Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31[a]
Prayer of Trust and Thanksgiving
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
3 Turn your ear to me,
and act quickly to save me.
Be to me a rock[d] of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
4 You are truly my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name,[e] lead and guide me.
5 Deliver me from the snare that has been set for me,
for you are my refuge.
6 Into your hands I commend my spirit;[f]
you will redeem me, O Lord, God of truth.
7 You hate those who cling to false idols,
but I put my trust in the Lord.
8 I will rejoice and exult in your kindness[g]
because you have witnessed my affliction
and have taken note of my anguish.
9 You have not abandoned me into the power of the enemy;
rather, you have set my feet in the open.
10 [h]Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am in trouble.
My weeping is laying waste to my eyes
as well as my soul[i] and my body.
11 My life is consumed with sorrow
and my years with sighing.
My strength ebbs because of my misery,
and my bones are wasting away.
12 I am an object of scorn
to all my enemies,
a loathsome sight to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my friends.
When people catch sight of me outside,
they quickly turn away.
13 I have passed out of their minds
like someone who has died;
I have become like a broken vessel.[j]
14 I have heard the hissing of many:
“There is terror on every side,”[k]
as they conspire together against me
and plot to end my life.
15 But I place my trust in you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
16 My life is in your hands;[l]
deliver me from the power of my enemies,
from the clutches of those who pursue me.
17 Let your face shine[m] upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
18 [n]Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I have cried out to you.
Let the wicked be put to shame
and lie silent in the netherworld.
19 Let their lying lips be struck dumb,
lips that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
20 [o]How great is your goodness, O Lord,
which you have stored up[p] for those who fear you
and which you bestow on those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of all the people.
21 You hide them in the safety of your presence
from those who conspire against them;
you keep them safe in your shelter,
far away from contentious tongues.
22 Blessed[q] be the Lord,
for he has manifested his wondrous kindness to me
when I was under siege.
23 I had cried out in terror,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my plea
when I cried out to you for assistance.
24 Love the Lord, all his saints.[r]
The Lord protects his loyal servants,
but the arrogant he repays beyond measure.
25 Be strong and courageous in your hearts,
all you who place your hope in the Lord.
Psalm 35[a]
Appeal for Help against Injustice
1 Of David.
Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive against me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Grasp your shield and buckler
and spring to my aid.
3 Brandish your spear and battle-ax
against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,[b]
“I am your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life
suffer shame and disgrace.
May those who plan my downfall
be forced to retreat in disgrace.
5 May they be like chaff flying in the wind,[c]
with the angel of the Lord scattering them.
6 May their way be shadowy and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord in pursuit.
7 Without cause they laid a net to trap me;
without cause they dug a pit to ensnare me.
8 May ruin come upon them unawares;
may the net they laid entrap them;
may they topple into the pit they dug.
9 Then my soul[d] will rejoice in the Lord
and exult in his salvation.
10 My whole being[e] will say,
“O Lord, who is there like you?
You deliver those who are weak
from those who are too strong for them,
and you protect the poor and needy
from those who seek to exploit them.”
11 False witnesses step forward
and question me about things I do not know.
12 They give me back evil in place of good
and leave my soul in sorrow.
13 Yet, when they were ill, I put on sackcloth[f]
and afflicted myself with fasting,
while I poured forth prayers from my heart.
14 I went about as though in grief,
as though for a friend or brother.
I bowed down in sorrow
as though lamenting for a mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and came together;
they came together and struck me unawares.
They slandered me without letup.
16 They mocked me with ever increasing fury
as they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 How long,[g] O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from these ravening beasts;
preserve my precious life from these lions.
18 I will offer you thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise you amid the vast throng.
19 Do not allow my treacherous enemies
to gloat over me;
do not permit those who hate me without reason[h]
to wink their eyes at me.
20 [i]For they do not speak words of peace,
but they contrive deceitful words
to lead astray the peaceful in the land.
21 They open wide their mouths shouting, “Aha! Aha!
We have seen it with our own eyes.”
