Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Guidance and Protection
For the music director; with the flutes. A psalm of David.[a]
5 Hear my words, O Yahweh.
Give heed to my sighing.[b]
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading,[c] my king and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice.
In the morning I will set forth[d] my case to you and I will watch.[e]
4 For you are not a God who desires[f] wickedness.
Evil cannot dwell with you.
5 The boastful do not stand before[g] your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy speakers of lies.[h]
A man of bloodshed[i] and deceit Yahweh abhors.
7 But as for me,[j] through the abundance of your steadfast love[k]
I will enter your house.[l]
I will bow down[m] toward your holy temple[n] in awe of you.
8 O Yahweh, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make straight before me your way.
9 For there is not anything reliable in his mouth;
their inner part is destruction.[o]
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.[p]
10 Treat them as guilty, O God;
let them fall because of their plans.
Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take shelter in you rejoice.
Let them ever[q] sing for joy,
because[r] you spread protection over them;
And let those[s] who love your name exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous.
O Yahweh, like a[t] shield you surround him with good favor.
An Appeal for Forgiveness and Deliverance
For the music director; with stringed instruments, on the Sheminith.[u]
A psalm of David.[v]
6 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger,
and do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble.
Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.
3 My soul is also very terrified.
But you, O Yahweh, how long?
4 Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life.[w]
Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.[x]
5 For there is no remembrance of you in death.
In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
6 I am weary with my groaning;
I flood[y] my bed every night.
With my tears I drench[z] my couch.
7 My eye wastes away because of vexation;
it grows old because of all my oppressors.
8 Depart from me, all workers of evil,
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my plea;
Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified.
They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.
A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked
10 Why, O Yahweh, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide[a] during times of distress?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecutes[b] the poor.
Let them be caught in the schemes that they devised,
3 for the wicked boasts about the desire of his heart,[c]
and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.
4 With bald-faced pride[d] the wicked will not seek God.
There is no God in any of his thoughts.
5 His ways[e] endure at all times.[f]
Your judgments are aloof from him.
As for all his enemies, he scoffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved
throughout all generations,[g] during which I will have no trouble.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing,
with deceits and oppression;
under his tongue are trouble and evil.
8 He sits in ambush in villages;
in the hiding places he kills the innocent.
His eyes lurk[h] for the helpless.
9 He lies in ambush secretly,[i] like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to seize the poor;
he seizes the poor by catching him in his net.
10 He is crushed;[j] he is bowed down;[k]
so[l] the helpless host[m] falls by his might.[n]
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He has hidden his face.
He never sees.”
12 Rise up, O Yahweh;
O God, lift up your hand.
Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked treat God with contempt?
He says in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”
14 But you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief
to take it into your hand.
The helpless abandons himself upon you;
you have been the helper for the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked,
and as for the evil man—
seek out his wickedness until you find none.
16 Yahweh is king forever and ever;
the nations have perished from his land.
17 The longing of the afflicted you have heard, O Yahweh.
You will make their heart secure. You will listen attentively[o]
18 to render judgment for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.
Confidence in Yahweh’s Righteousness
For the music director. Of David.[p]
11 In Yahweh I have taken refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee to your mountain like a bird”?
2 For look: The wicked string the bow.[q]
They have fitted their arrow to the string,
to shoot from the darkness
at the upright of heart.
3 When the foundations are destroyed
what can the righteous do?[r]
4 Yahweh is in his holy temple;
Yahweh is in the heavens on his throne.
His eyelids see;
they test the children of humankind.
5 Yahweh tests the righteous,
but the wicked and the lover of violence
his soul hates.
6 He will rain coals[s] on the wicked.
Burning sulfur and scorching wind
will be the portion of their cup.
7 For Yahweh is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds.
The upright shall see his face.
Jonah Disobeys Yahweh
1 And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up! Go to the great city Nineveh and cry out against her, because their evil has come up before me.”[a] 3 But Jonah set out to flee toward Tarshish from the presence of[b] Yahweh. And he went down to Joppa and found a merchant ship going to Tarshish, and paid her fare, and went on board her to go with them toward Tarshish from the presence of[c] Yahweh.
