Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56[a]
Boundless Trust in God
1 For the director.[b] According to Yonath elem rehoqim. A miktam of David. When the Philistines seized him at Gath.
2 Be merciful to me, O God,
for people are trampling upon me;
all day long they keep up their attack.
3 My foes pursue me all day long,
with their forces too many to number.
4 When I am terrified,
I place my trust in you.
5 In God, whose word[c] I praise,
in God I place my trust and know no fear;
what can people do to me?
6 All day long they slander me;
their one thought is to bring evil upon me.
7 In groups they hide in ambush
and spy on my every step,
determined to take my life.
8 Shall they escape in their iniquity?
Strike down the nations, O God, in your anger.
9 You have kept count of my wanderings
and stored my tears in your flask,
recording all these in your book.[d]
10 My foes will turn back
when I call out to you.
Of this I am confident:
that God is on my side.
11 In God, whose word I praise—
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
12 in God I place my trust and know no fear;
what can people do to me?
13 I am bound, O God, by vows[e] to you,
and I will pay you my debt of gratitude.
14 For you have delivered my life from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk in the presence of God[f]
in the light of the living.
Psalm 57[g]
Trust in God amid Suffering
1 For the director.[h] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David. When he fled from Saul into the cave.
2 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
for in you my soul[i] takes refuge.
I will seek shelter in the shadow of your wings
until the time of danger has passed.
3 I call out to God Most High,
to God who takes care of me.[j]
4 May he send his help from heaven to deliver me
and put to shame those who trample upon me; Selah
may God send his kindness[k] and his faithfulness.
5 I lie prostrate in the midst of lions
who are hungrily seeking human prey.
Their teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongues are razor-sharp swords.
6 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory shine over all the earth.[l]
7 They set a trap for my feet,
and I was overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they themselves fell into it. Selah
8 [m]My heart[n] is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant your praise;
9 awake, my soul!
Awake, lyre and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.[o]
10 [p]I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing your praises among the nations.
11 For your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
12 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory radiate over all the earth.
Psalm 58[q]
The Judge of Unjust Rulers
1 For the director.[r] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David.
2 O you rulers,[s] do you render justice?
Do you judge your people impartially?
3 No! You devise wickedness in your hearts,[t]
and your hands bring about violence on the earth.
4 The wicked have gone astray right from the womb;
from birth these liars have taken the wrong path.[u]
5 Their venom is like that of a serpent;
they are as deaf as an asp that stops its ears
6 so as not to hear the voice of the charmer
no matter how skillful the spells he casts.[v]
7 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of these lions, O Lord.[w]
8 [x]Cause them to vanish like water that drains off;
make them wither like grass that is trampled.[y]
9 Let them melt like a snail[z] that oozes into slime
or like a stillborn child that will never see the sun.
10 Before they sprout thorns[aa] like brambles or thistles,
may your whirlwind sweep them away.
11 The righteous will rejoice
when he sees that justice has been done,
and he will bathe his feet
in the blood[ab] of the wicked.
12 Then the people will say,
“There is truly a reward for the righteous;
there is a God who dispenses justice on the earth.”
Psalm 64[a]
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 Listen, O God, to my cry of lament;
from the dreaded enemy preserve my life.
3 Protect me from the council of the wicked,
from the band of those who do evil.
4 They sharpen their tongues[c] like swords,
and they shoot forth their venomous words like arrows,
5 while they attack the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and without fear.
6 [d]They agree on their evil plan,
and they resolve to lay snares,
saying, “Who will see us?”
7 They plot evil schemes
and devise shrewd plots;
the thoughts of their hearts[e] are hidden.
8 [f]However, God will shoot his arrows at them,[g]
and they will suddenly be struck down.
9 Their own tongues will bring them down,
and all who see them will wag their heads.[h]
10 [i]Then everyone will be in awe,
as they proclaim God’s mighty deeds
and contemplate what he has done.[j]
11 The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will praise him.
Psalm 65[k]
Thanksgiving for Divine Blessings
1 For the director.[l] A psalm of David. A song.
2 It is fitting to offer praise to you,[m]
O God, in Zion.