22 You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Awaken and be diligent in my defense;
come to my aid, my God and my Lord.
24 [j]Defend me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them think,
“Aha! This is just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say,
“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let all those who rejoice at my downfall
be put to shame and dismayed.
Let those who rise up arrogantly against me
be covered with shame and dishonor.
27 But let those who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad.
Let them cry out continually,
“Exalted be the Lord
who delights to see his servant in peace.”
28 Then my tongue shall proclaim your righteousness
and sing your praise all the day long.
Chapter 21
The Priest and the Holy Band. 1 David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech was afraid when he encountered David and he said to him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king sent me on some business, and he said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about this task on which I am sending you or what I commanded you to do.’ I have sent my young men to such and such a place. 3 Now, therefore, what do you have at hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”
4 The priest answered David saying, “I do not have any regular bread at hand, but there is consecrated bread, if the young men have abstained from being with women.” 5 David answered the priest saying, “We have assuredly abstained from being with women these three days since I set out. The young men’s gear is consecrated even on missions that are not consecrated. How much more is their gear consecrated today.”
6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, because there was no other bread than the shewbread. The shewbread had been removed from before the Lord and taken away when it was replaced by the hot bread.[a]
7 One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg, the Edomite, and he was Saul’s chief shepherd.
Goliath’s Sword. 8 David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or a sword at hand? I did not bring either my sword nor any other weapon because the king’s mission had to be done in haste.” 9 The priest answered, “The sword of Goliath, the Philistine whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod.[b] If you want it, take it, because it is the only one here.” David said, “There is none like it, give it to me.”
10 That day David rose up and fled because he was afraid of Saul. He went to Achish, the king of Gath. 11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Is he not the one they sing about as they dance, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed his ten thousands.’ ”
12 David Pretends Insanity. David took these words to heart, and he was terrified of Achish, the king of Gath. 13 He pretended to be out of his mind in front of them. While he was on his hands he would pound on the doors to the gate, and he would drool down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is out of his mind! Why did you bring him to me? 15 Am I so in need of people who are out of their mind that you brought me this man who is acting so strange? Must this man come into my house?”
13 Paul’s Arrival at Antioch in Pisidia.[a]Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and arrived at Perga[b] in Pamphylia. There, John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 Then they went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch[c] in Pisidia.
On the Sabbath, they went into the synagogue and took their seats. 15 After the readings from the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent this message to them, “Brethren, if you have any words of exhortation to offer to the people, please do so.”
16 Paul’s Speech in the Synagogue. Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak, saying, “Listen, men of Israel and you others who fear God![d] 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made our people great while they were dwelling as foreigners in Egypt. With uplifted arm, he led them out, 18 and for about forty years he endured their conduct in the desert.
19 “After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave their land to his people as their inheritance 20 at the end of about four hundred and fifty years.[e] After that, he appointed judges for them until the time of the prophet Samuel.
21 “Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. He reigned for forty years, 22 after which God removed him and raised up David as their king. In commending him, he said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, to be a man after my own heart. He will carry out my every wish.’
23 “From this man’s descendants, God has fulfilled his promise by raising up for Israel a savior, Jesus. 24 Prior to his coming, John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was nearing the end of his work, he said, ‘I am not the one you believe me to be. One is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to unfasten.’
The Disciples Bear Witness to the Kingdom of God[a]
Summary of the Activity of Jesus.[b] 7 Thereupon Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeshore, and a great multitude of people from Galilee followed him. 8 In addition, having heard of all he was doing, large numbers also came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region of Tyre and Sidon.[c]
9 He instructed his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so that he would not be crushed by the crowds. 10 For he had healed so many that all who were afflicted in any way came crowding around to touch him. 11 And whenever unclean spirits saw him, they would fall at his feet and shout, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
13 Jesus Establishes the Group of the Disciples.[d] Jesus then went up onto the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 [e]He appointed twelve—whom he also named apostles—[f]that they might be his companions and that he might send them out to proclaim the message, 15 with the authority to drive out demons. 16 The twelve he appointed were: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;[g] 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
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