Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56
When I Am Afraid
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For the choir director. “A Dove on Distant Oaks.”[a]
By David. A miktam.[b]
When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.[c]
The Enemies
1 Be merciful to me, O God, for a man pants as he pursues me.[d]
All day long an attacker presses against me.
2 Those who spy on me pant as they pursue me all day long.
Yes, many are attacking me boldly.[e]
David’s Trust
3 On the day when I am afraid, I will trust in you.
4 In God I praise his word.
In God I trust. I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
The Enemies
5 All day long they hurt my cause.[f]
All their thoughts against me are evil.
6 They gather together. They hide.
They try to trip me by grabbing my heels
while they wait to take my life.
David’s Trust
7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape.[g]
In your anger bring down the peoples, O God.
8 You keep a record of my tossing and turning.[h]
Keep my tears in your bottle.
Aren’t they all listed in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call.
This is how I will know that God is for me.
10 In God I praise a word.[i]
In the Lord I praise a word.
11 In God I trust. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
David’s Promise
12 My vows to you are binding, O God.
I will complete my thank offerings to you,
13 because you have delivered my life from death.
Have you not delivered my feet from stumbling
so I can walk before God in the light of life?
Psalm 57
Refuge in the Shadow of Your Wings
(Psalm 57:7-11 parallels Psalm 108:1-5)
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For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[j] By David. A miktam.
When he fled from Saul. In the cave.[k]
The Opening Plea
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
because my soul has taken refuge in you.
In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
until destruction has passed by.
2 I call to God Most High,
to God, who completes his plans for me.[l]
3 He will send from heaven, and he will save me. Interlude
He puts to shame the one who pants as he pursues me.[m]
God will send his mercy and his faithfulness.
The Problem
4 My life is spent among lions.
I lie down among ferocious men,
whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongue is a sharp sword.
5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
May your glory be over all the earth.
6 They spread a net for my steps.
My soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in front of me. Interlude
They have fallen into it.
David’s Confidence
7 My heart is steadfast, O God.
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing and I will make music.
8 Awake, my soul![n]
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord.
I will make music to you among the nations,[o]
10 because your great mercy reaches above the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 58
Do You Rulers Speak Justly?
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For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[p] By David. A miktam.
Unjust Rulers
1 Do you “gods” really speak righteously?[q]
Do you sons of Adam judge rightly?
2 No, in your heart you commit injustices.
On the earth your hands distribute violence.
3 The wicked go off course already from the womb.
From the belly they go astray. They speak lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like a deaf cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not listen to the sound of the charmers,
however skillful the spellbinder may be.
The Curse on Unjust Rulers
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouths.
Tear out the fangs of the young lions, Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When he draws his bow, let his arrows be cut off.[r]
8 As a slug melts away as it crawls along, so let him disappear.
Like a stillborn child may they not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether the thorns are green or dry—they will be swept away.[s]
The Joy of the Righteous
10 The righteous one will be glad when he sees vengeance.
He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say, “Surely there is fruit for the righteous.
Surely there is a God judging on the earth.”
Psalm 64
Hide Me From the Conspiracy
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For the choir director. A psalm by David.
Opening Plea
1 Hear my voice, O God, when I complain.
Protect my life from the terror caused by the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the noisy mob of evildoers.
The Enemies’ Wickedness
3 They sharpen their tongues like a sword.
They shoot poison words like arrows.
4 They shoot at the innocent from hiding places.
Suddenly they shoot at him. They have no fear.
5 They strengthen each other in an evil plot.
They discuss where to hide snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They plot evil deeds and they say,
“We have come up with a perfect plot!”
The mind and heart of man are devious!
God’s Judgment
7 But God will shoot them.
Suddenly they are wounded with an arrow.
8 Their own tongues cause their downfall.[a]
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.
The Joy of the Godly
9 Then all people will be afraid.
They will proclaim the work of God.
