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.
17 “The poor and needy are seeking (A)water, but there is none,
And their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, (B)will answer them Myself;
As the God of Israel I (C)will not abandon them.
18 I will open (D)rivers on the bare heights,
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make (E)the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land fountains of water.
19 I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia, the (F)myrtle, and the olive tree;
I will place the (G)juniper in the desert,
Together with the elm tree and the cypress,
20 So that (H)they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the (I)hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 “[a]Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your evidence,”
The (J)King of Jacob says.
22 (K)Let them bring them forward and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the (L)former events, declare what they were,
So that we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
23 (M)Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
So that we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, (N)do good or evil, that we may be afraid and fear together.
24 Behold, (O)you are less than nothing,
And (P)your work is less than nothing!
He who chooses you is an (Q)abomination.
25 “I have put (R)one from the north into motion, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon [b](S)mortar,
As the potter treads on clay.”
26 Who has (T)declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
There was (U)no one at all who declared,
There was no one at all who proclaimed,
There was no one at all who heard your words.
27 “(V)Previously I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a (W)messenger of good news.’
28 But (X)when I look, there is no one,
And there is no (Y)counselor [c]among them
Who, if I ask, can (Z)give an answer.
29 Behold, all of them are [d]false;
Their (AA)works are (AB)nothing,
Their cast metal images are (AC)wind and emptiness.
11 Therefore remember that (A)previously (B)you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “(C)Uncircumcision” by the so-called “(D)Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, [a](E)excluded from [b]the people of Israel, and strangers to (F)the covenants of the promise, having (G)no hope and (H)without God in the world. 13 But now in (I)Christ Jesus you who (J)previously were (K)far away [c]have (L)been brought near [d](M)by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is (N)our peace, (O)who made both groups into one and broke down the [e]barrier of the dividing wall, 15 [f]by (P)abolishing [g]in His flesh the hostility, which is (Q)the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might [h](R)make the two (S)one new person, in this way establishing (T)peace; 16 and that He might (U)reconcile them both in (V)one body to God through the cross, [i]by it having (W)put to death the hostility. 17 And (X)He came and preached (Y)peace to you who were (Z)far away, and peace to those who were (AA)near; 18 for through Him we both have (AB)our access in (AC)one Spirit to (AD)the Father. 19 So then you are no longer (AE)strangers and foreigners, but you are (AF)fellow citizens with the [j]saints, and are of (AG)God’s household, 20 having been (AH)built on (AI)the foundation of (AJ)the apostles and prophets, (AK)Christ Jesus Himself being the (AL)cornerstone, 21 (AM)in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into (AN)a holy [k]temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being (AO)built together into a (AP)dwelling of God in the Spirit.
The Paralyzed Man Healed
2 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And (A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 (B)And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was (C)paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 And when they were unable to [a]get to Him because of the crowd, they (D)removed the roof [b]above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the (E)paralyzed man was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, (F)your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! (G)Who can forgive sins except God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware [c]in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the (H)paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and (I)were glorifying God, saying, “(J)We have never seen anything like this!”
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