Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David, to bring to remembrance or make memorial.
1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord!
2 Let them be put to shame and confounded that seek and demand my life; let them be turned backward and brought to confusion and dishonor who desire and delight in my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back and appalled because of their shame and disgrace who say, Aha, aha!
4 May all those who seek, inquire of and for You, and require You [as their vital need] rejoice and be glad in You; and may those who love Your salvation say continually, Let God be magnified!
5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my Help and my Deliverer; O Lord, do not tarry!
Psalm 71
1 In You, O Lord, do I put my trust and confidently take refuge; let me never be put to shame or confusion!
2 Deliver me in Your righteousness and cause me to escape; bow down Your ear to me and save me!
3 Be to me a rock of refuge in which to dwell, and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually resort, which You have appointed to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.
5 For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my trust from my youth and the source of my confidence.
6 Upon You have I leaned and relied from birth; You are He Who took me from my mother’s womb and You have been my benefactor from that day. My praise is continually of You.
7 I am as a wonder and surprise to many, but You are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth shall be filled with Your praise and with Your honor all the day.
9 Cast me not off nor send me away in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent and my powers fail.
10 For my enemies talk against me; those who watch for my life consult together,
11 Saying, God has forsaken him; pursue and persecute and take him, for there is none to deliver him.
12 O God, be not far from me! O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let them be put to shame and consumed who are adversaries to my life; let them be covered with reproach, scorn, and dishonor who seek and require my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteous acts and of Your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is more than I know.
16 I will come in the strength and with the mighty acts of the Lord God; I will mention and praise Your righteousness, even Yours alone.
17 O God, You have taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared Your wondrous works.
18 Yes, even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, [but keep me alive] until I have declared Your mighty strength to [this] generation, and Your might and power to all that are to come.
19 Your righteousness also, O God, is very high [reaching to the heavens], You Who have done great things; O God, who is like You, or who is Your equal?
20 You Who have shown us [all] troubles great and sore will quicken us again and will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
21 Increase my greatness (my honor) and turn and comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with the harp, even Your truth and faithfulness, O my God; unto You will I sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises to You, and my inner being, which You have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; for they are put to shame, for they are confounded, who seek and demand my hurt.
Psalm 74
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
1 O God, why do You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger burn and smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 [Earnestly] remember Your congregation which You have acquired of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage; remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 Direct Your feet [quickly] to the perpetual ruins and desolations; the foe has devastated and desecrated everything in the sanctuary.
4 In the midst of Your Holy Place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry]; they set up their own [idol] emblems for signs [of victory].
5 They seemed like men who lifted up axes upon a thicket of trees to make themselves a record.
6 And then all the carved wood of the Holy Place they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They have set Your sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling place of Your [a]Name by casting it to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, Let us make havoc [of such places] altogether. They have burned up all God’s meetinghouses in the land.
9 We do not see our symbols; there is no longer any prophet, neither does any among us know for how long.
10 O God, how long is the adversary to scoff and reproach? Is the enemy to blaspheme and revile Your name forever?
11 Why do You hold back Your hand, even Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom and consume them [make an end of them]!
12 Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You did divide the [Red] Sea by Your might; You broke the heads of the [Egyptian] dragons in the waters.(A)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan (Egypt); You did give him as food for the creatures inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You did cleave open [the rock bringing forth] fountains and streams; You dried up mighty, ever-flowing rivers (the Jordan).(B)
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have established the [starry] light and the sun.
17 You have fixed all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations]; You have made summer and winter.(C)
18 [Earnestly] remember how the enemy has scoffed, O Lord, and reproached You, and how a foolish and impious people has blasphemed Your name.
19 Oh, do not deliver the life of your turtledove to the wild beast (to the greedy multitude); forget not the life [of the multitude] of Your poor forever.
20 Have regard for the covenant [You made with Abraham], for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Oh, let not the downtrodden return in shame; let the oppressed and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; remember [earnestly] how the foolish and impious man scoffs and reproaches You day after day and all day long.