They will consider what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart be confident!
Psalm 65
A Thanksgiving Psalm: You Crown the Year With Goodness
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For the choir director. A psalm by David. A song.
Introduction
1 Praise waits for you,[b] O God, in Zion.
To you vows will be fulfilled.
2 You who hear prayer, to you all mortals[c] will come.
Spiritual Blessings
3 The record of my guilt overpowered me.
You atone for our rebellious acts.
4 How blessed is the one you choose and bring near!
He will dwell in your courtyards.
We will be satisfied by the goodness of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.
Blessings on the Nations
5 In righteousness you answer us with awesome deeds,
O God who saves us.
He is trusted by all the farthest ends of the earth and the sea.
6 He establishes the mountains by his power.
He has wrapped himself with strength.
7 He stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the peoples.
8 Those living at the ends of the earth fear your signs.
From sunrise to sunset you let them shout for joy.
Blessings of the Harvest
9 You visit the earth and water it.
You make it very rich.
God’s stream is filled with water.
You provide grain for them, just as you planned.
10 You drench the land’s furrows. You flatten its plowed ground.
You soften it with showers. You bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your goodness.
The tracks made by your carts overflow with riches.[d]
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip.
The hills are wrapped with joy.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They shout for joy. Yes! They sing.
The Lord Confronts Job
40 The Lord responded to Job and said:
2 Will the one who makes charges against the Almighty
dare to correct him?
The one who accuses God should make his case!
3 Job answered the Lord and said:
4 No, I am insignificant.[a]
How could I reply to you?
I will put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I cannot defend it.
Twice, but I will not go any further.
6 Then the Lord answered Job from the violent storm. He said:
7 Get ready for action like a man!
Then I will ask you questions,
and you will inform me.
8 Will you really deny that I am just?
Will you convict me, so that you can be acquitted?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s arm?
Does your voice thunder like his?
10 Go ahead, please. Adorn yourself with dignity and honor.
Clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
11 Pour out your overflowing anger.
Look at every proud man and bring him low.
12 Look at every proud man and humble him.
Trample the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all together in the dust.
Cover their faces in the hidden place.
14 Then I will praise you
and admit that your right hand can save you.
Behemoth
15 Take a look at Behemoth,[b]
which I made just as I made you.
He eats grass like cattle.
16 Would you look at the power of his hips
and the strength of the muscles of his belly!
17 He stiffens his tail[c] like a cedar.
The tendons of his thighs[d] are tight.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze.
His skeleton is like bars of iron.
19 He stands at the head of God’s creatures,
but his Maker draws near with his sword.[e]
20 Yes, the mountains carry their floodwaters[f] to him.
All the wild animals play there.
21 He lies under the lotus plants,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotus plants cover him with their shadows.
Poplars by the stream surround him.
23 The river rages, but he is not frightened.
He remains calm even if the Jordan bursts into his mouth.
24 Can people capture him by his eyes?
Can they pierce his nose with a hook?
Paul and Barnabas Go Separate Ways
36 After a time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the[a] brothers[b] in every town where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, who is called Mark, along with them. 38 But Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him along, since he had deserted them in Pamphylia and did not continue to travel with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, after being entrusted to the grace of the Lord[c] by the brothers. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 Paul arrived in Derbe and in Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, who was the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek. 2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews who lived in those places, because they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the resolutions decided by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to keep. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number day by day.
55 The Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think? He certainly won’t come to the Festival, will he?” 57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he should report it so that they could arrest Jesus.
Mary Anoints Jesus
12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, who had died, the one Jesus raised from the dead. 2 They gave a dinner for him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him.
3 Then Mary took about twelve ounces[a] of very expensive perfume (pure nard) and anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray him, said, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” 6 He did not say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He held the money box and used to steal what was put into it.
7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She intended to keep this for the day of my burial. 8 Indeed, the poor you always have with you, but you are not always going to have me.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.