Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61[a]
Prayer of the King in Time of Danger
1 For the leader; with stringed instruments. Of David.
I
2 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer!
3 From the ends of the earth[b] I call;
my heart grows faint.
Raise me up, set me on a rock,
4 for you are my refuge,
a tower of strength against the foe.(A)
5 Let me dwell in your tent forever,
take refuge in the shelter of your wings.(B)
Selah
II
6 For you, O God, have heard my vows,
you have granted me the heritage of those who revere your name.
7 Add days to the life of the king;
may his years be as from generation to generation;(C)
8 (D)May he reign before God forever;
send your love and fidelity[c] to preserve him—(E)
9 I will duly sing to your name forever,
fulfill my vows day after day.
Psalm 62[d]
Trust in God Alone
1 For the leader; ‘al Jeduthun.[e] A psalm of David.
I
2 My soul rests in God alone,(F)
from whom comes my salvation.
3 God alone is my rock and salvation,
my fortress; I shall never fall.
4 How long will you set yourself against a man?
You shall all be destroyed,
Like a sagging wall
or a tumbled down fence!
5 Even highly placed people
plot to overthrow him.
They delight in lies;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.(G)
Selah
II
6 My soul, be at rest in God alone,
from whom comes my hope.
7 God alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not fall.
8 My deliverance and honor are with God,(H)
my strong rock;
my refuge is with God.
9 Trust God at all times, my people!
Pour out your hearts to God our refuge!
Selah
III
10 Mortals are a mere breath,
the sons of man but an illusion;(I)
On a balance they rise;[f]
together they weigh nothing.
11 Do not trust in extortion;
in plunder put no empty hope.
On wealth that increases,
do not set your heart.(J)
12 [g]One thing God has said;
two things I have heard:(K)
Strength belongs to God;
13 so too, my Lord, does mercy,
For you repay each man
according to his deeds.(L)
Psalm 68[a]
The Exodus and Conquest, Pledge of Future Help
1 For the leader. A psalm of David; a song.
I
2 [b]May God arise;
may his enemies be scattered;
may those who hate him flee before him.(A)
3 As the smoke is dispersed, disperse them;
as wax is melted by fire,
so may the wicked perish before God.(B)
4 Then the just will be glad;
they will rejoice before God;
they will celebrate with great joy.
II
5 Sing to God, praise his name;
exalt the rider of the clouds.[c]
Rejoice before him
whose name is the Lord.(C)
6 Father of the fatherless, defender of widows(D)—
God in his holy abode,
7 God gives a home to the forsaken,
who leads prisoners out to prosperity,
while rebels live in the desert.[d]
III
8 God, when you went forth before your people,(E)
when you marched through the desert,
Selah
9 The earth quaked, the heavens poured,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
10 You poured abundant rains, God,
your inheritance was weak and you repaired it.
11 Your creatures dwelt in it;
you will establish it in your goodness for the poor, O God.
IV
12 The Lord announced:
“Those bringing news are a great Army.
13 The kings of the armies are in desperate flight.(F)
Every household will share the spoil,
14 though you lie down among the sheepfolds,(G)
you shall be covered with silver as the wings of a dove,
her feathers bright as fine gold.”
15 When the Almighty routs the kings there,
it will be as when snow fell on Zalmon.[e]
V
16 You mountain of God, mountain of Bashan,
you rugged mountain, mountain of Bashan,
17 You rugged mountains, why look with envy
at the mountain[f] where God has chosen to dwell,
where the Lord resides forever?(H)
18 God’s chariots were myriad, thousands upon thousands;
from Sinai the Lord entered the holy place.
19 You went up to its lofty height;
you took captives, received slaves as tribute,(I)
even rebels, for the Lord God to dwell.
VI
20 Blessed be the Lord day by day,
God, our salvation, who carries us.(J)
Selah
21 Our God is a God who saves;
escape from death is the Lord God’s.
22 God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy scalp of the one who walks in sin.(K)
23 The Lord has said:
“Even from Bashan I will fetch them,
fetch them even from the depths of the sea.[g]
24 You will wash your feet in your enemy’s blood;
the tongues of your dogs will lap it up.”(L)
VII
25 [h]Your procession comes into view, O God,
your procession into the holy place, my God and king.
26 The singers go first, the harpists follow;
in their midst girls sound the timbrels.(M)
27 In your choirs, bless God;
Lord, Israel’s fountain.
28 In the lead is Benjamin, few in number;
there the princes of Judah, a large throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali, too.(N)
VIII
29 Summon again, O God, your power,
the divine power you once showed for us,
30 From your temple on behalf of Jerusalem,
that kings may bring you tribute.
31 Roar at the wild beast of the reeds,[i]
the herd of mighty bulls, the calves of the peoples;
trampling those who lust after silver
scatter the peoples that delight in war.
32 Let bronze be brought from Egypt,(O)
Ethiopia hurry its hands to God.(P)
IX
33 You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;(Q)
chant the praises of the Lord,
Selah
34 Who rides the heights of the ancient heavens,
Who sends forth his voice as a mighty voice?
35 Confess the power of God,
whose majesty protects Israel,
whose power is in the sky.
36 Awesome is God in his holy place,
the God of Israel,
who gives power and strength to his people.(R)
Blessed be God!
Chapter 2
Infidelity of Israel.[a] 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!
I remember the devotion[b] of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the wilderness,
in a land unsown.(A)
3 Israel was dedicated to the Lord,
the first fruits[c] of his harvest;
All who ate of it were held guilty,
evil befell them—oracle of the Lord.(B)
4 Listen to the word of the Lord, house of Jacob!
All you clans of the house of Israel,
5 thus says the Lord:
What fault did your ancestors find in me
that they withdrew from me,
Went after emptiness,
and became empty themselves?(C)
6 They did not ask, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of wastes and ravines,
A land of drought and darkness,
a land which no one crosses,
where no one dwells?”(D)
7 I brought you into the garden land
to eat its fine fruits,
But you entered and defiled my land,
you turned my heritage into an abomination.(E)
8 The priests did not ask,
“Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law[d] did not know me:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.(F)
9 Therefore I will again accuse you—oracle of the Lord—
even your children’s children I will accuse.(G)
10 Cross to the coast of Cyprus and see,
send to Kedar[e] and carefully inquire:
Where has anything like this been done?
11 Does any other nation change its gods?—
even though they are not gods at all!
But my people have changed their glory
for useless things.(H)
12 Be horrified at this, heavens;
shudder, be appalled—oracle of the Lord.
13 Two evils my people have done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.(I)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek.(A) 17 For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith;[a] as it is written, “The one who is righteous by faith will live.”(B)
Punishment of Idolaters. 18 [b]The wrath[c] of God[d] is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness(C) of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.(D) 20 Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.(E) As a result, they have no excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.(F) 22 While claiming to be wise,(G) they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.(H)
24 Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts[e] for the mutual degradation of their bodies.(I) 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.(J)
Return to Galilee. 43 [a]After the two days, he left there for Galilee. 44 [b](A)For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. 45 When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Second Sign at Cana.[c] 46 (B)Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”(C) 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.(D) 51 While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. 54 [Now] this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.(E)
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