Book of Common Prayer
33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, water springs into a thirsty ground,(A)
34 A fruitful land into a barren, salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.(B)
35 He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry ground into water springs;(C)
36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation,
37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards which yield fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and allows not their cattle to decrease.
39 When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt upon princes and causes them to wander in waste places where there is no road.
41 Yet He raises the poor and needy from affliction and makes their families like a flock.
42 The upright shall see it and be glad, but all iniquity shall shut its mouth.
43 Whoso is wise [if there be any truly wise] will observe and heed these things; and they will diligently consider the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord.
Psalm 108
A song. A Psalm of David.
1 O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast, in the confidence of faith); I will sing, yes, I will sing praises, even with my glory [all the faculties and powers of one created in Your image]!
2 Awake, harp and lyre; I myself will wake very early—I will waken the dawn!
3 I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; and I will sing praises unto You among the nations.
4 For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great and high as the heavens! Your truth and faithfulness reach to the skies!(D)
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth.
6 That Your beloved [followers] may be delivered, save with Your right hand and answer us! [or me]!
7 God has promised in His holiness [regarding the establishment of David’s dynasty]: I will rejoice, I will distribute [Canaan among My people], dividing Shechem and [the western region and allotting the eastern region which contains] the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is My stronghold and the defense of My head; Judah is My scepter and lawgiver.(E)
9 Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom [My slave] My shoe I cast [to be cleaned]; over Philistia I shout [in triumph].
10 Who will bring me [David] into the strong, fortified city [of Petra]? Who will lead me into Edom?
11 Have You not cast us off, O God? And will You not go forth, O God, with our armies?
12 Give us help against the adversary, for vain is the help of man.
13 Through and with God we shall do valiantly, for He it is Who shall tread down our adversaries.(F)
Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous [you upright in right standing with God]; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.
4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth.(A)
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as in a bottle; He puts the deeps in storage places.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord [revere and worship Him]; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He makes the thoughts and plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations.
12 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His heritage.
13 The Lord looks from heaven, He beholds all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks [intently] upon all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 He Who fashions the hearts of them all, Who considers all their doings.
16 No king is saved by the great size and power of his army; a mighty man is not delivered by [his] much strength.
17 A horse is devoid of value for victory; neither does he deliver any by his great power.
18 Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness,
19 To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield.
21 For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.
11 When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called My son out of Egypt.(A)
2 The more [the prophets] called to them, the more they went from them; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to the graven images.
3 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms or taking them up in My arms, but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love, and I was to them as one who lifts up and eases the yoke over their cheeks, and I bent down to them and gently laid food before them.
5 They shall not [literally] return into [another bondage in] the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be their king because they refused to return to Me.
6 And the sword shall rage against and fall upon their cities and shall consume the bars of their gates and shall make an end [of their defenses], because of their own counsels and devices.
7 My people are bent on backsliding from Me; though [the prophets] call them to Him Who is on high, none at all will exalt Him or lift himself up [to come to Him].
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How can I surrender you and cast you off, O Israel! How can I make you as Admah or how can I treat you as Zeboiim [both destroyed with Sodom]! My heart recoils within Me; My compassions are kindled together.(B)
9 I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not bring back Ephraim to nothing or again destroy him. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst of you, and I will not come in wrath or enter into the city.
17 Then when I had come back to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple [[a]enclosure], I fell into a trance (an ecstasy);
18 And I saw Him as He said to me, Hurry, get quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive your testimony about Me.
19 And I said, Lord, they themselves well know that throughout all the synagogues I cast into prison and flogged those who believed on (adhered to and trusted in and relied on) You.
20 And when the blood of Your witness (martyr) Stephen was shed, I also was personally standing by and consenting and approving and guarding the garments of those who slew him.
21 And the Lord said to me, Go, for I will send you far away unto the Gentiles (nations).
22 Up to the moment that Paul made this last statement, the people listened to him; but now they raised their voices and shouted, Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is not fit to live!
23 And as they were shouting and tossing and waving their garments and throwing dust into the air,
24 The commandant ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks, and that he be examined by scourging in order that [the commandant] might learn why the people cried out thus against him.
25 But when they had stretched him out with the thongs (leather straps), Paul asked the centurion who was standing by, Is it legal for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned [without a trial]?
26 When the centurion heard that, he went to the commandant and said to him, What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!
27 So the commandant came and said to [Paul], Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? And he said, Yes [indeed]!
28 The commandant replied, I purchased this citizenship [as a capital investment] for a big price. Paul said, But I was born [Roman]!
29 Instantly those who were about to examine and flog him withdrew from him; and the commandant also was frightened, for he realized that [Paul] was a Roman citizen and he had put him in chains.
27 But I say to you who are listening now to Me: [[a]in order to heed, make it a practice to] love your enemies, treat well (do good to, act nobly toward) those who detest you and pursue you with hatred,
28 Invoke blessings upon and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God’s blessing (favor) upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and high-handedly misuse you].
29 To the one who strikes you on the [b]jaw or cheek, offer the other [c]jaw or cheek also; and from him who takes away your outer garment, do not withhold your undergarment as well.
30 Give away to everyone who begs of you [who is [d]in want of necessities], and of him who takes away from you your goods, do not demand or require them back again.
31 And as you would like and desire that men would do to you, do exactly so to them.
32 If you [merely] love those who love you, what [e]quality of credit and thanks is that to you? For even [f]the [very] sinners love their lovers (those who love them).
33 And if you are kind and good and do favors to and benefit those who are kind and good and do favors to and benefit you, what [g]quality of credit and thanks is that to you? For even [h]the preeminently sinful do the same.
34 And if you lend money [i]at interest to those from whom you hope to receive, what [j]quality of credit and thanks is that to you? Even notorious sinners lend money [k]at interest to sinners, so as to recover as much again.
35 But love your enemies and be kind and do good [doing favors [l]so that someone derives benefit from them] and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but [m]considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish and wicked.
36 So be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive, and compassionate) even as your Father is [all these].
37 Judge not [neither pronouncing judgment nor subjecting to censure], and you will not be judged; do not condemn and pronounce guilty, and you will not be condemned and pronounced guilty; acquit and forgive and [n]release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and [o]released.
38 Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour [p]into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation