Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the music director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Listen to my words, Lord,
Consider my (B)sighing.
2 Listen to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will present my [c]prayer to You and be on the (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil can dwell with You.
5 The (I)boastful will not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do injustice.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak lies;
The Lord loathes (M)the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant graciousness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of my enemies;
Make Your way [e]straight before me.
9 For there is (T)nothing [f]trustworthy in [g]their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them pay, God;
(W)Have them fall by their own schemes!
(X)Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But (Z)rejoice, all who (AA)take refuge in You,
Sing for joy forever!
And [i]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may rejoice in You.
12 For You (AD)bless the righteous person, Lord,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a shield.
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the music director; with stringed instruments, [j]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 Lord, (AF)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am (AG)frail;
(AH)Heal me, Lord, for (AI)my bones are horrified.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly horrified;
But You, Lord—(AK)how long?
4 Return, Lord, (AL)rescue my [k]soul;
Save me because of Your mercy.
5 For (AM)there is no [l]mention of You in death;
In [m]Sheol, who will praise You?
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[b]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [c]the greedy person curses and (G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
4 The wicked, [d]in his haughtiness, (H)does not seek Him.
(I)There is no God in all his schemes.
5 His ways (J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[e]Throughout the generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
He (R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [f]surreptitiously watch for the [g](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in secret like (T)a lion in his [h]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (W)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, Lord; God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[j]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (AB)harm and provocation to [k]take it into Your hand.
The [l](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[m](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [n]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain?
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They have [o](AR)set their arrow on the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His (AU)holy temple; the [p]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes see, His eyelids test the sons of mankind.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And His soul hates one who loves violence.
6 He will (AZ)rain [q]coals of fire upon the wicked,
(BA)And brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [r]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)see His face.
25 “(A)To whom then will you compare Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
26 (B)Raise your eyes on high
And see (C)who has created these stars,
The (D)One who brings out their [a]multitude by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the (E)greatness of His might and the [b]strength of His power,
(F)Not one of them is missing.
27 (G)Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel,
“My way is (H)hidden from the Lord,
And the (I)justice due me [c]escapes the notice of (J)my God”?
28 (K)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The (L)Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is (M)unsearchable.
29 He gives strength to the (N)weary,
And to the one who lacks might He (O)increases power.
30 Though (P)youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous (Q)young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who [d]wait for the Lord
Will (R)gain new strength;
They will [e](S)mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
15 For this reason I too, (A)having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and [a]your love for (B)all the [b]saints, 16 (C)do not cease giving thanks for you, (D)while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the (E)God of our Lord Jesus Christ, (F)the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of (G)wisdom and of (H)revelation in the [c]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that (I)the eyes of your heart [d]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the (J)hope of His (K)calling, what are (L)the riches of the glory of (M)His inheritance in (N)the [e]saints, 19 and what is the [f]boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. (O)These are in accordance with the working of the (P)strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He (Q)raised Him from the dead and (R)seated Him at His right hand in (S)the heavenly places, 21 far above (T)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every (U)name that is named, not only in (V)this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He (W)put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him (X)head over all things to the church, 23 which is His (Y)body, the (Z)fullness of Him who (AA)fills (AB)all in all.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
14 (A)Now after John was [a]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, [b](B)preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “(C)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; (D)repent and [c]believe in the gospel.”
16 (E)As He was going along the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will have you become fishers of people.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 And going on a little farther, He saw [d]James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, [e]who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and went away [f]to follow Him.
21 (F)They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus (G)entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 And (H)they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “(I)What [g]business do You have with us, Jesus [h]of (J)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: (K)the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 After throwing him into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him. 27 And they were all (L)amazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28 Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding region of Galilee.
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