Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He reached down to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of [b]destruction, out of the mud;
And (D)He set my feet on a rock, (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not turned to the [c]proud, nor to those who (J)become involved in falsehood.
5 Many, Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 (N)You have not desired [d]sacrifice and meal offering;
You have [e]opened my ears;
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
It is [f]written of me in the scroll of the book.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, my God;
(P)Your Law is within my [g]heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed good news of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your mercy and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[h]Your (V)mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)guilty deeds have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [i]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me;
(AB)Hurry, Lord, to help me.
14 May those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [j]life to destroy it;
May those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [k]in my hurt.
15 May those (AE)be [l]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation continually (AH)say,
“The Lord be exalted!”
17 But (AI)I am afflicted and needy;
(AJ)May the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my savior;
Do not delay, my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”
54 Save me, God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, God;
(D)Listen to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. Selah
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion, (C)wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I (F)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [b]are justified [c]when You speak
And [d]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in secret You will (L)make wisdom known to me.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
[g]Cleanse me, and I will be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Let me hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, God,
And renew a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will [j]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Save me from (AA)the guilt of bloodshed, God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, [k](AD)open my lips,
So that my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
Saul and His Sons Killed in Battle
31 (A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded (B)on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines [a]killed (C)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 (D)The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was gravely wounded by the archers. 4 (E)Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise (F)these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through, and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was unwilling, because he was very fearful. (G)So Saul took [b]his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
7 Now when the people of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and settled in them.
8 It came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them [c]throughout the land of the Philistines, (H)to bring the good news (I)to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 They put his weapons in the [d]temple of (J)Ashtaroth, and (K)they nailed his body to the wall of (L)Beth-shan. 11 Now when (M)the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard [e]what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 (N)all the valiant men got up and walked all night, and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and (O)burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and (P)buried them under (Q)the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and (R)fasted for seven days.
12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were (A)relating all the (B)signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
James’ Judgment
13 After they stopped speaking, [a](C)James responded, saying, “[b]Brothers, listen to me. 14 (D)Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles. 15 The words of (E)the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:
16 ‘(F)After these things (G)I will return,
And I will rebuild the fallen [c]tabernacle of David,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 (H)So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles [d](I)who are called by My name,’
18 (J)Says the Lord, who [e](K)makes these things known from long ago.
19 Therefore, it is (L)my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from [f](M)things contaminated by idols, from (N)acts of sexual immorality, from (O)what has been [g]strangled, and from blood. 21 For (P)from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since [h]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
Miracles and Healing
21 (A)When Jesus had crossed over again in (B)the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and He [a]stayed (C)by the seashore. 22 (D)And one of (E)the synagogue [b]officials, named Jairus, *came, and upon seeing Him, *fell at His feet 23 and *pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and (F)lay Your hands on her, so that she will [c]get well and live.” 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.
25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse— 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His [d]cloak. 28 For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will [e]get well.” 29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her (G)disease. 30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that (H)power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, (I)your faith has [f]made you well; (J)go in peace and be cured of your (K)disease.”
35 While He was still speaking, people *came from the house of the (L)synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the (M)synagogue official, “(N)Do not be afraid, only [g]believe.” 37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him except (O)Peter, [h]James, and John the brother of [i]James. 38 They *came to the house of the (P)synagogue official, and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And after entering, He *said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 And they began laughing at Him. But putting them all outside, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was in bed. 41 And taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha, kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, (Q)I say to you, get up!”). 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astonished. 43 And He (R)gave them strict orders that no one was to know about this, and He told them to have something given her to eat.
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