Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61[a]
Prayer of One in Exile
1 For the director.[b] With stringed instruments. Of David.
2 O God, hear my cry
and listen to my prayer.
3 From the ends of the earth[c] I call to you,
with a heart that is fainting away;
set me high upon a rock.
4 For you are my refuge,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
5 I will abide in your tent forever
and find refuge in the shelter of your wings.[d] Selah
6 For you, O God, have heard my vows
and granted me the heritage of those who fear your name.[e]
7 [f]Add length of days to the life of the king;
may his years be prolonged for many generations.
8 May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever,
and may your kindness and faithfulness watch over him.
9 Then I will sing praise to your name forever
as I fulfill my vows day after day.[g]
Psalm 62[h]
Trust in God Alone
1 For the director.[i] For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
2 In God alone is my soul[j] at rest;
it is from him that my salvation comes.
3 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress, so that I stand ever unshaken.
4 How long will you assault someone,
and all of you beat him down,
as if he were a leaning wall
or a tottering fence?[k]
5 They devise plots to dislodge me
from my place on high[l]
and delight in spreading lies about me.
They bless with their lips,
but they curse in their hearts. Selah
6 In God alone be at rest,[m] O my soul;
it is from him that my hope comes.
7 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress, so that I stand unshaken.
8 My deliverance and my glory depend on God;
he is my mighty rock and my refuge.
9 Trust in him at all times, my people,
and pour out your heart before him,[n]
for God is our refuge. Selah
10 Ordinary people are no more than a breath,
and the great are no more than a delusion.
When they are placed on scales all together,
they are lighter than air.[o]
11 Do not place your trust in extortion,
and set no vain hopes in stolen goods;
no matter how greatly your wealth increases,
do not set your heart[p] on it.
12 One thing God has revealed;
two things have I heard:
that power belongs to you, O God,
13 and so does kindness,[q] O Lord.
You reward each person
in accordance with his deeds.
Psalm 68[a]
Song of Victory
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David. A song.
2 [c]May God rise up, and his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
3 As smoke is blown away in the wind,
so will they be blown away.
As wax melts away before a flame,
so will the wicked perish before God.
4 But those who are righteous will rejoice;
they will exult before God,
crying out with great delight.
5 [d]Sing to God, sing praise to his name;[e]
exalt him who rides upon the clouds.
Rejoice in the presence of this God
whose name is the Lord.
6 [f]The Father of orphans and the defender of widows:
such is God in his holy dwelling place.
7 He gives a home to those who are forsaken
and leads out prisoners amid chants of exultation,
while rebels are forced to live in an arid land.
8 [g]O God, when you set out at the head of your people,
when you went marching through the wilderness, Selah
9 the earth quaked,[h]
and rain poured down from the heavens,
at the presence of God, the One of Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
10 [i]You poured down rain in abundance, O God,
and revived your exhausted inheritance.
11 It was there that your people settled;
and in your great goodness, O God,
you provided for those who were needy.
12 [j]The Lord issues the word,[k]
and a vast army proclaims good tidings:
13 “Kings and their armies are beating a hasty retreat;
even those who remained in camp are dividing up the spoils.
14 “While you linger by the sheepfolds,
the wings of the dove are covered[l] with silver,
its feathers brilliant with shining gold.”
15 When the Almighty[m] routed the kings there,
it was like snow fallen upon Zalmon.
16 [n]The mountains of Bashan are God’s mountains;
the mountains of Bashan are mighty peaks.
17 Why, O rugged mountains, do you gaze enviously
at the mountain[o] that God has chosen as his abode,
where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
18 The chariots of God[p] are myriad,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord has come down from Sinai
and entered into the holy place.
19 You ascended on high,
leading captives in your train;
you accepted slaves as tribute,
so that even rebels might dwell with the Lord God.[q]
20 [r]Blessed be the Lord, day after day,
the God of our salvation, who carries our burden. Selah
21 Our God is a God who saves;
the Lord God delivers from death.[s]
22 God himself will smite the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who persist in their sins.
23 The Lord has said:
“I will bring them back even from Bashan,
I will bring them back even from the depths of the sea,[t]
24 so that you may bathe your feet in the blood of your foes
and the tongues of your dogs may have their share.”[u]
25 [v]Your procession, O God, comes into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
26 The singers enter first,
with musicians trailing behind them,
while in their midst are the maidens playing tambourines.[w]
27 Bless God in the assembly;
the Lord, the source of Israel.
28 In the lead is Benjamin, the smallest in number,
with the princes of Judah in a council,
as well as the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali.
29 [x]Marshal your power once again, O God,
the power of God that you have often wielded for us.
30 For to your temple in Jerusalem
kings will come to you bearing gifts.[y]
31 Rebuke those wild beasts of the reeds,[z]
the herd of mighty bulls, the calves of nations,
who bring bars of silver and prostrate themselves;
rout the nations that delight in war.
32 Envoys will come from Egypt;
Ethiopia will stretch out its hands to God.[aa]
33 [ab]Sing to God, all you kingdoms of the earth;
sing the praises of the Lord, Selah
34 who rides the ancient heavens above[ac]
and speaks with his voice of thunder.
35 Acknowledge the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel
and whose power is in the skies.
36 Awesome is God in his sanctuary,
the God of Israel, who gives power and strength to his people.[ad]
Blessed be God!
17 The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Get up, and go down to meet Ahab, the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. He is now in the vineyard of Naboth. He had gone down there to take possession of it. 19 Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you killed someone to take possession of his property?” ’ Say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your blood as well.” ’ ”
20 Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy.” He answered, “I have found you because you have sold yourself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord: 21 ‘Behold, I will bring disaster down upon you. I will consume your descendants and I will cut off from Ahab all of those who pee against the wall, whether slave or free. 22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ 23 And of Jezebel the Lord says, ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel.’ 24 Those who belong to Ahab and who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”
25 There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel, his wife. 26 He was detestable in the way that he followed after idols, just as the Amorites had whom the Lord had cast out from before the Israelites.
27 When Ahab heard these things, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay in sackcloth, and went around in mourning. 28 The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster during his days. I will bring disaster upon his house during the days of his son.”
20 Where now are the wise ones? Where are the men of learning? Where are the debaters of this present age? Has God not shown the wisdom of the world to be foolish? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world was unable to come to know him through wisdom, he chose, through the folly of preaching, to save those who have faith.
22 Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified. This is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles;[a] 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 God Has Chosen Those Who Count for Nothing. Consider, brethren, your calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,[b] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 Rather, God chose those who were regarded as foolish by the world to shame the wise; God chose those in the world who were weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose those in the world who were lowly and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were regarded as worthy, 29 [c]so that no one could boast in the presence of God.
30 It is through him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom of God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written, “If anyone wishes to boast, let him boast in the Lord.”
12 Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee.[a]When Jesus learned that John had been arrested,[b] he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Departing from Nazareth, he settled in Capernaum[c] by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 in order that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the passageway to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who lived in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who dwell in a land darkened by the shadow of death
light has dawned.”
17 From that day forward Jesus began to proclaim the message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.”
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