Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
Insistent Prayer for Divine Assistance
1 For the director.[b] Of David. For remembrance.
2 [c]Make haste, O God, to rescue me;
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
3 [d]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
4 May those who cry out to me, “Aha! Aha!”[e]
be forced to retreat in shame.
5 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “May God be magnified.”[f]
6 As for me, I am poor and needy;[g]
hasten to my aid, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
Psalm 71[h]
Prayer of the Righteous in Old Age
1 In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness rescue me and deliver me;
hear my plea and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge
to which I can always go;
proclaim the order to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 O my God, rescue me from the hands of the impious,
from the grasp of cruel and ruthless foes.
5 You, O Lord, are my hope,
my confidence, O God, from my youth.
6 I have relied upon you since birth,
and you have been my strength from my mother’s womb;
my praise rises unceasingly to you.[i]
7 I have become a portent to many,[j]
but you are my sure refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praises
as I relate your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in my old age;
do not forsake me when my strength is completely spent.
10 For my enemies speak against me,
and those who seek my life plot together.
11 They say: “God has abandoned him;
go after him and seize him,
for no one will come to his rescue.”
12 O God, do not remain aloof from me;
come quickly to help me, O my God.
13 Let those who accuse me
be put to shame and perish;
let those who are determined to harm me
incur contempt and disgrace.[k]
14 But I will hope in you continually
and will render even more praise to you.
15 [l]My lips will proclaim your righteous deeds
and your salvation all day long,
though I do not know their extent.[m]
16 I will speak of your mighty deeds, O Lord God,
and declare your righteousness,[n] yours alone.
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and to this day I proclaim your marvelous works.
18 Now that I am old and my hair is gray,[o]
do not abandon me, O God,
until I have extolled your might
to all the generations yet to come,
your strength 19 and your righteousness, O God,
to the highest heavens.
You have done great things;
O God, who is there who is like you?
20 You have shown me many afflictions and hardships,
but you will once again revive me.
From the depths of the earth[p]
you will once again raise me up.
21 You will restore my honor
and console me once again.
22 Then I will also praise[q] you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 When I sing to you, my lips will rejoice,
and so will my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 All day long my tongue
will relate your righteousness.
For those who intended to do me harm
will suffer shame and disgrace.
Psalm 74[a]
Prayer in Time of Calamity
1 A maskil[b] of Asaph.
Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?
Why[c] does your anger blaze forth
against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the people that you purchased long ago,
the tribe that you redeemed as your own possession,[d]
and Mount Zion that you chose as your dwelling.
3 Direct now your steps[e] to the endless ruins,
toward the sanctuary destroyed by the enemy.
4 Your foes exulted triumphantly in the place of your assembly
and set up their memorial emblems.
5 They set upon it with their axes
as if it were a thicket of trees.
6 And then, with hatchets and hammers,
they bludgeoned all the carved work.
7 They set your sanctuary ablaze;
they razed and defiled the dwelling place of your name.[f]
8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly crush them,”
and they burned every shrine of God in the land.[g]
9 Now we see no signs,
there are no longer any prophets,
and none of us knows how long this will last.[h]
10 How long, O God, will the foe mock you?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?[i]
11 Why do you hold back your right hand?
Take it out from your robe and destroy them.[j]
12 Yet you, O God, are my King from of old,
working deeds of salvation throughout the earth.
13 [k]By your power you split the sea in two
and shattered the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave him as food for the wild beasts.
15 You opened up springs and torrents
and turned flowing rivers into dry land.[l]
16 [m]Yours is the day, and yours also is the night,
for you set in place both sun and moon.
17 You fixed all the boundaries of the earth
and created both summer and winter.
18 [n]Remember, O Lord, how the enemy has mocked you,
how a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
19 Do not surrender the soul of your dove[o] to wild beasts;
do not forget forever the life of your poor.
20 Have regard for your covenant!
For the land is filled with darkness,
and the pastures are haunts of violence.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy[p] bless your name.
22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the outbursts of your enemies,
the unceasing tumult of your foes.
Chapter 4
The Death of Ishbaal. 1 When Saul’s son Ishbaal heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed him, and all Israel was alarmed. 2 Ishbaal had two men who served as captains of raiding parties; one was named Baanah, and the other was named Rechab. They were the sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from Beeroth—for Beeroth is regarded as being part of Benjamin. 3 The people of Beeroth had fled to Gittaim, where they have remained as aliens to this very day.
4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, the young boy fell to the ground and became lame. His name was Meribbaal.[a]
5 The sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, Rechab and Baanah, arrived at the house of Ishbaal during the hottest part of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 The woman who was stationed at the door had fallen asleep while she was sifting wheat. 7 Therefore, Rechab and his brother quietly slipped past her and entered the house, and when they found him asleep on the couch in his bedroom, they attacked and killed him and cut off his head. Then they took his head and traveled throughout the night by way of the Arabah.
The Murder Avenged.[b] 8 When they arrived in Hebron, they brought the head of Ishbaal to David and said to the king: “Here is the head of Ishbaal, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. Thus has the Lord this day avenged my lord the king on Saul and his offspring.”
9 Then David replied to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite: “As the Lord lives, he who has delivered me from every danger, 10 in Ziklag I seized and ordered to be killed the man who brought me word that Saul was dead. That was how I rewarded him. 11 How much more then should I take such action when wicked men have slain an innocent man as he was lying on his bed in his house. Should I not now exact vengeance on you for shedding his blood and remove you from the face of the earth?”
12 Therefore, at David’s command, his young soldiers killed them. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron. However, they took the head of Ishbaal and buried it in Abner’s grave at Hebron.
25 Paul Set Free. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly, there was such a huge earthquake that the very foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains were loosened.
27 When the jailer awakened and saw all the doors of the prison wide open, he drew his sword, intending to kill himself, since he assumed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 However, Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
29 The jailer called for lights and, rushing in, he threw himself before Paul and Silas, trembling with fear. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and so too will your household.” 32 After this, they preached the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
33 At that late hour of the night, the jailer took them and bathed their wounds. Then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 Afterward, he brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced over their belief in God.
35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent police officers with the order, “Let those men go.” 36 The jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go. Now you can come out and depart in peace.” 37 But Paul said to the officers, “We are Roman citizens. They gave us a public beating and threw us into prison without a trial. And now they are going to release us secretly. Absolutely not! Let them come in person and escort us out themselves.”
38 The officers reported Paul’s words, and the magistrates became alarmed when they learned that those men were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them, then escorted them out and begged them to leave the city. 40 After emerging from the prison, they went to Lydia’s home, where they met the brethren and spoke words of encouragement to them. Then they departed.
Chapter 7
Traditions That Falsify the Law of God.[a] 1 When the Pharisees, along with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus, 2 they noted that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 For the Pharisees, and in fact all Jews, do not eat without thoroughly washing their hands, thereby observing the tradition of the elders. 4 And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without first washing. In addition, there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and jugs and bronze kettles and tables.[b]
5 Therefore, the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but eat with unclean hands?” 6 He answered, “How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You thrust aside the commandment of God in order to preserve the traditions of men.”[c]
9 Then he said to them, “How cleverly you have set aside the commandment of God to preserve your own tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother will be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: “Anything I might have used for your support is Corban” ’[d] (that is, dedicated to God), 12 then he is forbidden by you from that very moment to do anything for his father or mother. 13 You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things just like that.”
14 Clean and Unclean.[e] Then he called the people to him and said to them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 There is nothing that goes into a person from outside that can defile him. The things that come out of a person are what defile him. [ 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!]”[f]
17 When he had gone into the house, away from the crowds, his disciples questioned him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.
20 Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.”
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