To you our vows must be fulfilled,
3 for you answer our prayers.
To you all flesh must come,[n]
4 burdened by its sinful deeds.
Too heavy for us are our sins,
and only you can blot them out.[o]
5 Blessed[p] is the one whom you choose
and invite to dwell in your courts.
We will be filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
6 Through your awesome deeds[q] of righteousness,
you respond to us, O God, our Savior;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the far-off islands.
7 Clothed in your great power,
you hold the mountains in place.[r]
8 You quiet the roaring of the seas,
the turbulence of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.[s]
9 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
are awestruck by your wonders.[t]
You call forth songs of joy
from sunrise and sunset.
10 You care for the earth and water it,
making it most fertile.
The streams of God[u] are filled with water
to provide grain for its people.
Thus, you prepare the earth for growth:
11 you water its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its yield.[v]
12 You crown the year with your bounty,[w]
and your tracks dispense fertility.
13 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
and the hills are covered with rejoicing.
14 The meadows are clothed with flocks,
and the valleys are decked out with grain;
in their joy they shout and sing together.[x]
Chapter 2
David Is Anointed King.[a] 1 After this, David inquired of the Lord, asking: “Shall I go up into one of the towns of Judah?” The Lord replied to him: “Go up.” Then David asked: “To which one stall I go?” The Lord answered: “Hebron.”
2 Therefore, David went up to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 David also brought up the men who were with him, along with their families, and they settled in the towns of Hebron. Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David as king of the house of Judah.
4 When David received a report that the men of Jabesh-gilead were the ones who had buried Saul, 5 he sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead to say to them: “May you be blessed by the Lord for having done this act of kindness to your lord Saul by burying him. 6 Now may the Lord bestow his love and faithfulness upon you. Moreover, I too will treat you with kindness because you have done this charitable deed. 7 Therefore, have courage and be valiant, for even though your lord, Saul, is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”
The Reign of David
Ishbaal as King of Israel.[b] 8 Meanwhile the commander of Saul’s army, Abner, the son of Ner, had taken Ishbaal, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 There he made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10 Ishbaal, the son of Saul, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. However, the house of Judah followed David. 11 The length of time that David was in Hebron as king of the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
Paul’s Second Missionary Journey[a]
36 Paul and Barnabas Separate.[b] After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brethren in all the cities where we proclaimed the word of the Lord so that we can see how they are progressing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul was adamant about not taking with them a man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued to share in their work.
39 As a result, there was such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas sailed to Cyprus with Mark. 40 However, Paul chose Silas and set out on his journey, as the brethren commended him to the grace of the Lord.
41 Pastoral Visit to Asia Minor.[c] He traveled through Syria and Cilicia, bringing strength to the churches.
Chapter 16
1 He then moved on to Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy,[d] the son of a Jewish woman who had become a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 The brethren of Lystra and Iconium regarded him highly, 3 and Paul decided to take him along. Therefore, he had him circumcised, because of the Jews in that region who all knew that his father was a Greek.
4 As they traveled from town to town, they made known to the brethren there the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 Day by day, the churches grew strong in the faith and increased in numbers.
14 The Name of Jesus Becomes Renowned.[a] King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become renowned, and some people were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why such powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah,” while still others proclaimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead.”
17 The Death of John the Baptist.[b] It was this same Herod who had ordered John to be arrested and put in chains in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had told Herod, “It is unlawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
19 As for Herodias, she was filled with resentment against John and wanted to have him killed, but she was unable to do so, 20 because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a holy and righteous man. Therefore, he protected him from harm. When he heard John speak, he was greatly perplexed by his words, but even so he liked to listen to him.
21 Her opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his court officials and military officers and the leaders of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in, she performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”
24 The girl went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 The girl then hurried back to the king and made her request, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of the oath he had sworn and the presence of the guests, he was unwilling to break his word to her. 27 Therefore, he immediately ordered an executioner to bring him John’s head. The man went off and beheaded him in the prison. 28 Then he brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl in turn gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and removed his body and laid it in a tomb.
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