Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
For the music director, by David; written to get God’s attention.[b]
70 O God, please be willing to rescue me.[c]
O Lord, hurry and help me.[d]
2 May those who are trying to take my life
be embarrassed and ashamed.[e]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[f]
3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be driven back[g] and disgraced.[h]
4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[i] your deliverance say continually,[j]
“May God[k] be praised!”[l]
5 I am oppressed and needy.[m]
O God, hurry to me.[n]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O Lord,[o] do not delay.
Psalm 71[p]
71 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
2 Vindicate me by rescuing me.[q]
Listen to me.[r] Deliver me.[s]
3 Be my protector and refuge,[t]
a stronghold where I can be safe.[u]
For you are my high ridge[v] and my stronghold.
4 My God, rescue me from the power[w] of the wicked,
from the hand of the cruel oppressor.
5 For you are my hope;
O Sovereign Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young.[x]
6 I have leaned on you since birth;[y]
you pulled me[z] from my mother’s womb.
I praise you continually.[aa]
7 Many are appalled when they see me,[ab]
but you are my secure shelter.
8 I praise you constantly
and speak of your splendor all day long.[ac]
9 Do not reject me in my old age.[ad]
When my strength fails, do not abandon me.
10 For my enemies talk about me;
those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise.[ae]
11 They say,[af] “God has abandoned him.
Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him.”
12 O God, do not remain far away from me.
My God, hurry and help me.[ag]
13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated.
May those who want to harm me[ah] be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 As for me, I will wait continually,
and will continue to praise you.[ai]
15 I will tell about your justice,
and all day long proclaim your salvation,[aj]
though I cannot fathom its full extent.[ak]
16 I will come and tell about[al] the mighty acts of the Sovereign Lord.
I will proclaim your justice—yours alone.
17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,
and I am still declaring[am] your amazing deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,[an]
O God, do not abandon me,
until I tell the next generation about your strength,
and those coming after me about your power.[ao]
19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above;[ap]
you have done great things.[aq]
O God, who can compare to you?[ar]
20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress,[as]
revive me once again.[at]
Bring me up once again[au] from the depths of the earth.
21 Raise me to a position of great honor.[av]
Turn and comfort me.[aw]
22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,
praising[ax] your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,
O Holy One of Israel.[ay]
23 My lips will shout for joy. Yes,[az] I will sing your praises.
I will praise you when you rescue me.[ba]
24 All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,
for those who want to harm me[bb] will be embarrassed and ashamed.[bc]
Psalm 74[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
74 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us?[c]
Why does your anger burn[d] against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your people[e] whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued[f] so they could be your very own nation,[g]
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 Hurry[h] to the permanent ruins,
and to all the damage the enemy has done to the temple.[i]
4 Your enemies roar[j] in the middle of your sanctuary;[k]
they set up their battle flags.[l]
5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest.[m]
6 And now[n] they are tearing down[o] all its engravings[p]
with axes[q] and crowbars.[r]
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.[s]
8 They say to themselves,[t]
“We will oppress all of them.”[u]
They burn down all the places in the land where people worship God.[v]
9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence;[w]
there are no longer any prophets,[x]
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.[y]
10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him.[z]
12 But God has been my[aa] king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth.[ab]
13 You destroyed[ac] the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster[ad] in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[ae]
you fed[af] him to the people who live along the coast.[ag]
15 You broke open the spring and the stream;[ah]
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.[ai]
16 You established the cycle of day and night;[aj]
you put the moon[ak] and sun in place.[al]
17 You set up all the boundaries[am] of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter.[an]
18 Remember how[ao] the enemy hurls insults, O Lord,[ap]
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name.
19 Do not hand the life of your dove[aq] over to a wild animal.
Do not continue to disregard[ar] the lives of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant promises,[as]
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules.[at]
21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame.
Let the oppressed and poor praise your name.[au]
22 Rise up, O God. Defend your honor.[av]
Remember how fools insult you all day long.[aw]
23 Do not disregard[ax] what your enemies say,[ay]
or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.[az]
III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
No Known Road to Wisdom[a]
28 “Surely[b] there is a mine[c] for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.[d]
2 Iron is taken from the ground,[e]
and rock is poured out[f] as copper.
3 Man puts an end to the darkness;[g]
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness.[h]
4 Far from where people live[i] he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten,[j]
far from other people he dangles and sways.[k]
5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire;[l]
6 a place whose stones are sapphires[m]
that contain dust of gold;[n]
7 a hidden path[o] no bird of prey knows—
no falcon’s[p] eye has spotted it.
8 Proud beasts[q] have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
9 On the flinty rock man has set to work[r] with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases.[s]
10 He has cut out channels[t] through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted[u] every precious thing.
11 He has searched[v] the sources[w] of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
No Price Can Buy Wisdom
12 “But wisdom—where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its place;[x]
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep[y] says, ‘It is not with[z] me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
16 It cannot be measured out for purchase[aa] with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx[ab] or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor crystal[ac] can be compared with it,
nor can a vase[ad] of gold match its worth.
18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price[ae] of wisdom is more than pearls.[af]
19 The topaz of Cush[ag] cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
God Alone Has Wisdom
20 “But wisdom—where does it come from?[ah]
Where is the place of understanding?
21 For[ai] it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
22 Destruction[aj] and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’[ak]
23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
25 When he made[al] the force of the wind
and measured[am] the waters with a gauge,
26 when he imposed a limit[an] for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,[ao]
27 then he looked at wisdom[ap] and assessed its value;[aq]
he established[ar] it and examined it closely.[as]
28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord[at]—that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”[au]
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying[a] and singing hymns to God,[b] and the rest of[c] the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds[d] of all the prisoners came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up[e] and saw the doors of the prison standing open,[f] he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,[g] because he assumed[h] the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out loudly,[i] “Do not harm yourself,[j] for we are all here!” 29 Calling for lights, the jailer[k] rushed in and fell down[l] trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside[m] and asked, “Sirs, what must[n] I do to be saved?” 31 They replied,[o] “Believe[p] in the Lord Jesus[q] and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then[r] they spoke the word of the Lord[s] to him, along with all those who were in his house. 33 At[t] that hour of the night he took them[u] and washed their wounds;[v] then[w] he and all his family[x] were baptized right away.[y] 34 The jailer[z] brought them into his house and set food[aa] before them, and he rejoiced greatly[ab] that he had come to believe[ac] in God, together with his entire household.[ad] 35 At daybreak[ae] the magistrates[af] sent their police officers,[ag] saying, “Release those men.” 36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying,[ah] “The magistrates have sent orders[ai] to release you. So come out now and go in peace.”[aj] 37 But Paul said to the police officers,[ak] “They had us beaten in public[al] without a proper trial[am]—even though we are Roman citizens[an]—and they threw us[ao] in prison. And now they want to send us away[ap] secretly? Absolutely not! They[aq] themselves must come and escort us out!”[ar] 38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas[as] were Roman citizens[at] 39 and came[au] and apologized to them. After[av] they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly[aw] to leave the city. 40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then[ax] departed.
27 “Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me[a] from this hour’?[b] No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.[c] 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven,[d] “I have glorified it,[e] and I will glorify it[f] again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard the voice[g] said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to him.[h] 30 Jesus said,[i] “This voice has not come for my benefit[j] but for yours. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world[k] will be driven out.[l] 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people[m] to myself.” 33 (Now he said this to indicate clearly what kind of death he was going to die.)[n]
34 Then the crowd responded,[o] “We have heard from the law that the Christ[p] will remain forever.[q] How[r] can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus replied,[s] “The light is with you for a little while longer.[t] Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.[u] The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”[v] When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them.
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