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.
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “(A)I have sinned, for (B)I have violated the [a]command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25 Now then, (C)please pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for (D)you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 Then Samuel turned to go, but (E)Saul grasped the edge of his robe, and it tore off. 28 So Samuel said to him, “(F)The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29 Also the [b](G)Glory of Israel (H)will not lie nor change His mind; for He is not a man, that He would change His mind.” 30 Then Saul said, “I have sinned; (I)but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before all Israel, and go back with me, (J)so that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him [c]cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is gone!” 33 But Samuel said, “(K)As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to (L)Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at (M)Gibeah of Saul. 35 And (N)Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, though Samuel (O)mourned for [d]Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
Peter’s Ministry
32 Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he also came down to (A)the [a]saints who lived at [b](B)Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years, [c]because he was paralyzed. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your own bed.” Immediately he got up. 35 And all who lived at [d](C)Lydda and (D)Sharon saw him, and they (E)turned to the Lord.
36 Now in (F)Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means [e]Dorcas); this woman was [f]excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually. 37 But it happened [g]at that time that she became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an (G)upstairs room. 38 Since Lydda was near (H)Joppa, (I)the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” 39 So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the (J)room upstairs; and all the (K)widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the [h]tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. 40 But Peter (L)sent them all out and (M)knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “(N)Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling (O)the [i]saints and (P)widows, he presented her alive. 42 It became known all over (Q)Joppa, and (R)many believed in the Lord. 43 And Peter stayed in (S)Joppa many days with (T)a tanner named Simon.
56 And then they returned and (A)prepared spices and perfumes.
And (B)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
The Resurrection
24 (C)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of (D)the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, (E)two men suddenly (F)stood near them in gleaming clothing; 5 and as [a]the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead? 6 He is not here, but He (G)has [b]risen. Remember how He spoke to you (H)while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that (I)the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead.” 8 And (J)they remembered His words, 9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. 10 Now these women were (K)Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to (L)the apostles. 11 But these words appeared [c]to them as nonsense, and they (M)would not believe [d]the women.
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