Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, [a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18 “I love You, Lord, (A)my strength.”
2 The Lord is (B)my rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)savior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)ropes of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of [b]destruction [c]terrified me.
5 The (L)ropes of [d]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)from His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the (P)earth shook and quaked;
And the (Q)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up [e]out of His nostrils,
And (R)fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
9 He also (S)bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick (T)darkness under His feet.
10 He rode on a (U)cherub and flew;
And He sped on the (V)wings of the wind.
11 He made (W)darkness His hiding place, (X)His [f]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
12 From the (Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and (Z)coals of fire.
13 The Lord also (AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He (AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and [g]routed them.
15 Then the (AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your (AD)rebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the (AE)breath of Your nostrils.
16 He (AF)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of (AG)many waters.
17 He (AH)saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were (AI)too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in (AJ)the day of my disaster,
But (AK)the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an (AL)open place;
He rescued me, because (AM)He delighted in me.
20 The Lord has (AN)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the (AO)cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have (AP)kept the ways of the Lord,
And have (AQ)not acted wickedly against my God.
22 For all (AR)His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His (AS)statutes from me.
23 I was also [h](AT)blameless with Him,
And I (AU)kept myself from my wrongdoing.
24 Therefore the Lord has (AV)repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25 With (AW)the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the [i]blameless (AX)You prove Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself (AY)pure,
And with the crooked (AZ)You show Yourself [j]astute.
27 For You (BA)save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate (BB)haughty eyes.
28 For You (BC)light my lamp;
The Lord my God (BD)illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can (BE)run at a [k]troop of warriors;
And by my God I can (BF)leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is [l](BG)blameless;
The (BH)word of the Lord is refined;
He is a (BI)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For (BJ)who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a (BK)rock, except our God,
32 The God who (BL)encircles me with strength,
And [m]makes my way [n](BM)blameless?
33 He (BN)makes my feet like deer’s feet,
And (BO)sets me up on my high places.
34 He (BP)trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can (BQ)bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me (BR)the shield of Your salvation,
And Your (BS)right hand upholds me;
And (BT)Your [o]gentleness makes me great.
36 You (BU)enlarge my steps under me,
And my [p](BV)feet have not slipped.
37 I (BW)pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back (BX)until they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were (BY)not able to rise;
They fell (BZ)under my feet.
39 For You have (CA)encircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me (CB)to bow down under me.
40 You have also made my enemies (CC)turn their backs to me,
And I [q](CD)destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was (CE)no one to save,
They cried to the Lord, but (CF)He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine like the (CG)dust before the wind;
I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.
43 You have rescued me from the (CH)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as (CI)head of the nations;
A (CJ)people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners (CK)pretend to obey me.
45 Foreigners (CL)lose heart,
And (CM)come trembling out of their [r]fortresses.
46 The Lord (CN)lives, and blessed be (CO)my rock;
And exalted be (CP)the God of my salvation,
47 The God who (CQ)executes vengeance for me,
And (CR)subdues peoples under me.
48 He (CS)rescues me from my enemies;
You indeed (CT)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a (CU)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (CV)give thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will (CW)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [s](CX)salvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to (CY)His anointed,
To David and (CZ)his [t]descendants forever.
Nineveh Repents
3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (A)Nineveh, the great city, and (B)proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 3 So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was [a]an (C)exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he (D)cried out and said, “Forty more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a (E)fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, removed his robe from himself, (F)covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the [b]dust. 7 And he issued a (G)proclamation, and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: No person, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat, or drink water. 8 But every person and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and people are to (H)call on God vehemently, and they are to (I)turn, each one from his evil way, and from the violence which is in their hands. 9 (J)Who knows, God may turn and relent, and turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw their deeds, that they (K)turned from their evil way, then (L)God relented of the disaster which He had declared He would [c]bring on them. So He did not do it.
Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
4 But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became (M)angry. 2 Then he (N)prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was this not [d]what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore in anticipation of this I (O)fled to Tarshish, since I knew that You are a (P)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in mercy, and One who relents of disaster. 3 So now, Lord, please (Q)take my [e]life from me, for death is (R)better to me than life.” 4 But the Lord said, “Do you have a good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of [f]it. There he made a shelter for himself and (S)sat under it in the shade, until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God designated a [g]plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to [h]relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah [i]was overjoyed about the plant. 7 But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it (T)withered. 8 And when the sun came up God designated a scorching (U)east wind, and the (V)sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “(W)Death is better to me than life!”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [j]came up overnight and perished [k]overnight. 11 Should I not also (X)have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not (Y)know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many (Z)animals?”
27 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that [a]they were approaching some land. 28 And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. 29 Fearing that we might (A)run aground somewhere on the [b]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and [c]prayed for daybreak. 30 But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down (B)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the (C)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.
33 Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing. 34 Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for (D)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 35 Having said this, he took bread and (E)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat. 36 All (F)of them [d]were encouraged and they themselves also took food. 37 We were 276 [e](G)people on the ship in all. 38 When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by (H)throwing the wheat out into the sea.
39 Now when day came, (I)they [f]could not recognize the land; but they did notice a bay with a beach, and they resolved to run the ship onto it if they could. 40 And casting off (J)the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and they hoisted the foresail to the wind and were heading for the beach. 41 But they struck a [g]reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to (K)kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; 43 but the centurion, (L)wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to [h]jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that (M)they all were brought safely to land.
Peter Says Jesus Is The Christ
18 (A)And it happened that while He was (B)praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the [a]people say that I am?” 19 They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “(C)The [b]Christ of God.” 21 But He [c](D)warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, 22 (E)saying, “(F)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”
23 And He was saying to them all, “(G)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For (H)whoever wants to save his [d]life will lose it, but whoever loses his [e]life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. 25 For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but (I)loses or forfeits himself? 26 (J)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 But I say to you truthfully, (K)there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
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