Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
Prayer and Thanksgiving
31 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
Let me never be ashamed.
Because you are righteous, deliver me!
2 Listen to me,
and deliver me quickly.
Become a rock of safety for me,
a fortified citadel to deliver me;
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name guide me and lead me.
4 Rescue me from the net that they concealed to trap me;
for you are my strength.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
for you have redeemed me,
Lord God of truth.
6 I despise those who trust vain idols;
but I have trusted in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your gracious love,
for you see my affliction
and take note that my soul is distressed.
8 You have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy,
but you have set my feet in a sturdy[a] place.
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
for I am in distress.
My eyes have been consumed by my grief
along with my soul and my body.
10 My life is consumed by sorrow,
my years with groaning.
My strength has faltered because of my iniquity;[b]
my bones have been consumed.
11 I have become an object of reproach to all my enemies,
especially to my neighbors.
I have become an object of fear to my friends,
and whoever sees me outside runs away from me.
12 Like a dead man, I am forgotten in their thoughts[c]—
like broken pottery.
13 I have heard the slander of many;
it is like terror all around me,
as they conspire together and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 May your face shine on your servant;
in your gracious love, deliver me.
17 Let me not be ashamed, Lord,
for I have called upon you.
Let the wicked be put to shame,
let them be silent in the next life.[d]
18 Let the lying lips be made still,
especially those who speak arrogantly
against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19 How great is your goodness
that you have reserved for those who fear you,
that you have set in place for those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of the children of men.
20 You will hide them in the secret place of your presence,
away from the conspiracies of men.
You will hide them in your tent,
away from their contentious tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord!
In a marvelous way he demonstrated his gracious love to me,
when I was in a city under siege.
22 When I said in my panic,
“I have been cut off in your sight,”
then you surely heard the voice of my prayer
in my plea to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all his godly ones!
The Lord preserves the faithful
and repays those who act with proud motives.
24 Be strong,
and let your heart be courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord.
Davidic
A Prayer for Deliverance
35 Argue my case,[a] Lord,
against those who argue against me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up the buckler[b] and the shield,
and rise up to help me.
3 Take out the spear and the ax to confront the one who pursues me;
say to me, “I am your deliverer!”
4 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and disgraced;
let those who plot evil against me be driven back and confounded.
5 Make them like the chaff before the wind,
as the messenger of the Lord pushes them aside.
6 May their path be dark and slippery,
as the messenger of the Lord tracks them down.
7 Without justification they laid a snare for me;
without justification they dug a pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction come upon them[c] unawares,
and let the net that he hid catch him;
let him fall into destruction.
9 My soul will rejoice in the Lord
and be glad in his deliverance.
10 All my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like you?
Who delivers the weak from the one who is stronger than he,
and the weak and the needy from the one who wants to rob him?”
11 False witnesses stepped forward
and questioned me concerning things
about which I knew nothing.
12 They paid me back evil for good;
my soul mourns.
13 But when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting,
and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them.[d]
14 I paced about as for my friend or my brother,
and fell down mourning as one weeps for one’s mother.
15 But when I stumbled,
they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered together against me—
attackers whom I did not know.
They tore me apart and would not stop.
16 Malicious mockers[e]—
they gnashed[f] their teeth against me.
17 Lord, how long will you just watch?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from these young lions.
18 Then I will give you thanks in front of the great congregation;
in the midst of the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies gloat over me,
nor let those who hate me without justification mock me with their eyes.
20 For they do not speak peace;
they devise clever lies against the peaceful people of the land.
21 They open their mouth wide against me,
claiming, “Yes! Yes! We saw him do[g] it with our own eyes!”
22 You see this, Lord,
so do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me!
23 Wake up! Arouse yourself to vindicate me
and argue my case, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me according to your righteousness, Lord my God!
But do not let them gloat over me.
25 Don’t let them say in their hearts,
“Yes! We got what we wanted.”
