Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5[a]
Morning Prayer for Divine Help
1 For the director.[b] With flutes. A psalm of David.
2 Listen to my words, O Lord;
pay heed to my sighs.
3 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God;
for to you I pray.
4 O Lord, at daybreak[c] you hear my voice;
at daybreak I bring my petition before you
and await your reply.
5 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot remain in your presence.
6 The arrogant shrink before your gaze;
you hate all who do evil.
7 You destroy all who tell lies;
the Lord detests the violent and the deceitful.
8 But I will enter your house
because of your great kindness,[d]
and I will bow down in your holy temple,
filled with awe of you.
9 Lead me in your ways of righteousness, O Lord,
for I am surrounded by enemies;
make your path straight before me.[e]
10 For there is nothing trustworthy in their mouth;[f]
their heart devises treacherous schemes.
Their throat is a wide open grave;
with their tongue they utter flattery.
11 Punish them, O God;
may their intrigues result in their downfall.
Cast them out because of their many transgressions,
for they have rebelled against you.[g]
12 But may all who take refuge in you rejoice;
may they shout for joy forever.
Grant them your protection
so that those who love your name[h] may rejoice in you.
13 Truly, you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you surround them with your goodwill as with a shield.
Psalm 6[i]
Evening Prayer for God’s Mercy
1 For the director.[j] With stringed instruments. “Upon the eighth.” A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or punish me in your wrath.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am tottering;
help me, O Lord, for my body is in agony.[k]
4 My soul[l] is also filled with anguish.
But you, O Lord—how long?
5 Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul;
save me because of your kindness.[m]
6 For among the dead who remembers you?
In the netherworld who sings your praises?[n]
7 I am exhausted from my sighing;
every night I flood my bed with my tears,
and I soak my couch with my weeping.
8 My eyes grow dim because of my grief;
they are worn out[o] because of all my foes.
9 Depart from me, all you evildoers,[p]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
10 The Lord has listened to my pleas;
the Lord has accepted my prayer.
11 All my enemies will be shamed and terrified;
they will flee in utter confusion.[q]
Psalm 10[a]
Prayer for Help against Oppressors
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you remain hidden in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked hunts down the poor;
let him be ensnared by the schemes he has devised.
3 The wicked boasts of his wicked desires;
he upholds the greedy and renounces the Lord.
4 Filled with arrogance, he does not seek God,
but thinks, “God does not exist.”[b]
5 The wicked always seems to prosper;
your judgments are far from his mind,
and he scoffs at all those who oppose him.
6 He says in his heart,[c] “I will not be swayed;
I will never experience misfortune.”
7 His mouth is filled with curses, deceit, and threats;[d]
his tongue breeds evil and malice.
8 He lies in wait near the villages,
and from ambush he slays the innocent;
his eyes are on the watch for the helpless.
9 He lies in wait like a lurking lion,
ready to strike the helpless;
he snares his victims,
seizing them in his net.
10 He crouches and lies low,
and the poor are overwhelmed by his might.
11 He thinks in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
he hides his face and will never see what is happening.”
12 Arise, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God!
Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why should the wicked reject God
and say in his heart,
“He will not call me to account”?
14 But you note our troubles and our grief
so that you may resolve our difficulties.
The helpless entrusts himself to you;
you are the recourse of the fatherless.
15 Break the arms of the sinner and the evildoer;
seek out the wicked
until no more endure.[e]
16 [f]The Lord is King forever and ever;
the heathen will disappear from his land.
17 You listen, O Lord, to the longings of the poor;
you strengthen their courage and heed their prayers.
18 You ensure justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that no one on earth may fill them with terror.
Psalm 11[g]
Unshakable Confidence in God
1 For the director.[h] Of David.
[i]In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to your mountains!
2 For behold, the wicked are bending their bows
as they fit their arrows to the string
so that from the shadows
they can shoot at those who are upright.[j]
3 If the foundations[k] are destroyed,
what can be done by those who are righteous?”
4 [l]The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord, whose throne is in heaven.
His eyes are fixed on the world;
his gaze examines everyone.
5 The Lord tests the upright and the wicked;
he detests the lover of violence.
6 Upon the wicked he will rain down
fiery coals and brimstone;[m]
a scorching wind will be their allotted portion.
