Book of Common Prayer
A song. A Psalm of Asaph
A Plea for Judgment
83 God, do not rest!
Don’t be silent!
Don’t stay inactive, God!
2 See! Your enemies rage;
those who hate you issue threats.[a]
3 They plot against[b] your people
and conspire against your cherished ones.
4 They say, “Let us go and erase them as a nation
so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore.”
5 Indeed, they shrewdly planned together,
forming an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites,
Moab, the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia,
and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria joined them
to strengthen the descendants of Lot.
9 Deal with them as you did to Midian,[c]
Sisera, and Jabin at the Kishon Brook.[d]
10 They were destroyed at En-dor
and became as dung on the ground.
11 Punish their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,[e]
and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,[f]
12 who said, “Let us possess the pastures of God.”
13 God, set them up like dried thistles,
like straw before the wind.
14 Like a fire burning a forest,
and a flame setting mountains ablaze.
15 Pursue them with your storm and
terrify them with your whirlwind.
16 Fill their faces with shame
until they seek your name, God.
17 Let them be humiliated and terrified permanently
until they die in shame.[g]
18 Then they will know that you alone—
whose name is Lord—
are the Most High over all the earth.
A Davidic Psalm.
The Lord Shepherds His People
23 The Lord is the one who is shepherding me;
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass;
he guides me beside quiet waters.
3 He revives my life;
he leads me in pathways that are righteous
for the sake of his name.[a]
4 Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness,[b]
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me,
even in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will remain in[c] the Lord’s Temple forever.[d]
Davidic
Confidence in the Lord
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom will I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom will I be afraid?
2 When those who practice evil, my enemies, and my oppressors
come near me to devour my flesh,
they stumble and fall.
3 If an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear.
If a war is launched against me,
I will even trust in that situation.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I really seek:
that I may remain in the Lord’s Temple
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord;
and to inquire in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter on the day of evil;
He will hide me in a secluded chamber within his tent;
He will place me on a high rock.
6 Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies,
even those who surround me.
I will sacrifice in his tent with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melodies to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice, Lord, when I cry out!
Be gracious to me and answer me.
8 My mind recalls your word,[a]
“Seek my face,”
so your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn away in anger from your servant.
You have been my help,
therefore do not abandon or forsake me,
God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother abandoned me,
the Lord gathers me up.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
12 Do not hand me over to the desires of my enemies;
for false witnesses have risen up against me;
even the one who breathes out violence.
13 I believe that I will see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord.
Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart.
Wait on the Lord!
To the Director: A Psalm by the descendants of Korah.
Restore Us, God
85 Lord you have favored your land
and restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You took away the iniquity of your people,
forgiving all their sins.
3 You withdrew all your wrath
and turned away from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, God of our salvation,
and stop being angry with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger from generation to generation?
6 Will you restore our lives again
so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Lord, show your gracious love
and deliver us.
8 Let me listen to what God, the Lord, says;
for the Lord will promise peace
to his people, to his holy ones;
may they not return to foolishness.
9 Surely, he will soon deliver those who fear him,
for his glory will live in our land.
10 Gracious love and truth meet;
righteousness and peace kiss.
11 Truth sprouts up from the ground,
while righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 The Lord will also provide what is good,
and our land will yield its produce.
13 Righteousness will go before him
to prepare a path for his steps.
A Davidic prayer
Help Us, God
86 Lord, listen and answer me,
for I am afflicted and needy.
2 Protect me, for I am faithful;[a]
My God, deliver your servant who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me Lord,
for I call on you all day long.
4 Your servant rejoices,
because, Lord, I set my hope on[b] you.
5 Indeed you, Lord, are kind and forgiving,
overflowing with gracious love to everyone who calls on you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
attend to my prayer of supplication.
7 In my troubled times I will call on you,
for you will answer me.
8 No one can compare with you among the gods, Lord;
No one can accomplish[c] your work.
9 All the nations that you have established will come
and worship you, my Lord.
They will honor your name.
10 For you are great,
and you are doing awesome things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your ways, Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
let me wholeheartedly[d] revere your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole being;
and I will honor your name continuously.
13 For great is your gracious love to me;
you’ve delivered me from the depths of Sheol.[e]
14 God, arrogant men rise up against me,
while a company of ruthless individuals want to kill me.
They do not have regard for you.[f]
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate God,
merciful and patient,[g]
with unending gracious love and faithfulness.
16 Return to me and have mercy on me;
clothe your servant with your strength
and deliver the son of your maid servant.
17 Show me a sign of your goodness,
so that those who hate me will see it and be ashamed.
For you, Lord, will help and comfort me.
The Lord’s Restoration of the Land
21 “Stop being afraid, land!
Rejoice and be glad,
because the Lord will do great things.
22 Stop being afraid, beasts of the field,
because the desert pastures will bloom,
the trees will bear their fruit,
and the fig tree and vine will deliver their wealth.
23 And so be glad, children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
because he has given you the right amount of early rain,
and he will cause the rain to fall for you,
both the early rain and the later rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be smothered in grain,
and the vats will overflow with wine and oil.
25 “Then I will restore to you the years that the locust swarm devoured,
as did the young locust, the other locusts, and the ravaging locust,
that great army of mine that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, and will be fully satisfied.
You will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has performed wonders specifically for you.
And my people will never be ashamed.
27 As a result, you will know that I am in the midst of Israel;
that I myself am the Lord your God—
and there is none other!
And my people will never be ashamed.”
Greetings
1 From:[a] James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[b]
To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion.[c]
Greetings.
Responding Wisely to Life
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 Such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he undertakes.[d]
9 A brother of humble means should rejoice in his having been exalted, 10 and a rich person in his having been humbled, because he will fade away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass. The flower in it drops off, and its beauty is gone. That is how the rich person will fade away in his pursuits.
Trial and Temptation
12 How blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor’s crown of life that God[e] has promised to those who keep on loving him. 13 When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 14 Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. 15 When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
The Story of the Loving Father
11 Then Jesus[a] said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger one told his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So the father[b] divided his property between them. 13 A few days later, the younger son gathered everything he owned and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted it all[c] on wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went out to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 No one would give him anything, even though he would gladly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating.
17 “Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven[d] and you. 19 I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Treat me like one of your hired men.”’
20 “So he got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son,[e] threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately. 21 Then his son told him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven[f] and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’[g] 22 But the father told his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate! 24 Because my son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now the father’s[h] older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called to one of the servants and asked what was happening. 27 The servant[i] told him, ‘Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got him back safely.’
28 “Then the older son[j] became angry and wouldn’t go into the house.[k] So his father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I’ve never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you’ve never given me so much as a young goat for a festival[l] so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came back, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
31 “His father[m] told him, ‘My child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.