Don’t let them say,
“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Instead, let those who gloat over the evil directed against me
be ashamed and confounded together;
Let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 Let those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and rejoice!
Let them continuously say,
“Magnify the Lord, who delights in giving peace to[h] his servant.”
28 My tongue will declare your righteousness
and praise you all day long.
God with Us
10 Later on, the Lord spoke to Ahaz again: 11 “Ask a sign from the Lord your God. Make it as deep as Sheol[a] or as high as heaven above.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I won’t ask! I won’t put the Lord to the test.”
13 In reply, the Lord[b] announced, “Please listen, you household of David. Is it such a minor thing for you to try the patience of[c] men? Must you also try the patience of[d] my God?
14 “Therefore the Lord[e] himself will give you a sign. Watch! The virgin[f] is conceiving a child, and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called[g] Immanuel.[h] 15 He’ll eat cheese[i] and honey, when he knows enough to reject what’s wrong and choose what’s right. 16 However, before the youth knows enough to reject what’s wrong and choose what’s right, the land whose two kings you dread will be devastated.”
Conquest by Assyria
17 “The Lord will bring to you, to your people, and to your ancestor’s house such a time[j] as has never been since Ephraim broke away from Judah—the king of Assyria will come.[k]
18 “At that time,[l] the Lord will call[m] for flies that will come from far away—from the headwaters of Egypt’s rivers—and for bees that are in the land of Assyria. 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines, in the rocky crevices, in all the thorn bushes, and in all the pastures.[n] 20 At that time,[o] the Lord will hire a barber[p] to come[q] from beyond the Euphrates[r] River—that is, the king of Assyria—and he will shave your heads, your leg[s] hair, and your beards, too.
21 “At that time,[t] a man will keep alive a heifer and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will have cheese[u] to eat, since whoever remains in the land will be eating cheese[v] and honey.
23 “At that time,[w] every place where once there were a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels[x] of silver, only briars and thorns will grow.
24 “People will come there armed with bows[y] and arrows, because the entire land will be nothing but briers and thorns. 25 As for all the hills that used to be cultivated with a hoe, you won’t go there, because you’ll fear iron[z] briars and thorns. Nevertheless, those hills[aa] will be reserved as a pasture where cattle will feed and where sheep will graze.”[ab]
13 At all times we are obligated to thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you to be the first fruits[a] for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through faith in the truth. 14 With this purpose in mind, he called you through our proclamation of the[b] gospel so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[c] 15 So then, brothers, stand firm, and cling to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth[d] or by our letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah[e] himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort[f] and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good action and word.
An Example to Follow
3 Finally, brothers, pray for us—that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly, and that it may be honored the way it is among you. 2 Also pray[g] that we may be rescued from worthless and evil people, since not everyone holds to the faith.[h] 3 But the Lord is faithful and will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord[i] that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of the Messiah.[j]
The Lord’s Supper(A)
14 Now when the hour came, Jesus[a] took his place at the table, along with his apostles. 15 He told them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer, 16 because I tell all of you,[b] I will never eat it again until it finds its fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves, 18 because I tell you, from now on I will never drink the product of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 Then he took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it in pieces, and handed it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Keep on doing this in memory of me.”
20 He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant sealed[c] by my blood, which is being poured out for you. 21 Yet look! The hand of the man who is betraying me is with me on the table! 22 The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been determined, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 Then they began to discuss among themselves which one of them was going to do this.
An Argument about Greatness
24 Now an argument sprang up among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 But he told them, “The kings of the unbelievers[d] lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But you are not to do so. On the contrary, the greatest among you should become like the youngest, and the one who leads should become like the one who serves. 27 Because who is greater, the one who sits at the table, or the one who serves? It is the one at the table, isn’t it? But I’m among you as one who serves.
28 “You are the ones who have always stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred a kingdom[e] on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit down on thrones to govern the twelve tribes of Israel.”
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