23 Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries, the tumult of those who rise up against You, which ascends continually.
28 Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold where they refine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the stone ore.
3 Man sets an end to darkness, and he searches out the farthest bounds for the ore buried in gloom and deep darkness.
4 Men break open shafts away from where people sojourn, in places forgotten by [human] foot; and [descend into them], hanging afar from men, they swing or flit to and fro.
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath [its surface, down deep in the mine] there is [a]blasting, turning it up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the bed of sapphires; it holds dust of gold [which he wins].
7 That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
8 The proud beasts [and their young] have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 Man puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock; he overturns the mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels and passages among the rocks; and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 [Man] binds the streams so that they do not trickle [into the mine], and the thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.
12 But where shall [b]Wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knows not the price of it; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, [Wisdom] is not in me; and the sea says, It is not with me.
15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price of it.
16 It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir, in the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot equal [Wisdom], nor can it be exchanged for jewels or vessels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; for the possession of Wisdom is even above rubies or pearls.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 From where then does Wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and knowledge of it is withheld from the birds of the heavens.
22 Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say, We have [only] heard the report of it with our ears.
23 God understands the way [to Wisdom] and He knows the place of it [Wisdom is with God alone].
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When He gave to the wind weight or pressure and allotted the waters by measure,
26 When He made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
27 Then He saw [Wisdom] and declared it; He established it, yes, and searched it out [for His own use, and He alone possesses it].
28 But to man He said, Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is Wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
25 But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them,
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.
27 When the jailer, startled out of his sleep, saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul shouted, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!
29 Then [the jailer] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling and terrified he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30 And he brought them out [of the dungeon] and said, Men, what is it necessary for me to do that I may be saved?
31 And they answered, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [[a]give yourself up to Him, [b] take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved, [and this applies both to] you and your household as well.
32 And they declared the Word of the Lord [the doctrine concerning the [c]attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] to him and to all who were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night and [d]bathed [them because of their bloody] wounds, and he was baptized immediately and all [the members of] his [household].
34 Then he took them up into his house and set food before them; and he [e]leaped much for joy and exulted with all his family that he believed in God [accepting and joyously welcoming what He had made known through Christ].
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent policemen, saying, Release those fellows and let them go.
36 And the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to release you and let you go; now therefore come out and go in peace.
37 But Paul answered them, They have beaten us openly and publicly, without a trial and uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now thrust us out secretly? No, indeed! Let them come here themselves and conduct us out!
38 The police reported this message to the magistrates, and they were frightened when they heard that the prisoners were Roman citizens;
39 So they came themselves and [striving to appease them by entreaty] apologized to them. And they brought them out and asked them to leave the city.
40 So [Paul and Silas] left the prison and went to Lydia’s house; and when they had seen the brethren, they warned and urged and consoled and encouraged them and departed.
27 Now My soul is troubled and distressed, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour [of trial and agony]? But it was for this very purpose that I have come to this hour [that I might undergo it].
28 [Rather, I will say,] Father, glorify (honor and extol) Your [own] name! Then there came a voice out of heaven saying, I have already glorified it, and I will glorify it again.
29 The crowd of bystanders heard the sound and said that it had thundered; others said, An angel has spoken to Him!
30 Jesus answered, This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sake.
31 Now the judgment (crisis) of this world is coming on [sentence is now being passed on this world]. Now the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world shall be cast out (expelled).
32 And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth [on the cross], will draw and attract all men [Gentiles as well as Jews] to Myself.
33 He said this to signify in what manner He would die.
34 At this the people answered Him, We have learned from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; how then can You say, The Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross]? Who is this Son of Man?(A)
35 So Jesus said to them, You will have the Light only a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light [keep on living by it], so that darkness may not overtake and overcome you. He who walks about in the dark does not know where he goes [he is drifting].
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light [have faith in it, hold to it, rely on it], that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with Light. Jesus said these things, and then He went away and hid Himself from them [was lost to their view].
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation