Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Guidance and Protection
For the music director; with the flutes. A psalm of David.[a]
5 Hear my words, O Yahweh.
Give heed to my sighing.[b]
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading,[c] my king and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice.
In the morning I will set forth[d] my case to you and I will watch.[e]
4 For you are not a God who desires[f] wickedness.
Evil cannot dwell with you.
5 The boastful do not stand before[g] your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy speakers of lies.[h]
A man of bloodshed[i] and deceit Yahweh abhors.
7 But as for me,[j] through the abundance of your steadfast love[k]
I will enter your house.[l]
I will bow down[m] toward your holy temple[n] in awe of you.
8 O Yahweh, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make straight before me your way.
9 For there is not anything reliable in his mouth;
their inner part is destruction.[o]
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.[p]
10 Treat them as guilty, O God;
let them fall because of their plans.
Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take shelter in you rejoice.
Let them ever[q] sing for joy,
because[r] you spread protection over them;
And let those[s] who love your name exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous.
O Yahweh, like a[t] shield you surround him with good favor.
An Appeal for Forgiveness and Deliverance
For the music director; with stringed instruments, on the Sheminith.[u]
A psalm of David.[v]
6 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger,
and do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble.
Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.
3 My soul is also very terrified.
But you, O Yahweh, how long?
4 Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life.[w]
Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.[x]
5 For there is no remembrance of you in death.
In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
6 I am weary with my groaning;
I flood[y] my bed every night.
With my tears I drench[z] my couch.
7 My eye wastes away because of vexation;
it grows old because of all my oppressors.
8 Depart from me, all workers of evil,
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my plea;
Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified.
They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.
A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked
10 Why, O Yahweh, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide[a] during times of distress?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecutes[b] the poor.
Let them be caught in the schemes that they devised,
3 for the wicked boasts about the desire of his heart,[c]
and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.
4 With bald-faced pride[d] the wicked will not seek God.
There is no God in any of his thoughts.
5 His ways[e] endure at all times.[f]
Your judgments are aloof from him.
As for all his enemies, he scoffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved
throughout all generations,[g] during which I will have no trouble.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing,
with deceits and oppression;
under his tongue are trouble and evil.
8 He sits in ambush in villages;
in the hiding places he kills the innocent.
His eyes lurk[h] for the helpless.
9 He lies in ambush secretly,[i] like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to seize the poor;
he seizes the poor by catching him in his net.
10 He is crushed;[j] he is bowed down;[k]
so[l] the helpless host[m] falls by his might.[n]
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He has hidden his face.
He never sees.”
12 Rise up, O Yahweh;
O God, lift up your hand.
Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked treat God with contempt?
He says in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”
14 But you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief
to take it into your hand.
The helpless abandons himself upon you;
you have been the helper for the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked,
and as for the evil man—
seek out his wickedness until you find none.
16 Yahweh is king forever and ever;
the nations have perished from his land.
17 The longing of the afflicted you have heard, O Yahweh.
You will make their heart secure. You will listen attentively[o]
18 to render judgment for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.
Confidence in Yahweh’s Righteousness
For the music director. Of David.[p]
11 In Yahweh I have taken refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee to your mountain like a bird”?
2 For look: The wicked string the bow.[q]
They have fitted their arrow to the string,
to shoot from the darkness
at the upright of heart.
3 When the foundations are destroyed
what can the righteous do?[r]
4 Yahweh is in his holy temple;
Yahweh is in the heavens on his throne.
His eyelids see;
they test the children of humankind.
5 Yahweh tests the righteous,
but the wicked and the lover of violence
his soul hates.
6 He will rain coals[s] on the wicked.
Burning sulfur and scorching wind
will be the portion of their cup.
7 For Yahweh is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds.
The upright shall see his face.
Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
6 Then[a] Job answered and said,
2 “If only my vexation could be well weighed,
and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,
3 for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
therefore my words have been rash,
4 for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
8 “O that[a] my request may come,
and that God may grant my hope,
9 that[b] God would decide that[c] he would crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and kill me.[d]
10 But[e] it will still be my consolation,
and I would recoil in unrelenting[f] pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should hold out?[g]
12 Or is my strength like the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
13 Indeed,[h] my help is not in me,
and any success is driven from me.
14 “Loyal love[i] should come for the afflicted from his friend,
even if[j] he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.
15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed;
like a streambed of wadis[k] they flow away,
Aeneas Healed
32 Now it happened that as[a] Peter was traveling through all the places,[b] he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. 33 And he found there a certain man named[c] Aeneas who was paralyzed, who had been lying on a mat[d] for eight years. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and make your bed yourself!” And immediately he got up. 35 And all those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, who all[e] indeed turned to the Lord.
Dorcas Raised
36 Now in Joppa there was a certain female disciple named[f] Tabitha (which translated means “Dorcas”).[g] She was full of good deeds and charitable giving which she was constantly doing.[h] 37 Now it happened that in those days after[i] becoming sick, she died. And after[j] washing her,[k] they placed her in an upstairs room. 38 And because[l] Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, when they[m] heard that Peter was in Lydda,[n] sent two men to him, urging, “Do not delay to come to us!” 39 So Peter got up and[o] accompanied them. When he[p] arrived, they brought him[q] up to the upstairs room, and all the widows came to him, weeping and showing him[r] tunics and other clothing that Dorcas used to make while she[s] was with them. 40 But Peter sent them all outside, and, falling to his[t] knees, he prayed. And turning toward the body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” And she opened her eyes, and when she[u] saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and[v] raised her up. And he called the saints and the widows and[w] presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And it happened that he stayed many days in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner.[x]
60 Thus many of his disciples, when they[a] heard it,[b] said, “This saying is hard! Who can understand it?” 61 But Jesus, because he[c] knew within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “Because of this I said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.”
Peter’s Confession
66 For this reason many of his disciples drew back[d] and were not walking with him any longer. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”[e] 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus replied to them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the devil?” 71 (Now he was speaking about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, because this one—one of the twelve—was going to betray him.)
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