Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
Thanksgiving and Prayer for Help
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]I waited patiently for the Lord;
then he stooped down and heard my cry.
3 He raised me up from the desolate pit,
out of the mire of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a rock,
giving me a firm footing.
4 He put a new song[d] in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will look on and be awestruck,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed[e] is the man
who places his trust in the Lord,
who does not follow the arrogant
or those who go astray after falsehoods.
6 How innumerable, O Lord, my God,
are the wonders you have worked;
no one can compare with you
in the plans you have made for us.
I would proclaim them and recount them,
but there are far too many to enumerate.
7 [f]Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but you have made my ears receptive.[g]
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not demand.
8 [h]Then I said, “Behold I come;
it is written of me in the scroll of the book.
9 To do your will, O God, is my delight;
your law is in my heart.”[i]
10 I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly;
I did not seal my lips,
as you well know, O Lord.
11 I have not concealed your righteousness within the depths of my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and salvation.
I have not concealed your kindness and your truth
in the great assembly.
12 O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me;
may your kindness[j] and your truth keep me safe forever.
13 I am surrounded by evils without number;
my sins have so engulfed me that I cannot see.
They outnumber the hairs on my head,
and my heart sinks within me.[k]
14 [l]Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
15 [m]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.
16 May those who cry out to me, “Aha, aha!”[n]
be overcome with shame and dismay.
17 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “The Lord be magnified.”
18 Even though I am poor and needy,[o]
the Lord keeps me in his thoughts.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
Prayer in Time of Danger
1 For the director.[b] On stringed instruments. A maskil of David. 2 When the Ziphites came to Saul and said, “David is hiding among us.”
3 O God, save me by your name;[c]
vindicate me by your power.
4 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers[d] have risen against me;
those who are ruthless seek my life,
and they have no thought of God. Selah
6 Surely God is my helper;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
7 May their own evil recoil on my foes:
you who are faithful, destroy them.[e]
8 [f]I will freely offer sacrifice to you,
and I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
9 For you have rescued me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.
Psalm 51[a]
The “Miserere”: Repentance for Sin
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David. 2 When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
3 Have mercy on me, O God,
in accord with your kindness;[c]
in your abundant compassion
wipe away my offenses.
4 Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
5 For I am fully aware of my offense,
and my sin is ever before me.
6 Against you, you alone,[d] have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
Therefore, you are right in accusing me
and just in passing judgment.
7 Indeed, I was born in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.[e]
8 But you desire sincerity of heart;[f]
and you endow my innermost being with wisdom.
9 Sprinkle me with hyssop[g] so that I may be cleansed;
wash me until I am whiter than snow.
10 Let me experience joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed exult.
11 Hide your face from my sins,
and wipe out all my offenses.
12 Create[h] in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a resolute spirit within me.
13 Do not cast me out from your presence
or take away from me your Holy Spirit.[i]
14 Restore to me the joy of being saved,
and grant me the strength of a generous spirit.
15 I will teach your ways to the wicked,
and sinners will return to you.
16 Deliver me from bloodguilt,[j] O God,
the God of my salvation,
and I will proclaim your righteousness.
17 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18 For you take no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to make a burnt offering,
you would refuse to accept it.[k]
19 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a contrite and humble heart,[l] O God,
you will not spurn.
20 [m]In your kindness, deal favorably with Zion;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
21 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole oblations,
and young bulls will be offered on your altar.
20 Elijah Destroys the Evil Prophets. So Ahab sent word to all of the Israelites, and he gathered together the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah approached all of the people and said, “How long will you be stuck between two points of view? If the Lord is God, then follow him, but if it is Baal, then follow him.” But the people did not say a single thing to him.[a]
22 Elijah then said to the people, “I am the only prophet of the Lord left, but there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. 23 Now give us two oxen. They can choose which ox is theirs. Let them cut it up and lay it on the wood, but do not set it on fire. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, but I will not set it on fire. 24 Call on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, that is God.” All of the people answered, “You have spoken well.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You can be the first to choose one of the oxen for yourselves and prepare it because you are more numerous. Call upon the name of your gods, but do not set it on fire.”
26 They took the ox that had been given them, and they prepared it. They called upon the name of Baal from the morning until noontime. They said, “Hear us, O Baal.” But there was no voice, and no one answered. They then leapt around on the altar they had built. 27 At noon, Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry out loud, for he is a god. He might be meditating, or maybe he has gone aside. Perhaps he is on a journey, or maybe he is asleep and needs to be woken up.”
28 So they cried out loud, and they slashed themselves with knives and swords as was their custom until blood gushed out from their bodies. 29 In the afternoon they prophesied until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice, no answer, no one listened.
30 Elijah said to all the people, “Come over here to me.” So all the people went over to him. He repaired the altar of God that had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came saying, “Your name will be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar to the name of the Lord. He dug a trench around the altar deep enough to hold two measures of seed. 33 He piled up the wood, and cut up the ox into pieces. He laid them on the wood and said, “Fill four barrels with water and pour them on the burnt sacrifice and the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and the water filled the trench.
36 [b]At the hour for the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet drew near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are the God of Israel, and that I am your servant, and I have done all of these things by your command. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me so that this people might know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 The fire of the Lord fell down and consumed the burnt offering as well as the wood, the stones, the soil, and even the water that it licked up from the trench. 39 When all of the people saw this, they fell down upon their faces and said, “The Lord is God; the Lord is God!”
40 Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Wadi Kishon and killed them there.
Chapter 3
1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
Warning against False Teachers
Worship by the Spirit.[a] I do not mind writing the same things to you again; it is for your safety.
2 Beware of the dogs![b] Beware of evil-doers! Beware of those who mutilate the flesh! 3 For we are the circumcision,[c] we who worship by the Spirit of God and who boast in Christ Jesus and do not place any confidence in the flesh— 4 even though I too have reason for confidence in the flesh.
Joyous Sacrifice of All Things for Christ.[d] If anyone thinks that he has reasons to be confident in the flesh, I have more! 5 I was circumcised on the eighth day of my life. I was one of the people of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin.[e] I am a Hebrew and the son of Hebrews. In regard to the Law, I was a Pharisee; 6 in regard to religious zeal, I was a persecutor of the Church; in regard to righteousness under the Law, I was without fault.
7 All these I once regarded as assets, but now I have come to regard them as losses because of Christ. 8 Even more than that, I count everything as loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all other things, and I regard them as so much rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him.
I do not wish to have any righteousness of my own based on the Law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness given by God in response to faith. 10 All I want is to come to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings by becoming conformed to his death, 11 so that I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Racing toward the Goal.[f] It is not that I have already attained this or have yet reached perfection. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ once took hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not claim to have taken hold of it as yet. Only this one thing: forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the finishing line to win the heavenly prize to which God has called me in Christ Jesus.
15 Those of us who are mature should adopt this same attitude. If on any matter you have a different point of view, this too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us hold fast in our conduct to what we have already attained.
Jesus Inaugurates His Ministry as Savior
Chapter 3
John the Baptist Preaches and Baptizes.[a]1 In those days, John the Baptist[b] appeared in the desert of Judea, preaching: 2 “Repent,[c] for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” This was the man of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said:
3 “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ”[d]
4 John’s clothing was made of camel’s hair, with a leather loincloth around his waist, and his food consisted of locusts and wild honey.[e] 5 The people of Jerusalem and the whole of Judea and the entire region along the Jordan went out to him, 6 and as they confessed their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 [f]But when he observed many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Produce good fruit as proof of your repentance. 9 Do not presume to say to yourselves: ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10 Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 [g]“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I am. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”[h]
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.