Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, [a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,
18 “I love You, O Lord, (A)my strength.”
2 The Lord is (B)my [b]rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)cords of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of [c]ungodliness [d]terrified me.
5 The (L)cords of [e]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)out of His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the (P)earth shook and quaked;
And the (Q)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up [f]out of His nostrils,
And (R)fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He (S)bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick (T)darkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a (U)cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the (V)wings of the wind.
11 He made (W)darkness His hiding place, (X)His [g]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the (Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and (Z)coals of fire.
13 The Lord also (AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He (AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and [h]routed them.
15 Then the (AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were [i]laid bare
At Your (AD)rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the (AE)breath of Your nostrils.
16 He (AF)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of (AG)many waters.
17 He (AH)delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were (AI)too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in (AJ)the day of my calamity,
But (AK)the Lord was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a (AL)broad place;
He rescued me, because (AM)He delighted in me.
20 The Lord has (AN)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the (AO)cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
21 For I have (AP)kept the ways of the Lord,
And have (AQ)not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all (AR)His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His (AS)statutes from me.
23 I was also [j](AT)blameless with Him,
And I (AU)kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has (AV)recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25 With (AW)the kind You show Yourself kind;
With the [k]blameless (AX)You show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself (AY)pure,
And with the crooked (AZ)You show Yourself [l]astute.
27 For You (BA)save an afflicted people,
But (BB)haughty eyes You abase.
28 For You (BC)light my lamp;
The Lord my God (BD)illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can [m](BE)run upon a troop;
And by my God I can (BF)leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is [n](BG)blameless;
The (BH)word of the Lord is tried;
He is a (BI)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For (BJ)who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a (BK)rock, except our God,
32 The God who (BL)girds me with strength
And [o]makes my way [p](BM)blameless?
33 He (BN)makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And (BO)sets me upon my high places.
34 He (BP)trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can (BQ)bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me (BR)the shield of Your salvation,
And Your (BS)right hand upholds me;
And (BT)Your [q]gentleness makes me great.
36 You (BU)enlarge my steps under me,
And my [r](BV)feet have not slipped.
37 I (BW)pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back (BX)until they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were (BY)not able to rise;
They fell (BZ)under my feet.
39 For You have (CA)girded me with strength for battle;
You have [s](CB)subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also made my enemies (CC)turn their backs to me,
And I [t](CD)destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was (CE)none to save,
Even to the Lord, but (CF)He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine as the (CG)dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the (CH)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as (CI)head of the nations;
A (CJ)people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners [u](CK)submit to me.
45 Foreigners (CL)fade away,
And (CM)come trembling out of their [v]fortresses.
46 The Lord (CN)lives, and blessed be (CO)my rock;
And exalted be (CP)the God of my salvation,
47 The God who (CQ)executes vengeance for me,
And (CR)subdues peoples under me.
48 He (CS)delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You (CT)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the (CU)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (CV)give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord,
And I will (CW)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [w](CX)deliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to (CY)His anointed,
To David and (CZ)his [x]descendants forever.
6 “But I gave you also (A)cleanness of teeth in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have (B)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
7 “Furthermore, I (C)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city
And on (D)another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
8 “So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink (E)water,
But would (F)not be satisfied;
Yet you have (G)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
9 “I (H)smote you with scorching wind and mildew;
And the (I)caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have (J)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
10 “I sent a (K)plague among you after the manner of Egypt;
I (L)slew your young men by the sword along with your (M)captured horses,
And I made the (N)stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have (O)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew you, as (P)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a (Q)firebrand snatched from a blaze;
Yet you have (R)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to (S)meet your God, O Israel.”
13 For behold, He who (T)forms mountains and (U)creates the wind
And (V)declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who (W)makes dawn into darkness
And (X)treads on the high places of the earth,
(Y)The Lord God of hosts is His name.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 (A)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which (B)the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the (C)elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His (D)promise we are looking for (E)new heavens and a new earth, (F)in which righteousness dwells.
14 (G)Therefore, (H)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be (I)found by Him in peace, (J)spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the (K)patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also (L)our beloved brother Paul, (M)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of (N)these things, (O)in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and (P)unstable distort, as they do also (Q)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, (R)beloved, knowing this beforehand, (S)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by (T)the error of (U)unprincipled men and (V)fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and (W)knowledge of our (X)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Y)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Parable of the Landowner
33 “Listen to another parable. (A)There was a [a]landowner who (B)planted a (C)vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to [b]vine-growers and (D)went on a journey. 34 When the [c]harvest time approached, he (E)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he (F)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the [d]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and (G)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘(H)The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a [e]people, producing the fruit of it. 44 And (I)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they (J)feared the [f]people, because they considered Him to be a (K)prophet.
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