Book of Common Prayer
He Will Never Allow the Righteous to Be Shaken
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 (A)Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And (B)do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Give (C)heed to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (D)complaint and [b](E)am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (F)pressure of the wicked;
For they (G)shake wickedness down upon me
And in anger they (H)bear a grudge against me.
4 My (I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (J)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (K)trembling come upon me,
And [c](L)horror has covered me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [d](M)be at rest.
7 Behold, I would wander far away,
I would (N)lodge in the wilderness. [e]Selah.
8 I would hasten to my place of refuge
From the (O)stormy wind and tempest.”
9 [f]Confuse, O Lord, (P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (Q)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And wickedness and mischief are in her midst.
11 (R)Destruction is in her midst;
(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [g]streets.
12 For it is (T)not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (U)has magnified himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [h]my equal,
My (V)close companion and my [i](W)familiar friend;
14 We who had sweet counsel together
(X)Walked in the house of God in the throng.
15 Let [j]death come (Y)deceitfully upon them;
Let them (Z)go down alive to Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AA)call upon God,
And Yahweh will save me.
17 (AB)Evening and (AC)morning and at (AD)noon, I will bring my complaint and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AE)redeem my soul in peace [k]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AF)many who strive with me.
19 God will (AG)hear and [l]answer them—
Even the one (AH)who [m]sits enthroned from of old— Selah.
Because they [n]do not change,
And (AI)do not fear God.
20 [o]My companion has put forth his hands against (AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has [p](AK)violated his covenant.
21 His [q]speech was (AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (AN)swords.
I Will Give Thanks to Your Name
Of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will worship (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth, O Yahweh, will give You thanks,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of Yahweh,
For (J)great is the glory of Yahweh.
6 For (K)Yahweh is high,
Yet He (L)sees the lowly,
But the (M)one who exalts himself He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of [d]distress, You will [e](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 Yahweh will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
O Yahweh, Your (S)lovingkindness endures forever;
(T)Do not fail the (U)works of Your hands.
Where Can I Go from Your Spirit?
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
139 O Yahweh, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [f]when I sit down and [g]when I rise up;
You (X)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [h](Y)scrutinize my [i]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [j]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Yahweh, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)enclosed me behind and before,
And You have (AB)put Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will (AJ)bruise me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AK)darkness is not too dark for You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AL)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AM)formed my [k]inward parts;
You (AN)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [l]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(AO)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [m](AP)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And (AQ)intricately woven in the (AR)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AS)eyes have seen my unshaped substance;
And in (AT)Your book all of them were written
The (AU)days that were formed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious are Your (AV)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (AW)outnumber the sand.
When (AX)I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh that You would (AY)slay the wicked, O God!
(AZ)O (BA)men of bloodshed, depart from me.
20 For they (BB)speak [n]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [o](BC)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BD)hate those who hate You, O Yahweh?
And do I not (BE)revile those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Yahweh Answers Job
38 Then Yahweh (A)answered Job out of the [a]whirlwind and said,
2 “Who is this that (B)darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
3 Now (C)gird up your loins like a man,
And (D)I will ask you, and you make Me know!
4 Where were you (E)when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know understanding,
5 Who set its (F)measurements? Since you know.
Or who stretched the line on it?
6 On what (G)were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together
And all the (H)sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who (I)enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb,
9 When I made a cloud its garment
And dense gloom its swaddling band,
10 And I [b](J)placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?
Yahweh Answers Job, “Have You?”
12 “Have you [c]ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
13 That it might seize (K)the ends of the earth,
And (L)the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal;
And they stand forth like clothing.
15 (M)From the wicked their light is withheld,
And the arm (N)raised high is broken.
22 Then it seemed good to (A)the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and (B)Silas, leading men among (C)the brothers—to send to (D)Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, 23 and they [a]sent this letter by them,
“(E)The apostles and the brothers who are elders, to (F)the brothers in (G)Antioch and (H)Syria and (I)Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, (J)greetings.
24 Since we have heard that (K)some of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and (L)disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,
25 (M)it seemed good to us, having [b]come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 men who have [c](N)risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 Therefore we have sent (O)Judas and (P)Silas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth.
28 For (Q)it seemed good to (R)the Holy Spirit and to (S)us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:
29 that you abstain from (T)things sacrificed to idols and from (U)blood and from (V)things strangled and from (W)sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”
30 So when they were sent away, (X)they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the [d]congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its [e]encouragement. 32 (Y)And both Judas and (Z)Silas, also being (AA)prophets themselves, [f]encouraged and strengthened (AB)the brothers with a lengthy message. 33 And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers (AC)in peace to those who had (AD)sent them. 34 [g][But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] 35 But (AE)Paul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and [h](AF)preaching with many others also, (AG)the word of the Lord.
45 (A)Therefore many of the Jews (B)who came to Mary, and (C)saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the (D)Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
The Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus
47 Therefore (E)the chief priests and the Pharisees (F)gathered the [a](G)Sanhedrin together, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is doing many [b](H)signs. 48 If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our (I)place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, (J)Caiaphas, (K)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that (L)it is better for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he did not say this from himself, but (M)being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also (N)gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they (O)planned together to kill Him.
54 Therefore Jesus (P)no longer continued to walk openly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called (Q)Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
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