]
74 Why, O God, have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smoke
against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation that you bought long ago,
when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance.
Remember Mount Zion[b] where you have dwelt.
3 Lift your steps to the perpetual ruins,
to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
they have set up their signs for signs.
5 They are[c] known to be like those who wield[d]
axes in a thicket of trees.
6 And now[e] its[f] carved works altogether
they have smashed with axe and hammer.
7 They have set fire to your sanctuary.
They have defiled to the ground,
the dwelling place for your name.
8 They have said in their heart,
“We will completely[g] oppress them.”
They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs,
and there is no longer a prophet.
No one with us knows how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary taunt?
Will the enemy treat your name with contempt forever?
11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?
Take it from your bosom;[h] destroy them!
12 But God has been my king from long ago,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You split open the sea by your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food to the desert dwelling creatures.
15 You split open spring and wadi.[i]
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, yours is the night also.
You established light and the sun.
17 You defined[j] all the boundaries of the earth;
Summer and winter—you formed them.
18 O Yahweh, remember this: the enemy taunts,
and foolish people treat your name with contempt.
19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;
do not ever forget the life of your afflicted ones.
20 Have regard for the covenant,
because the dark places of the land are full of
the haunts of violence.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn back humiliated;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
remember the reproaching of you by the foolish all day long.[k]
23 Do not forget the sound of your adversaries,
the roar of those rising up against you ascending continually.
4 Now at that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging[a] Israel. 5 And she used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites[b] went up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? ‘Go, march to[c] Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants[d] of Naphtali and Zebulun. 7 I will draw out[e] Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and troops, to the wadi[f] of Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’” 8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.” 9 She said, “Surely I will go with you; however, there will be no glory for you in the path you are taking,[g] for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” And Deborah stood up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and they went up behind him,[h] ten thousand men, and Deborah went up with him.
11 And Heber the Kenite was separated from the other Kenites,[i] that is, from the descendants[j] of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And he was encamped[k] at Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 When they[l] reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned all his chariots—all nine hundred chariots[m] of iron—and the entire army that was with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the wadi[n] of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! This is the day that Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Has Yahweh not gone out before you?” So Barak went out from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion[o] before the edge of Barak’s sword;[p] and Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots[q] and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all of Sisera’s army fell to the edge of the sword;[r] no one was left.
17 Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera, and she said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me and do not be afraid.” So he turned aside into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.[s] 19 And he said to her, “Please, give me a drink of water, because I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin vessel of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ You must answer, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, took in her hand a tent peg and a hammer, and she went softly[t] to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; he was fast asleep since he was exhausted, and he died. 22 And behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him, and she said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he came with her and saw that Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple. 23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites.[u]
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (and it was a crowd of persons of about one hundred twenty at the same place) and[a] said, 16 “Men and brothers, it was necessary that the scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit proclaimed beforehand through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, 17 because he was counted among us and received a share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field for the wages of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines spilled out. 19 And it became known to all who live in Jerusalem, so that that field was called in their own language[b] “Akeldama,” that is, “Field of Blood.”) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his residence become deserted,
and let there be no one to live in it,’[c]
and,
‘Let another person take his position.’[d]
21 Therefore it is necessary for one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us—one of these men must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.” 23 And they proposed two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was called Justus) and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and[e] said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show clearly which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to depart to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to serve[f] with the eleven apostles.
55 And there were many women there, observing from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Jesus Is Buried
57 Now when it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who also was a disciple of Jesus himself. 58 This man approached Pilate and[a] asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it[b] to be given to him.[c] 59 And Joseph took the body and[d] wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb and[e] went away. 61 Now Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
The Tomb Is Sealed and Guarded
62 Now on the next day, which is after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember that while[f] that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come and[g] steal him and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it[h] as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went with the guard of soldiers and[i] made the tomb secure by[j] sealing the stone.
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