4 And Yahweh hurled a great wind upon the sea, and it was a great storm on the sea, and the merchant ship was in danger of breaking up.[d] 5 And the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they threw the contents[e] that were in the merchant ship into the sea to lighten it for them. And meanwhile Jonah went down into the hold of the vessel and lay down and fell asleep. 6 And the captain[f] of the ship approached him and said to him, “Why are you sound asleep?[g] Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god[h] will take notice of us and we won’t perish!” 7 And they said to one another,[i] “Come, let us cast lots so that we may know on whose account this disaster has come on us!” And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they said to him, “Please tell us whoever is responsible that this disaster has come upon us! What is your occupation? And from where do you come? What is your country? And from which people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were greatly afraid,[j] and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” because they[k] knew that he was fleeing from the presence of[l] Yahweh (because he had told them). 11 So they said to him, “What shall we do to you so that the sea may quiet down for us?” because the sea was growing more and more tempestuous.[m] 12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea so that the sea may quiet down for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you all.” 13 But the men rowed hard to bring the ship[n] back to the dry land, and they could not do so because the sea was growing more and more tempestuous[o] against them. 14 So they cried out to Yahweh, and they said, “O Yahweh! Please do not let us perish because of this man’s life, and do not make us guilty of innocent blood,[p] because you, O Yahweh, did what you wanted.” 15 And they picked Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 So the men feared Yahweh greatly,[q] and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made[r] vows.
Jonah Is Swallowed by a Fish and Prays to Yahweh
17 [s] And Yahweh provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
24 And as[a] he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your[b] great learning is driving[c] you insane!”[d] 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking words of truth and rationality. 26 For the king knows about these things, to whom also I am speaking freely, for I am not convinced that these things in any way have escaped[e] his notice, because this was[f] not done[g] in a corner. 27 Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.” 28 But Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?”[h] 29 And Paul replied, “I pray to God, whether in a short time or in a long time, not only you but also all those who are listening to me today may become such people as I also am, except for these bonds!”
30 Both the king and the governor got up, and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And as they[i] were going out, they were talking to one another, saying, “This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Paul and His Associates Sail for Rome
27 And when it was decided that we would sail away to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named[j] Julius of the Augustan[k] Cohort. 2 And we went aboard a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the places along the coast[l] of Asia[m] and[n] put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3 And on the next day, we put in at Sidon. And Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him[o] to go to his[p] friends to be cared for.[q] 4 And from there we put out to sea and[r] sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.[s] 5 And after we[t] had sailed across the open sea along Cilicia and Pamphylia, we put in at Myra in Lycia. 6 And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and[u] put us on board[v] it. 7 And sailing slowly, in many days and with difficulty we came[w] to Cnidus. Because[x] the wind did not permit us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 And sailing along its coast with difficulty, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea.
A Woman Healed and a Daughter Raised
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, because they were all waiting for him. 41 And behold, a man who was named[a] Jairus came, and this man was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at the feet of Jesus and[b] began imploring[c] him to come to his house, 42 because he had[d] an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.
Now as he was going, the crowds were pressing against him. 43 And a woman who was suffering from hemorrhages[e] for twelve years (who, although she[f] had spent all her[g] assets on physicians, was not able to be healed by anyone) 44 came up behind him and[h] touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her hemorrhaging[i] stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched me?” And when they[j] all denied it,[k] Peter said, “Master, the crowds are pressing you hard and crowding you!”[l] 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, because I know power has gone out from me.” 47 And when[m] the woman saw that she did not escape notice, she came trembling and falling down before him. In the presence of all the people, she told for what reason she had touched him, and that she was healed immediately. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
49 While[n] he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue ruler’s house, saying, “Your daughter is dead! Trouble the Teacher no longer!” 50 But Jesus, when he[o] heard this,[p] replied to him, “Do not be afraid! Only believe, and she will be healed.” 51 Now when he[q] came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the father and mother of the child. 52 And they were all weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep! For she is not dead, but is sleeping.” 53 And they began laughing[r] at him, because they[s] knew that she was dead. 54 But he took her hand and[t] called, saying, “Child, get up.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately, and he ordered something[u] to be given to her to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
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