7 For the Lord is just
and he loves righteous deeds;
the upright will behold his face.[n]
Recalcitrant Prophet[a]
Chapter 1
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: 2 “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and denounce it, for their wickedness has revealed itself to me.” 3 But Jonah decided to run away from the Lord and flee to Tarshish.[b] He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship that was about to sail to Tarshish. He paid his fare and boarded the ship to journey with the sailors to Tarshish, and away from the presence of the Lord.
4 However, the Lord caused a violent wind to stir up the sea, and such a furious storm arose that the ship seemed to be on the verge of breaking up. 5 The sailors were terror-stricken, and each of them cried out to his god. They also lightened the weight of the ship by throwing the cargo overboard.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship and was lying there fast asleep. 6 The captain found him there and said, “What are you doing there, sound asleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps he will take pity on us and not allow us to perish.”
7 The sailors then said to each other, “Let us cast lots so that we can discover who is to blame for bringing us this bad luck.” Therefore, they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? What is your nationality?” 9 Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 On hearing this, the sailors were even more terrified, and they said to him, “How could you have done this to us?” For they knew that he was fleeing from the Lord because he had told them so. 11 Then they said, “What shall we do with you to make the sea calm down for us?” For the sea was becoming increasingly more turbulent. 12 Jonah replied, “Pick me up and throw me overboard. Then the sea will calm down for you. I know it is my fault that this great storm has struck you.”
13 Even so, the sailors rowed with all their might to reach the shore, but they were unable to do so inasmuch as the sea was becoming increasingly turbulent. 14 Finally they cried out to the Lord, “Do not allow us to perish, Lord, for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us responsible for causing the death of an innocent man. For you yourself, O Lord, have brought this all about.” 15 Then they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the raging of the sea subsided. 16 On witnessing this, the men were seized by a great fear of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
24 Reactions to Paul’s Speech. While Paul was still speaking in his own defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane.” 25 But he replied, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. What I am asserting is true and reasonable. 26 The king understands these matters, and to him I now speak freely. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, for all this was not done in a corner.[a] 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets?[b] I know that you do.”
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a brief time you can persuade me to become a Christian?” 29 Paul responded, “Whether in a short time or longer, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
30 Then the king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those who had been seated with them. 31 And as they were leaving, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
The Journey to Rome[c]
Chapter 27
Paul’s Voyage toward Rome. 1 When it was decided that we[d] should sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to Julius, a centurion of the Augustan cohort. 2 We embarked on a ship from Adramyttium[e] that was about to sail to ports in the province of Asia, and we put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
3 On the next day, we landed at Sidon,[f] and Julius was considerate enough to allow Paul to visit his friends there and be cared for by them. 4 From there, we put out to sea again and sailed around the sheltered side of Cyprus because of the headwinds. 5 Then, crossing the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.[g]
Storm and Shipwreck. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship[h] that was bound for Italy and put us on board. 7 For a good many days, we made little headway, and we experienced difficulty in reaching Cnidus.[i] Then, as the wind continued to pose difficulties, we sailed for the sheltered side of Crete off Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and reached a place called Fair Havens,[j] near the city of Lasea.
40 Jesus Heals a Woman and Raises a Child.[a] When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they had all been waiting for him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, came forward. Throwing himself at the feet of Jesus, he pleaded with him to come to his house, 42 because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying. And as Jesus went forth, the crowds were pressing in on him.
43 There was a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years, but no one had been able to cure her affliction. 44 Coming up behind him, she touched the fringe of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped immediately.
45 Jesus then asked, “Who was it who touched me?” When everyone denied doing so, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing closely upon you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I could sense power going out from me.”
47 When the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came forward, trembling, and knelt down before him. In the presence of all the people, she related why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately. 48 Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
49 While he was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue leader and said, “Your daughter has died. Do not bother the Teacher any further.” 50 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Do not be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be saved.”
51 When he arrived at the house, he permitted no one to go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Everyone was weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Stop your weeping! She is not dead; she is asleep.” 53 They laughed at him because they knew that she had died.
54 However, Jesus took her by the hand and called out to her, “Little child, arise.” 55 Her spirit returned, and she stood up at once. Then Jesus directed that she be given something to eat. 56 Her parents were stunned, but he gave them strict instructions to tell no one what had happened.
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