Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
For the music director. Of David. To bring to remembrance.[a]
70 O God, make haste to deliver me.
O Yahweh, make haste to help me.
2 Let them be ashamed and abashed
who seek my life.
Let them be repulsed and humiliated
who desire my harm.
3 let them turn back because of their shame,
those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
4 Let them rejoice and be glad in you,
all those who seek you.
Let them say continually, “God is great!”
those who love your salvation.
5 But I am poor and needy;
O God hasten to me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
O Yahweh, do not delay.
A Prayer to God the Rock of Refuge
71 In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be for me a rock of refuge to resort to always;
you have ordained[b] to save me,
because you are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp[c] of the evildoer and the oppressor,
5 because you are my hope,
O Lord Yahweh, my confidence from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from birth.[d]
It was you who took[e] me from the womb of my mother.
My praise is of you continually.
7 I have become a wonder to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
with your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me away in the time of old age;
when my strength fails do not abandon me.
10 For my enemies talk concerning me,
and those who watch for my life conspire together,
11 saying, “His God has abandoned him.
Pursue and seize him, because there is no deliverer.”
12 O God, do not be far from me.
My God, hurry to help me.
13 Let them be ashamed; let them perish
who are my adversaries.[f]
Let them wrap themselves with scorn and disgrace
who seek my harm.
14 But as for me, I will hope continually
and increase your praise.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
your salvation all day long,[g]
though I do not know the full sum of them.
16 I will come in to tell the mighty deeds of Lord Yahweh.
I will make known[h] your righteousness, yours only.
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and up to now I have proclaimed your wonderful deeds.
18 And even when I am old and gray,
O God, do not abandon me
until I proclaim your strength[i] to this generation,
your power to every one that comes after.
19 And your righteousness, O God, is to the height of heaven.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
20 You who have caused me[j] to see many troubles and evils,
you will again revive me.[k]
And from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my greatness,
and you will comfort me all around.[l]
22 On my part, I will praise you with a stringed instrument,
and your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you with a lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will sing for joy when I sing praises to you,
and my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue also
will speak of your righteousness all the day,
because they have been put to shame, because they have been humiliated
who seek my harm.
A Lament in Time of National Defeat
A maskil of Asaph.[a]
74 Why, O God, have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smoke
against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation that you bought long ago,
when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance.
Remember Mount Zion[b] where you have dwelt.
3 Lift your steps to the perpetual ruins,
to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
they have set up their signs for signs.
5 They are[c] known to be like those who wield[d]
axes in a thicket of trees.
6 And now[e] its[f] carved works altogether
they have smashed with axe and hammer.
7 They have set fire to your sanctuary.
They have defiled to the ground,
the dwelling place for your name.
8 They have said in their heart,
“We will completely[g] oppress them.”
They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs,
and there is no longer a prophet.
No one with us knows how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary taunt?
Will the enemy treat your name with contempt forever?
11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?
Take it from your bosom;[h] destroy them!
12 But God has been my king from long ago,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You split open the sea by your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food to the desert dwelling creatures.
15 You split open spring and wadi.[i]
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, yours is the night also.
You established light and the sun.
17 You defined[j] all the boundaries of the earth;
Summer and winter—you formed them.
18 O Yahweh, remember this: the enemy taunts,
and foolish people treat your name with contempt.
19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;
do not ever forget the life of your afflicted ones.
20 Have regard for the covenant,
because the dark places of the land are full of
the haunts of violence.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn back humiliated;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
remember the reproaching of you by the foolish all day long.[k]
23 Do not forget the sound of your adversaries,
the roar of those rising up against you ascending continually.
Job’s Discourse on Wisdom
28 “Indeed, there is a mine for silver
and a place for gold to be refined.[a]
2 Iron is taken from dust,
and he pours out copper from ore.
3 He puts an end to darkness,
and he searches out the farthest limits
for the ore in gloom and deep shadow.
4 He breaks open a mine shaft away from where people dwell;[b]
those who are forgotten by travelers,[c]
they dangle, they sway far away from human beings.
5 As for the earth, from it comes food,[d]
but[e] underneath it, it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of sapphire,
and the earthen dirt has[f] gold.
7 “It is a path a bird of prey does not know
and the black kite’s eye has not seen.
8 Proud wild animals[g] have not trodden it;
the lion in its prime has not prowled over it.
9 He puts his hand on the hard rock;
he overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out tunnels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every treasure.
11 He dams up rivers from their sources,
and he brings secret things to the light.
12 “But[h] from where will wisdom be found?
And where in the world[i] is the place of understanding?
13 A human being does not know its proper value,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 “Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir,
for precious onyx or[j] sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot be compared with it,
and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold.
18 Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned,
and wisdom’s price is more than red corals.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be bought for pure gold.
20 Indeed,[k] from where does wisdom come?
And where in the world[l] is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’
23 “God understands its way,
and he knows its place,
24 for he himself[m] looks to the end of the earth;
he sees under all the heaven.
25 When he gave[n] weight to the wind
and he apportioned the waters by measure,
26 when he made[o] a rule for the rain
and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt,
27 then he saw it and talked about it;
he established it, and moreover, he explored it.
28 And to the human beings he said,
‘Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,
and to depart from evil is understanding.’”
The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer
25 Now about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and[a] singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds[b] were unfastened. 27 And after[c] the jailer was awake and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his[d] sword and[e] was about to kill himself, because he[f] thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do no harm to yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And demanding lights, he rushed in and, beginning to tremble,[g] fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them outside and[h] said, “Sirs, what must I do so that I can be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!” 32 And they spoke the message of the Lord to him, together with all those in his house. 33 And he took them at that very hour of the night and[i] washed their[j] wounds, and he himself was baptized at once, and all those of his household.[k] 34 And he brought them up into his[l] house and[m] set a meal before them,[n] and rejoiced greatly that he had believed in God with his whole household.
Paul and Silas Receive an Official Apology
35 And when it[o] was day, the chief magistrates sent the police officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul: “The chief magistrates have sent an order[p] that you should be released. So come out now and[q] go in peace!” 37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without due process—men who are Roman citizens—and[r] threw us[s] into prison, and now they are wanting to release us secretly? Certainly not! Rather let them come themselves and[t] bring us out!” 38 So the police officers reported these words to the chief magistrates, and they were afraid when they[u] heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 And they came and[v] apologized to[w] them, and after they[x] brought them[y] out they asked them[z] to depart from the city. 40 And when they[aa] came out of the prison, they went to Lydia and when they[ab] saw them,[ac] they encouraged the brothers and departed.
Jesus Predicts His Death
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, deliver me from this hour’? But for this reason I have come to this hour! 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have both glorified it,[a] and I will glorify it[b] again.” 29 Now the crowd that stood there and heard it[c] said it had thundered.[d] Others were saying, “An angel has spoken to him!” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not happened for my sake, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world! Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out! 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 (Now he said this to indicate by what sort of death he was going to die.)
34 Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever![e] And how do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “Yet a little time the light is with you! Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you! And the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light.” Jesus said these things, and then he went away and[f] was hidden from them.
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