Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Relief from Tormentors
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the (A)Philistines captured him in Gath.
56 Be (B)merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would (C)hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
(D)I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
(E)Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because (F)God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 (G)For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the (H)light of the living?
Prayer for Safety from Enemies(I)
To the Chief Musician. Set to [b]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David (J)when he fled from Saul into the cave.
57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
(K)And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
(L)Until these calamities have passed by.
2 I will cry out to God Most High,
To God (M)who performs all things for me.
3 (N)He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who [c]would swallow me up. Selah
God (O)shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
4 My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
(P)Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
5 (Q)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 (R)They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah
7 (S)My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, (T)my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (U)I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the [d]nations.
10 (V)For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
11 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [e]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 (X)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 (Y)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not (Z)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 (AA)Break[f] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 (AB)Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
(AC)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your (AD)pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away (AE)as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the (AF)vengeance;
(AG)He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 (AH)So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who (AI)judges in the earth.”
Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my [a]meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
(A)And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
(B)They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
(C)All who see them shall flee away.
9 All men shall fear,
And shall (D)declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.
10 (E)The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the [b]vow shall be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
(F)To You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will (G)provide atonement for them.
4 (H)Blessed is the man You (I)choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
(J)We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength,
(K)Being clothed with power;
7 (L)You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
(M)And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [c]rejoice.
9 You [d]visit the earth and (N)water it,
You greatly enrich it;
(O)The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
(P)The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
Sodom’s Depravity
19 Now (A)the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and (B)Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please (C)turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and (D)wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”
And they said, (E)“No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. (F)Then he made them a feast, and baked (G)unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 (H)And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? (I)Bring them out to us that we (J)may know them carnally.”
6 So (K)Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 (L)See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, (M)since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one (N)came in to [a]stay here, (O)and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they (P)struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed(Q)
12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—(R)take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the (S)outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and (T)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, (U)who had married his daughters, and said, (V)“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” (W)But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, (X)“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men (Y)took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the (Z)Lord being merciful to him, (AA)and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that [b]he said, (AB)“Escape for your life! (AC)Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape (AD)to the mountains, lest you be [c]destroyed.”
18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, (AE)no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”
21 And he said to him, “See, (AF)I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For (AG)I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”
Therefore (AH)the name of the city was called [d]Zoar.
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained (AI)brimstone and (AJ)fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He [e]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and (AK)what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became (AL)a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where (AM)he had stood before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, (AN)the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God (AO)remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
By Faith We Understand
11 Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence (A)of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that (B)the [c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Faith at the Dawn of History(C)
4 By faith (D)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still (E)speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, (F)“and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith (G)Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, (H)prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of (I)the righteousness which is according to faith.
Faithful Abraham(J)
8 By faith (K)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, (L)dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, (M)the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for (N)the city which has foundations, (O)whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith (P)Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and (Q)she[d] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him (R)faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as (S)dead, were born as many as the (T)stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
27 (A)Do not labor for the food which perishes, but (B)for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, (C)because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, (D)“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, (E)“What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 (F)Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, (G)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but (H)My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 (I)Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, (J)“I am the bread of life. (K)He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never (L)thirst. 36 (M)But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet (N)do not believe. 37 (O)All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and (P)the one who comes to Me I will [a]by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, (Q)not to do My own will, (R)but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, (S)that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, (T)that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.